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!

Rep. Mark Ericks, D-Bothell, who is vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has been nominated to become U.S. Marshal in Western Washington.

Ericks was Bothell police chief.

When the Republicans were in charge of the White House, then-state Rep. Eric Robertson, R-Buckley, got that same job. Robertson was a Washington State Patrol captain at the time.

UPDATE: (12:20 p.m.) Just got a "correction" on Eric's current job from a certain City Council candidate who is in the same line of work so he ought to know.

Joe,
Eric is the Administrator for Valley Regional Fire Authority. The fire department is the combination of Auburn, Pacific and Algona into a regional fire authority.

Keven Rojecki
Legislative Liaison
Washington State Council of Fire Fighters
1069 Adams Street Southeast
Olympia, WA 98501

Caroline Robertson, an Olympia lobbyist and wife of Eric, probably will call me to fill me in.

Here is Jerry Cornfield's story in The (Everett) Herald. Jerry reported it first in Sunday's paper.

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!

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.

"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!

Yesterday’s dust-up over sign code enforcement demonstrated the simmering tension between the Pierce County Council and the executive branch. It also showed how two little words made a different between enforcing and not enforcing the sign law.

When it approved this year’s budget, the council included a provision that set aside $100,000 in the county road fund for removing illegal signs out of the public rights of way. The provision is worded this way: “Provided up to $100,000 of this appropriation shall be used by the Public Works and Utilities Department to operate a countywide sign enforcement and abatement project…” (italics are mine).

Those two words – “up to” – constitute one front in the ongoing tussle between the county’s legislative and executive branches over control of the budget. They permit the public works department to spend up to $100,000 on sign code enforcement. But public works director Brian Ziegler contends nothing in the language requires the department to spend that amount on sign enforcement. The way Ziegler sees it, the department can spend less (or nothing) on sign enforcement. It just can’t spend more.

County departments have used that wiggle room with other budget line items as revenue dries up and they need to hoard cash. But the council may be getting wise, at least when it comes to the illegal signs provision.

At yesterday’s committee meeting, Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, asked Ziegler how the council might word the provision differently to ensure the money is spent on sign enforcement.

Ziegler said the council might use the words “at least” instead of “up to” to strengthen the provision. That would require the department to spend a minimum amount on sign enforcement.

“It’s a small nuance,” Ziegler said.

Council Chairman Roger Bush, R-Graham, indicated the council might change the budget language.

“We will revisit our procedures in the future,” Bush said.

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!

From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau:

WASHINGTON - Calling her "unquestionably qualified," Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said Tuesday in nominating Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court President Barak Obama picked someone who was an "unparalleled example of the true spirit and determination of the American dream."

In a statement, Murray lavished praise on the federal appeals court judge, though she didn't come right out and endorse the nomination. Murray, as she has with previous Supreme Court nominees, said she wants to wait and listen before making a final decision.

"I will evaluate Judge Sotomayor's nomination based on the same standards I use for all judicial appointments," Murray said. "Is she ethical, honest and qualified? Will she be evenhanded, fair and independent and will she uphold our rights and liberties?

"I want to know that when an individual comes before the court, that he or she will receive a fair hearing and that justice will be rendered according to the law."

Washington state's other senator, Democrat Maria Cantwell, also praised Sotomayor.

=> Read more!