GovInslee

It's like when your kids tell you they want to go to Disneyland.

Step 1) Get yourself down to the legislature Step 2) Find a legislator and give them a piece of your mind. If you can't get to Olympia physically, get here virtually. I don't care how much money the oil company has, they can't stop you from doing that. Carpe diem. Carpe legislator. And, next time you see a ballot - keep this issue in mind.

I really, really, really wish they’d let me write the transportation budget. But, we’ve gotta realize that we’ve got a divided government. And we’ve got to compromise to get a transportation package. I’m working with the House and will continue to urge the Senate to expand public transportation in the state, particularly in the Puget Sound core which has such transportation gridlock. I think the public support for transit continues to grow because people recognize we have to have healthy transit options. We have no other choice if we’re not going to have absolute gridlock.

I have huge concerns about drilling in the arctic. I don’t believe we have sufficient plans both to prevent spills and respond to them in those incredibly challenging conditions. That’s one of the reasons I’ve long opposed opening these areas to drilling. Recently, I had my Dept. of Ecology review whether or not the state had jurisdiction over the permitting of this project. Since the operations were the same as pre-existing operations, I was told the state doesn’t have the ability legally to interfere with this lease. I know people are extremely concerned with the lack of public process in the leasing decision. And I think that frustration and concern is legitimate.

1) When I talked to two dozen college students last week, they all said please help us with our college costs and do it in the right way and not the wrong way. Student debt is crushing these kids. That’s why my budget freezes college tuition. They urged me to finance that in a way that doesn’t hurt other people. i.e. don’t cut housing programs for the homeless, don’t cut services for victims of domestic violence. Figure out another way. So that’s what we’re doing. We’re supporting college kids by closing some of the loopholes going to corporations that don’t work anymore and getting that to kids who need an education. We’re charging the largest polluters to reduce climate change and fund education AND we’re doing a capital gains tax that affects a small, small percentage of people. We’re taking these funds and plowing it into the education system. That’s an answer for huskies, eagles, wildcats, titans, cougars, bull dogs, loggers and – geoducks. 2) To your housing question, folks are getting hit with a double whammy of increasing income inequality and skyrocketing housing prices. There are many things we have to do to solve these twin challenges. Raise the minimum wage, improve access to public transportation, and subsidize low income housing and paying attention to our growth management issues assuring that low and middle class folks have access to affordable housing.