TVW Air Schedule
A reader sent me this photo of police cars lined up on the capitol campus with the caption “Now’s the time to speed on I-5.” Don’t.
There’s no big emergency: It was the 96th annual trooper graduation day, according to Pearse Edwards in the governor’s office. The class of 38 cadets had a ceremony in the rotunda, followed by a party at the governor’s mansion.
Van Jones, who is testifying in the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee now, said he was happy to be in Washington, a state that’s leading the way on “green” issues.
Jones is the founder and president of Green for All, a national organization that works to put low-income people to work on green jobs.
“Literally everything that is good for the environment is a job,” he said. “Solar panels don’t install themselves.”
Jones says that in a green economy, “the math is different. You don’t just count what you spend, you count what you save.”
“You are in a unique situation very rare in American history. This is one of those moments, like the civil war, like the New Deal, like the 60s — civil rights and women’s rights — literally in that era, when our grandkids are going to study what you did,” he said.
“This assembly will be studied. Now, the question is, are we going to do something truly transformative? Are we going to turn this breakdown into a breakthrough?”
He said the way to do that is to use green jobs as a springboard into a new economy.
Tags: economy, Environment, Van Jones
Here’s Governor Chris Gregoire’s full press conference from earlier today. That quote comes near the end.
Tags: Environment, Governor, Green jobs
This doesn’t play until 7 p.m., but we have it on the web. The 58 minutes, 36 seconds you’ll spend watching are worthwhile if you’re remotely interested in the billions-large budget shortfall the state faces this year. Preview: Hear Senate Ways & Means Chair Karen Fraser, House Capital Budget ranking Republican Judy Warnick and state treasurer Jim McIntire.
Tags: Budget, Inside Olympia
We don’t have the video from this morning’s announcement by Governor Chris Gregoire, Employment Security Department head Karen Lee and Department of Ecology’s Jay Manning (and others), but I’m watching it now. Below are highlights. I’ll post and keep updating the same post: I know a lot of you are searching for information on this.
The first:
“Since I took office four years ago, we’ve been working hard to ready Washington state for a 21st century. And that 21st century for us is a green economy,” Gregoire said.
“It’s a future where a state is able to provide a platform for our uniquely innovative people to create and market new technology…. free of our total reliance on fossil fuels,” she said.
The critical steps they want to take, which she says will create thousands of jobs:
- Stimulate our economy now
- Reduce greenhouse gas pollution: “Within a span of 13 months, we had two 100-year floods,” she said, evidence of climate change.
- Promote energy independence
(more…)
The bill to require businesses with restrooms to allow customers to use their bathrooms (if the customer has an eligible medical condition) — you know, the one where Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready came down to testify — had a hearing this morning in the House Judiciary Committee. Watch it here. It will also play at 11:15 p.m. tonight (right after Legislative Review.)
Rep. Marko Liias said he introduced the bill after one of his constituents, Lois, called his tip line.
“In general as a society, we are loathe to talk about the restroom and going to the restroom … it’s a difficult subject for everyone to handle but today, we’ll all have to be grown-ups.”
He said in Washington State, there are nearly 30,000 people with inflammatory bowel diseases. Those diseases can have sudden symptoms that can cause some sufferers to just stay home, he said.
“The bottom line is we all have constituents that suffer from these debilitating symptoms,” Liias said. He said the bill was one small way for the Legislature to help.
House Bill 1138 would not require any business to improve their restrooms, just make them available to people who either use a colostomy or have documentation that they suffer from Crohn’s or other bowel diseases.
Click through to read McCready’s testimony.
(more…)
Tags: Crohn's, Public Policy, restrooms
Last night’s show featured lawmakers responding to layoffs across the state, from Boeing to Russell to Starbucks and more.
Next week: Host Jennifer Huntley will find answers to your questions about legislative proposals to make the state more “green.” You can e-mail in your question to theimpact@tvw.org.
Tags: The Impact
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is considering several water rights bills today.
In Western Washington, the problem is usually too much water all at once. Not so in dry Eastern Washington, where farmers and ranchers depend on water rights.
During the hearing (which is on TVW live right now), one of the people testifying on a bill that would limit groundwater withdrawal to 5,000 gallons per day to certain users said: “The state is running out of water.” Another person testified that any modification of water rights could was a modification on his life and land value.
We’ll have more on this later.
Tags: Water rights
This just in from Governor Chris Gregoire’s office: Tommorrow, she’ll announce a comprehensive “Green Jobs and Climate Action” package of bills.
TVW will be there — and show the press conference at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The announcement will be at South Puget Sound Community College, in the LEED certified Natural Sciences building.
Gov. Chris Gregoire issued a statement about the Senate’s bill to cut about $105 million in spending. She said the Senate “acted quickly to pass additional savings” and that she wants “to make certain the plan allows enough flexibility to adequately staff vital state functions.”
“It will take all of us to solve this budget problem, so I am pleased to hear the House is working to pass its supplemental budget in the coming days.”
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