a devastating month for our state and national economies as one company after another announced job losses.

Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Caterpillar, Home Depot, and many others, have all announced several thousand layoffs.  And these are just the larger, more public layoffs.  I know there are many small businesses owners out there who have had to choose between laying off one or two employees, or going out of business altogether.

Now, more than ever, the decisions we as elected officials make in Olympia should be viewed through one filter: does this decision help our families, economy and jobs? or does it hurt our families, economy and jobs?

I am encouraging my colleagues in the Legislature to keep this mantra at the forefront of their decisions.  I'm sure some of them are getting tired of my constant nagging, but it's so easy to forget that the policy decisions we make in Olympia are not nebulous legal agreements with undefined consequences.  Our actions have a direct impact on families, taxpayers and those desperately looking for employment.

Again, thank you for allowing me to represent you in Olympia.

Rep. Crouse speaks with colleagues on the House floor

Cap and Trade
Governor Gregoire has introduced a "cap and trade" proposal that would cap emissions for the manufacturing and energy producing sectors of our economy.  This week, House Bill 1819 was introduced by Rep. Dave Upthegrove (the governor cannot introduce legislation; she must find someone willing and "request" that they sponsor it).

The so-called cap and trade legislation is a proposal put forth by the Western Climate Initiative, which includes seven Western states and four Canadian Provinces. The idea is to cap the amount of carbon that may be emitted by activities such as energy and oil production, manufacturing jobs, and, by 2015, auto emissions, in order to reach 1990 emission levels by 2020.

Companies will have to purchase "allowances" from the government for the right to emit greenhouse gasses. However, the government will limit the number of allowances and determine the market up front.

The government will also reduce the number of allowances available every three years. If companies don't have enough allowances to cover their emissions, they will have to pay a fine up to $10,000 per day.

I think we all want to protect the environment but Washington is one of the cleanest states in the Union.  We have inexpensive, abundant, clean hydropower, and our state's emissions only account for three-tenths of one percent of the world's greenhouse gasses! We shouldn't be risking our state economy and jobs for an unproven regulation policy that burdens businesses and discourages out-of-state companies from bringing their jobs here.

I would encourage all concerned citizens to call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000, or leave a message on the governor's website here, and let her know Washington families and businesses cannot afford the costly regulations she is proposing.

Protecting taxpayers
One of the most important issues we'll deal with this year is writing the 2009-11 operating budget and filling a projected shortfall of over $6 billion!

We didn't get to the point where we have a multi-billion dollar deficit overnight. We can't lay the entire blame on the national economy; much of our state's budget problems were created right here in Olympia.

Over the last four years, state spending has increased by 33 percent – that's eight billion dollars in just four years! We've spent far beyond our means and now it's catching up to us. When the Legislature continually overspends, there's no emergency relief fund available to bail us out. I would also like to see the governor publicly take tax increases off the table. While her initial budget proposal doesn’t include tax increases, I'm concerned that the House and Senate budgets will include tax hikes, just like in 2005.

My concern is the Legislature will simply ignore her 'no-new-taxes' strategy by crafting a budget that relies on some sort of tax-increase package, send it to the voters, and then get out of town.  I believe our citizens and our families deserve better than that.

In my mind, the taxpayers didn't create this mess, and they shouldn't be expected to bail the government out!

Visit my Website for further information and news
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