Dear Friends,
With this week’s Bridges to a
Better Government, I am highlighting a few of my bills that moved through the
Senate in advance of today’s cutoff deadline. I had several bills make it,
including a couple that focus on promoting emerging technology in the energy
field. My bills to encourage job creation and better budgeting processes also
advanced.
Thanks for all of the
questions, comments and concerns you’ve provided in recent weeks about the
issues facing our state. I hope you will keep that feedback coming, and feel
free to email me or call me in Olympia at (360) 786-7614 if I can be of
assistance to you or your family in any way.
Thank you, as always, for the
continued opportunity to serve you in the state Senate.
Sincerely,
 Sharon Brown
State Senator
8th District
Preventing youth suicides through integrated care
I’m happy to report that the Senate has
approved three of my bills aimed at encouraging and expanding the use of
carbon-free power and emerging energy technologies.
We
all support clean energy, but the key is doing so in a way that works for
employers, energy consumers and families, as well as the environment. These
bills do that.
Attracting SMR manufacturing to Washington
Senate Bill 5475, which
passed the Senate 27-22, would provide a business-and-occupation tax incentive
for the production of small modular reactors. If we don’t act now, other states
and countries will take the lead in SMR development, and Washington will lose
out on all of those good-paying jobs.
Making energy more affordable by recognizing incremental
hydropower
 By a vote of 32-17, the Senate also passed my incremental hydropower bill. This
measure would allow more electricity produced as a result of efficiency
improvements to hydropower to qualify as “renewable” under the state’s 2006
energy-independence act.
By doing this, we not only save consumers
money, but we also help our employers hire more employees and give raises to
those already employed.
|
Streamlining
the permitting for geothermal exploration
 Senate Bill 5470, which
advances the development of renewable energy by improving the permitting
process for geothermal-resources exploration, passed the
Senate unanimously. The bill would take the burdensome permitting process,
which is limiting innovation in this field, and streamline it.
|
This has been a great session so far for
the bills I have introduced. As of this newsletter, 11 of the 16 bills I have
prime-sponsored this year have been approved by the Senate and sent to the
House for its consideration. In addition to the bills mentioned above, these
bills also passed:
|
