The one part of the U.S. Constitution that appears to have been neglected by our governmental system and its citizens is the Preamble to the Constitution. In today’s organizational or financial terms, it is the ‘mission statement’ for citizens, political parties, politicians, government employees or financial companies to follow, “to form a more perfect Union”. There are five ‘mission statements or principles’ to follow.
1. “establish justice “
2. “ensure domestic Tranquility “
3. “provide for the common defense “
4. “promote the general Welfare”
5. “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity “.
As a form of feedback, we must ask ourselves occasionally, what does each of these really mean and have we supported them fully within our daily lives?
LIST OF ISSUES
POLICIES FOR PEOPLE
TO MUCH TAXATION- FOR (working) FAMILIES WITHIN WASHINGTON This last legislative session had the opportunity to reduce taxes to its citizens via the $15 billion surplus forecasted in the budget. Without thinking about the financial crunch our citizens were experiencing from the Covid epidemic and inflation a new transportation package (MOVE AHEAD WASHINGTON TRANSPORTATION BILL) was passed that provided higher taxes for Drivers. This part of the bill was wrong.
1. enhanced drivers fees from $24 to $42.
2. state ID card from $24 to $42.
3. Vehicle original license plate $10 to $40.
4. Motorcycle plates from $4 to $20 for a new plate.
5. A new photo for a drivers license or ID card from $10 to $20.
This bill was to fix, maintain roads, bridges and infrastructure within the State. That is fine, but it needs to apply to both the Westside and Eastside of the mountains. The State gas tax is$0.49 cents a gallon; the third highest in the nation. This tax also goes to highway maintenance. Then there is the toll tax on I-405 to pay for the road construction cost of $50.4 million dollars. The toll tax has generated millions of dollars more than predicted. $17.5 M dollars was collected the first year. The total today is at least $105 M dollars or more. That means its construction costs has been paid for twice but the toll tax remains. Tolls on highways or bridges need to be terminated when their costs are completed. Or the governor/legislators needs to be transparent and get approval /agreement from its citizens to divert these funds to a different budget item. Any neglect to do so, becomes an unethical revenue collection purpose.
For More Info. See The Big Picture
REDUCING STATE SALES TAX
We should temporarily reduce the state sales tax rate by a full percentage point to combat
skyrocketing inflation rates the U.S. is currently experiencing. When times are hard the state
government must lessen its tax burden upon it citizens; especially so when there is a financial
tax surplus of $15B predicted for the state budget. This is putting, ‘WE the People First’.
THE HOUSING CRISIS
The ‘housing supply business’ has failed to keep pace with its growth. Our State is the eighth (8th) worst in the U.S. for production of homes. There is a need for 250,000 new homes in Washington between now and 2030. Our governor , per his budget, and the legislators passed a statewide policy to allow a variety of middle housing types to be built. This will supply more housing, but does not address the need to build single housing units for families that desire them. I forecast, that these multiple units will be built by those who can afford to do so and and charge rent, instead of ownership. Housing is the key to reducing intergenerational poverty and providing economic mobility for those in the low income or middle class. Solving this crisis, which also impacts homelessness, requires a long-term commitment and collaboration between private, non-profit and public organizations/companies. Last December 2022, our governor proposed the state raise $4B dollars by using bonds outside the state’s debt limit for 5,000 housing units between 2023 and 2025 and 19,000 in the following years. THIS IS NOT PROACTIVE ENOUGH! The housing shortage will continue to crush family finances, make it harder to stop rising rent costs, reduce homelessness and make it harder to build wealth. Our governor needs to be more creative, innovative with leadership. He needs to offer tax credits, land trust housing development, create lease-to-own home loans for ‘good’ renters, or create low cost In-state incentive funding for private home developer’s. With a forecasted 2022, $15 B excess for our state budget a portion of this could have gone to funding home development. This offers the possibility to launch a housing transformation within our state. Low cost homes are needed now. This will help alleviate some of our homeless problem also.
We need to put together a council or committee of housing experts, service providers, home developers and other housing industry professionals and begin developing a plan to meet our housing needs. The following subjects should be discussed:
1. Green lighting dense developments or up zoning near transit hubs.
2. Streamlining planning, permitting, inspections and financing process.
3. Reduce costs and complexity.
4. 3-D printing of home parts and construction in four days.
