Kennewick High School students visit Sen. Brown in Olympia
There are
many who describe the legislative session as a marathon. It’s a good analogy.
We use the interims between sessions to train – taking part in work sessions
and preparing legislation. When the race begins, it does so with a bang and a
flash, and lots of excitement and jockeying for positon. But then you settle
into your stride, pacing your progress and keeping your eye on the big picture
as you hit one checkpoint after another.
Yesterday at
5 p.m., we hit the halfway point in this legislative marathon – the 13.1-mile
marker. This was after nearly two weeks on the floor of the Senate chamber, debating
and passing bills.
Now we are
going back into committee hearings for a couple of weeks to consider House
bills before we are back onto the Senate floor to debate and vote on them.
It’s been a
long couple of weeks filled with late nights and good debates. I am looking
forward to being home this weekend to meet with you at one of our town halls, before
heading back to Olympia on Monday.
Click here to watch this week's video.
Yesterday, I continued
my efforts to add nuclear-generated power to the state’s clean-energy mix. By a
bipartisan vote of 29-20, the Senate passed my bill to add carbon-free nuclear
power to the list of alternative-energy sources included in the state’s
voluntary Green Power Program.
Under state
law, electric utilities are required to offer their customers a voluntary
option to buy green power. Currently, green power is defined as electricity
generated from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, gas produced during the treatment
of wastewater, and other specified sources.
Senate Bill
5091 would simply revise the definition of “qualified alternative energy
resource” to include nuclear energy.
In 2013
nuclear energy produced 19 percent of our nation’s electricity and prevented
589 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, which
is equal to the CO2 emitted by 113 million passenger cars.
If our goal
is to encourage the public to voluntarily choose power that is clean, nuclear
power produces zero emissions and should be included in the mix.
SB 5091 now heads to
the House of Representatives for its consideration.
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Bill would let lawmakers take a
‘real-world’ look at economic impact of large-scale revenue bills
The Senate also approved my fiscal-reform measure that would establish a process for
looking at the impact large-scale revenue measures would have on human behavior
and how those behavioral changes would affect the economy.
Fiscal notes are
prepared by the state Office of Financial Management, which is the governor’s
budget office. The ones we are all familiar with only ask agencies to determine
their actual cost of implementing a bill.
The dynamic
fiscal statements created under my bill would ask agencies affected by a
revenue proposal to cast a broader net – to consider how people would shift
economic activity as a result of the bill. This information would allow
legislators and the public to have a more accurate idea of the net impact on
our state economy of major revenue proposals.
Under Senate
Bill 5915, which passed the Senate 49-0, these dynamic statements would be
extremely limited, in that only fiscal-committee members could request them, at
least 60 days before a legislative session, and only for bills that would
generate more than $10 million in new revenue.
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Reps. Brad Klippert and Larry
Haler and I invite all 8th District residents to participate in one of our upcoming
town-hall meetings this Saturday, March
14.
Here are the locations and
times:
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From
8-9:30 a.m. in Richland
Richland City Hall - Council Chamber
505 Swift Blvd, Richland
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From
10-11:30 a.m. in West Richland
West Richland Library - Conference Room
3803 W. Van Giesen, West Richland
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And
from 1-2:30 p.m. in Kennewick
City Hall - Council Chamber
210 W. 6th Ave.,
Kennewick
I hope to see you at one of
these town halls!
As always, it remains my
honor to serve you in the Washington State Senate.
Sincerely,
Sharon Brown State Senator 8th District
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