As a member of the House Transportation Committee, I am often asked how the Legislature can spend millions of dollars on highway projects when it cannot afford to pay teachers. The answer is simple. Money spent for state and local highways, ferries, motor vehicle registration and enforcement comes from the state transportation budget. Its primary sources of funding are the state gas tax and license fees.
Everyone’s known pivotal awakenings that cause things to change forever. One of mine was when I awoke to the utter stupidity of planning my life around the few days when grass is dry enough to cut. Those are also the days when one craves to be doing something else, right? So I asked myself, do I really want to spend the best days of the year yoked to a lawnmower?
At a recent strategic planning conference for organizations that serve people with developmental conditions, our facilitator asked us to imagine that we wake up tomorrow and find that every obstacle to our work has been overcome, every problem solved, every battle victorious at last. What does the world look like now, she asked?
A friend recently sent me a link about a high school student with autism who made his high school’s varsity basketball team and in the process became an overnight YouTube sensation.
Now unlike the recent rash of stories (including some repeated in this column) about people with developmental conditions who inspire others to excel — for example, as managers or “special assistants” on sports teams, or as inspirational sibling to a sister who plays college basketball or a brother who makes the Olympic ski team — this kid actually himself plays and excels.
On May 30, during the annual commemoration of Memorial Day, communities across the country will be honoring military members who died in service to this great nation.
One of the greatest barriers to private-sector job growth in Washington has been the high cost of workers’ compensation. In January, the Department of Labor and Industries increased workers’ compensation premiums by more than 12 percent. This was after a 7.6 percent rate increase the previous year. In fact, since 2001, workers’ compensation rates have increased for employers nine times.
Time was when a woman’s route to success was strewn with obstacles. It was a man’s world. When I first joined the Marysville schools in 1958, there were two female administrators, Miss Larson who served as head teacher at Getchell Elementary and Liberty’s principal, Maxine Ebert. Aside from them, every top job in Marysville’s eight schools and administrative offices was held by a man.
This isn’t about Eric’s Little Heroes on Channel 4. This is about a stratospheric level of heroism that arises from inspired service on behalf of others. It is heroism typified by selfless acts that ask no reward other than the satisfaction of looking back on good deeds well done. We desperately need heroes of that measure to show us what can and should be done.
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to Disability Scoop (www.disabilityscoop.com), a website devoted to stories from the world of disability. The stories are interesting enough, but the comments posted by readers are really intriguing. In example after example from recent editions, an article sets off a storm of comments from people who share their sense of outrage about injustices inflicted whether purposefully or inadvertently on people with disabilities and their families. The more you read, the angrier you become.
The governor and the majority party in the legislature have referred to the state operating budget as a “moral document” that should reflect the values of our people. I believe public safety is a core value of our citizens and one of the primary functions of government. That’s why I am disappointed in recent legislation — not the least of which is the House Democrat budget proposal, House Bill 1087 — which spends $2 billion more than the 2009-11 budget, yet includes more than $31 million in additional cuts to corrections.
Back in 2005, forecasted revenue was projected to be $1.7 billion higher than the previous biennium. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a budget that spent nearly a billion dollars more than the state was taking in — despite an increase of incoming revenue. She did that knowing full well that the Legislature was overspending. “I don’t like it. It’s not sustainable. It’s what’s wrong with the budget in the state of Washington,” said Gregoire.
April is Community Volunteer Month in Marysville, a time to celebrate those individuals and groups who make a difference in our community in ways big and small, and to inspire and encourage people to seek out imaginative ways to get more engaged in the community.
There has been considerable discussion at the national level about health care over the past two years. The President has defined his administration by it; Republicans and Democrats have battled over it. They are all looking at the long-term issue of health care and how it affects the nation’s citizens.