Kitsap Transit said it got a better deal from a local dealer than it would have if the agency had piggy-backed onto the state vehicle-buying contract.

Still, one wonders why there was only 1 bid after 7 dealers inquired, given the state of the automobile industry.

Kitsap Transit Press Release
For more information, contact Cathie Knox-Browning at ktexecutive@kitsaptransit.com

NEW VANPOOL VANS A WIN ON FOUR FRONTS
Kitsap Transit has engineered a win-win for both the local economy and its battered budget by using federal stimulus funds to buy a large group of vans from a local dealer.

In April, the Transit Board approved the purchase of 31 vans from Bay Ford of Port Orchard for $844,263 after giving agency staff the go-ahead to try and best the prices found on the state list for vanpools. Traditionally, the state list boasts the best price for public-agency equipment purchases.

The vans will be used to replace worn-out vans in the agency's Rideshare or vanpool program and for new vanpools.

Earlier this year, KT was awarded $1,890,493 in federal stimulus funds for the replacement of the agency's older, high-mileage Rideshare vans. After looking at van prices on the state list, KT staff asked the Board for permission to conduct a competitive bid, suspecting that they could do better given the changing automotive sales scene.

=> Read more!

Washington state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, is flying to Washington, D.C. Tuesday for a Capitol Hill press conference and a White House meeting with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday. Keiser's folks said today.

Keiser, chairwoman of the Senate Health and Long-term Care Commitee, is the majority Senate Democrats' lead on all thing health care.

From Keiser's people:

The press conference is scheduled to be hosted by (U.S. Sen.) Tom Harkin of Iowa and attended by a delegation of lawmakers, including Sen. Keiser. A letter from more than 500 state legislators from 45 states — including 27 from Washington — will be read urging the Obama Administration and Congress to enact comprehensive health care reform within the year. Lawmakers want a public plan option, affordability protections, and shared responsibility for health care costs included in the final bill.

Earlier today, I listened to most of President Barack Obama's address to a bunch of doctors about his ideas for health care reform. He was live on CNBC, the channel that keeps track of my 401K for me. Anyway, so I have an idea of what Keiser, et. al. will be doing on Wednesday.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced today how more than $65 million in federal stimulus funds for clean water project.

Here's what Tacoma's getting:

· Tacoma’s stormwater treatment retrofit project will receive more than $1.8 million. The “green” infrastructure project aims to reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.

The full press release is after the jump.

=> Read more!

And it's only a hop, skip and a jump across the Columbia River for an Oregon law to start working its way into the Revised Code of Washington.

(On the other hand, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, may be Tim Eyman's best friend when it comes to initiative law. They share a grassroots background. Of course, that was before each of them -- in his own way -- turned pro.)

I'm not trying to suggest that Eyman's paid signature-gatherers are crooks. In fact, Roy, one of Eyman's main men, is a former Alaska cop, as I recall. But every session of the Washington Legislature there are more and more proposals to somehow make it difficult for the public to put things onto the ballot. Many of them die in the House Rules Committee. (I suspect Chopp has a hand it their deaths.)

I have to note one more thing about the news release from the Oregon Secretary of State's office. The main flack is Don Hamilton, a former Oregonian reporter. Just like Dave Ammons at the Washington SecState office. Hamilton used to cover the Washington Legislature, too. (Thanks to Ammons for forwarding Hamilton's news release.)

June 15, 2009
Contact: Don Hamilton

Initiative Reform Plan Wins Final OK
Secretary of State Kate Brown says new laws will improve the system

SALEM -- Oregon’s initiative system will be more fair, more effective and will regain public confidence under a package of reforms on its way to the governor’s desk, Secretary of State Kate Brown said Friday.

=> Read more!

Admittedly, this is a lopsided story. But I couldn't get a return phone call from the Powerball folks.

Here's a link to Powerball. I left a couple voice mail messages for Doug Orr, the Multi State Lottery Association marketing director, and a third message with the MUSL CFO. But no word back yet from either of them.

UPDATE (4:12 p.m.) (That's 6:12 p.m. Central Time) Still no return call from the Powerball folks.

Here's the story that will run in Tuesday's print edition of The News Tribune. And below that are a news release from the Washington Lottery and a column written by The News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan on the topic. It ran about a month ago. Peter took issue with the lottery's seat-of-the-pants estimates.

BY Joseph Turner
The News Tribune

Washington has been blackballed by Powerball.

The 30-state consortium that runs Powerball, the nation’s largest lottery game, notified Washington State Lottery officials late last month that Powerball tickets cannot be sold in any of the states that are part of the rival Mega Millions lottery game.

=> Read more!