I missed this morning's meeting of GMAP (Government Management Accountability and Performance). It was at 8:30 a.m. and I guess I don't check the governor's Web site often enough.

But others were there.

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Council has this post today.

It's worth reading. There are some good tidbits.

This just in from the National Conference of State Legislatures:

Our former governor, Gary Locke, who is now U.S. Commerce Secretary, will be the featured speaker tomorrow at the Legislative Summit in Philadelphia. He'll be talking about the "next steps" in the economic recovery plan to about 5,000 legislators and staffers.

Locke, as many of you know, used to be one of them. He was the consummate budget wonk when he was a legislator from Seattle.

State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, will be in the audience. Not sure how many other Washington state folks are there. I think the state House and Senate stopped paying for that kind of travel, although they would pay for registration. And some Washington legislators could be traveling on their own or with the help of another "sponsor."

White House Brings Message to State Legislators
Commerce Secretary to discuss trade, 2010 Census, smart grid

PHILADELPHIA – In just the first six months of the new administration, the White House has worked with state legislatures to address the most pressing issues affecting states—budget shortfalls, rising unemployment, increased Medicaid enrollment and a rise in welfare case loads. In February, President Barack Obama signed the sweeping $787 billion stimulus package that provided much-needed assistance to states.

Now, state lawmakers attending the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Legislative Summit in Philadelphia will hear an update on Thursday from Washington on the next steps for economic recovery from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.

=> Read more!

Just got a call from Jamie Swift, one of the spokesmen for the state Department of Transportation in Pierce County. He said later today, DOT will announce that a contract has been awarded to build carpool lanes on Interstate 5 between the Port of Tacoma interchange and the King County line.

This is the project that will use most of the $70 million in federal economic stimulus money for transportation projects in Pierce County. It was one of those projects that was pretty much "shovel ready" because the state DOT was going to use state funds to do this project this biennium. As it works out, federal money will pay for this project and the state funds for this project will be shifted to the second half of the Nalley Valley Viaduct project.

That project was facing a two-year delay -- until the 2013-15 time frame -- under the governor's budget proposal. But after we got assurance of the federal funds, the eastbound Nalley Valley project was put back on the Legislature's schedule. It will be done in 2011-13.

Also, the way contractors have been competing for projects, I'm expecting the DOT to announce that the bid for the I-5 carpool was well below the DOT engineers' estimate.

UPDATE: (3:10 p.m.) Here is the DOT news release. Tri-State's bid amount of $31,095,383.05 is about 25 percent below estimated cost, continuing a trend directly linked to tough economic times.

=> Read more!

OK. Actually, it will be a "Thanks for Working for Nothin' BBQ," a way for Gov. Chris Gregoire to show her appreciation for the work done by her own Economic Stimulus Czar, Dick Thompson, whose six-figure salary ($000,000) really didn't show the proper degree of thanks for his volunteerism.

(Dick told me today he has retired once again -- this time from volunteerism -- and has turned over his duties to someone in the Guv's budget office.)

Washington state got about $6-$10 billion out of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package -- that is, if you count all the money for the Bonneville Power Administration and Hanford. (State government will get about $4 billion in K-12, Medicaid and transpo funding over the next two years.)

Anyway, Thompson, former Seattle deputy-mayor-chamber-president-Boeing-guy Bob Watt and Craig Cole will be feted by the Guv on July 28. (Craig Cole is a UW Regent and Bellingham businessman.)

All three of them helped out the Guv in some manner. Watt helped the governor find and screen some agency (cabinet) directors. And Cole worked on some economic roundtables.

Anyway, we're now in the second round of scrambling for federal stimulus funds, the round in which we must compete with other states and actually apply for grants, etc.

A couple days ago I posted an item that said there was a bill working its way through Congress that would let public transit agencies spend some of their federal stimulus money on bus driver salaries instead of just buses.

This news release from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington provides a bit more detail. They could use as much as 10 percent of their federal stimulus on operating expenses.

Many transit agencies across the country have been planning lay-offs, staff furloughs, and significant service cuts because of the strain on their budgets. Senator Murray’s language, will allow these agencies to use up to 10% of the $6.9 billion in formula grant funding received under the Recovery Act for operating costs.

Senator Murray has heard from transit agencies across the country who need support to cover costs and protect against cuts, including Pierce County Transit whose CEO reacted to today’s news:

“The inclusion of this amendment will allow Pierce Transit to keep valuable service on the street and jobs in our community, while addressing a 15 percent (nearly $10 million) decline in revenue,” said Lynne Griffith, CEO of Pierce Transit.

Here's the full news release from Murray:

=> Read more!

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!

"The Labor Department’s most comprehensive alternative unemployment rate measure — which includes people who want to work but are discouraged from looking and people working part time because they can’t find full-time jobs — stood at 16.4 percent in May, up 7.7 percentage points since the recession began and the highest level on record in data that go back to 1994."

Those remarks come from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an organization whose e-mails I signed up to get late last year when Congress was putting together what eventually became a $787 billion economic stimulus package.

The "official" national unemployment rate for May came out today. It's 9.4 percent. I just wanted to point out something that most of us (including me) either forgot or don't realize: The jobless rate that gets most of the attention does count people who are out of work, but who no longer are looking for a job. That 16.4 percent figure does include that.

Congress approved some extra unemployment benefits ($25 a week and other stuff) but those extras run out at the end of the year.

Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the May Employment Report
Today’s jobs report shows a labor market that is still deteriorating but that offers signs that the worst of the current recession may be over.

Job losses in May, while still high at 345,000, were less than half of January’s level. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent but, for the second month in a row, the labor force grew as more people entered it to look for work than left it.

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire's office sent out this news release. It's noteworthy because the total amount of money that Washington is getting from President Obama and Congress for economic stimulus will end up being somewhere between $8 billion and $10 billion.

We got about $2 billion in Medicaid. Another $1 billion for education. About $500 million for transportation projects. And this $2.2 billion for Hanford and energy stuff. Those are just the big pieces.

I think the Bonneville Power Administration is in line for about $3 billion more (I think that's borrowing, not a straight appropriation) and most of the BPA money also could be put in Washington's column. And there's a smattering of other moneys all over the place. Some of it is going to local governments.

U.S. Department of Energy Awards Washington State $2.2 billion in recovery funds

Recovery funding will increase energy efficiency and technology and reduce consumption

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced that the U. S. Department of Energy has awarded more than $2.2 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for Washington State energy recovery. Most of the investment will accelerate clean up efforts at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Richland.

=> Read more!

Economic stimulus seems to be on everybody's minds lately...

For Immediate Press Release,

The 26 LD Democrats proudly announces their upcoming monthly April 7th meeting. Featured Speakers will be Kitsap County Commissioners Charlotte Garrido and Josh Brown speaking on the current State of the County. How has the short fall in taxes impacted us? What can we expect from the Obama bailout package? Also, are we in Kitsap County going to be able to attract “Green Jobs”?

Also on the agenda will be Fire Chief Wayne Center presenting information about upcoming the fire levy.

The date is Tuesday April 7th at 6 PM for dinner and 7 PM for the meeting. The location is Givens Community Center, Kitsap Room, 1026 Sidney Ave. Port Orchard WA. 98366. The meeting is free and the general public is welcome. For more information call Chairman Mark Brown at 360-895-6033.

Submitted respectfully by,

Mark Brown
26th LD Democratic Chair

9th District congressman Adam Smith will be speaking to the Tacoma City Club at a breakfast meeting next Wednesday.

By the way, Smith already has a challenger for 2010 -- State Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, announced his candidacy several weeks ago.

Congressman Adam Smith: Challenges and Opportunities of the 111th Congress

Tacoma, WA – April 2, 2009 Join Congressman Adam Smith at a special breakfast program, co-sponsored by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and City Club of Tacoma. Congressman Smith will speak to the challenges of crafting legislation to help the nation recover from the economic downturn. He will also discuss his two new roles – on the Select Committee on Intelligence and as Chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Trade Task Force.

Location: Landmark Convention Center, 47 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Time: 7:30 a.m.
Cost: $17

Reservations are recommended by April 6 at 253-272-9561, www.cityclubtacoma.org.

=> Read more!

As I've said many times, I rely heavily on other sets of eyes to look at the state budget and figure out what's going on. To me, this is where lobbyists -- say what you will about them -- show their mettle. Each of them knows how a budget will affect his or her particular clients

Naturally, they bring their own point of view to an issue, but their observations are valuable, nonetheless.

Jerry Reilly, chairman of the Elder Care Alliance, doesn't like what lawmakers are proposing to do in the area of long-term care and the use of additional Medicaid money from the feds.

His point about cutting $1 in service to free up 42 cents to use elsewhere is based on the Medicaid formula. For every $1 spent on eligible services, 58 cents comes from the federal government and 42 cents comes from the state. So, if the state wants to spend that 42 cents in state money on something other than programs that are eligible for federal funding, it gives up 58 cents from the feds that it otherwise would collect.

So, Reilly wants to maximize the amount of federal funds by spending as much as possible on health care and other programs.

The problem with that is, (and I'm playing devil's advocate here) the state can't spend federal Medicaid money to run the state prison system, for instance. So, lawmakers are foregoing some federal funds to spend their 42 cents elsewhere.

Dear Journalists,

The budget approach thus far being taken of drastically cutting Medicaid Eligible services to move supplanted dollars to other state services that do not qualify for federal match will result in Washington leaving many millions in federal funds on the table.

=> Read more!

If, that is, the Legislature approves the Senate version of the 2009-11 transportation budget.

The budget would authorize WSP to use $1.83 million to buy 21 patrol cars and assign 18 troopers and 3 sergeants to a special Target Zero program. Never heard of that program before. But it appears to be a federal program that encourages local authorities to aggressively enforce driving under the influence laws.

The money would go the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, which would then pay off-duty troopers to work for the commission enforcing DUI laws on the freeways and highways.

This program would not start until July 1, 2010.

I can't tell whether the federal money is part of the $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress, or from some other source.