5. Have the state create pre-approved plans for different types of housing; single family homes, cottages, accessory dwelling units, one to four dwelling units to avoid local code reviews.
6. Mass production of modular and prefab homes.
7. Prioritize construction work force development.
8. Review urban growth boundaries.
9. Look at areas to rezone for building multiple dwelling units.
10. Create ways for renters to purchase homes via a’lease-to-own home’ or ‘rent-to-own’ program.
11. Use land trusts to build homes like they did in Winthrop, Washington.
THE PUBLIC OPTION FOR CHILDCARE
The U.S. is not a “stay at home mom country’ any more. Out of financial necessity women must hold jobs to help out with the cost of living. Parent are forced to have people, paying hefty funds ,to watch their children. Parents can’t leave them alone. The average cost of care has doubled since 1985. In two thirds of the states infant care costs as much as public college tuition. Finding a slot to put their kids is another challenge. A government public option on a federal exchange would satisfy this need. People could pay into the plan or could choose private plans that are competitively available. There would be three parts to it:
1. Infant care for children the age of three.
2. Full-day preschool care that would be integrated with private or public schools.
3. Before and after school care that would be integrated with private and public school.
This is similar to the system that France has road tested and is very successful.
FINISH THE WAR ON DRUGS AND REDUCE CRIME
We should NOT be lenient with drug dealers. They should be charged a class C felony and be incarcerated for long prison terms. In 2021 we lost over 100,00 citizens in the U.S. to overdose use. Most were young adults. I have met several families that have lost members of their children to overdose. The pain and sorrow from their heart was apparent. Most of this is due to Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
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We need to educate our children and young adults about fentanyl in our classrooms.
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Make more available, Naloxone to all first responders and community based organizations.
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Develop a state rapid response system within our communities.
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Better law enforcement for ‘supply reduction’.
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Support treatment expansion. Substance abuse disorder treatment works.
LAW, ORDER AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEMS
We need to keep our communities safe! FIRST, be ‘tough on crime' and SECOND, be ‘tough on the causes of crime’. Public safety takes precedence over the inequities of the justice system. It needs to be addressed afterwards. Our working class and ordinary citizens have a right to feel safe at home and downtown. Instead of defunding the police like Seattle did we should look at trying what Denver, Colorado did. They created a STAR teams (Support Team Assisted Response) using a van of mental health specialists and paramedics which only answer calls to public intoxication. person down, trespassing and public disorder. If violence or weapons were present, the cops would go. This program is similar to what Mt. Vernon, Washington does with a hired counselor attached to the police department. The evidence in a study with their program was effective in reducing the designation of Individuals in crisis as criminal offenders and reducing the actual level of crime. To combat the violent crimes, Denver increased their Police budget.
We also need to Improve the states behavioral health system services with access to health care. This would help in reducing crime and address the social needs for mental health treatment for the states citizens. Hospitals are already grappling with an overflow of patients who need specialized care that they cannot provide and currently have staffing problems. We must confront addictions as part of the homelessness strategy and have a systematic approach that links addiction, homelessness, employment and metal health into one program. For Mpre Info. See The Big Picture
PRESERVING THE INITIATIVE PROCESS
Our states constitution , provides, “The first power Reserved by the people is the Initiative “ and “The second power reserved to the people is the referendum.” Both of these should be free from unnecessary and burdensome regulation by the state. If either, the initiative or the referendum, is passed by the people then the state government must abide by that decision if it is per the Constitution of Washington.
CLIMATE CHANGE
As earth’s resources become more scarce, we must consider to establish incremental national/state policies that will move us from a ‘growth economy’ to a ‘sustainable economy’. The climate issue is ‘REAL’! We need to cooperatively work together to eliminate its growing impact. The ‘sixth extinction’ of the planet is just around the corner if we don’t begin to deal with it now, Already, some species of both plant and animal life has become extinct!
REVIEW OF FUTURE ENERGY AND WATER NEEDS
Our state has one of the Lowest carbon footprint of any state and one of the most aggressive decarbonization plans in the world. Be proud of that! I am concerned that by 2050 we will be a net importer of energy. The states wind and solar projects are great; but, both have a weakness in ‘reliability’. Let’s not take the chance of future ‘brownouts’ or ‘blackouts’. We need to consider building advanced nuclear breeder reactors. Just recently, Grant County decided to build a breeder reactor and have it active by 2028. Better yet, are fusion nuclear reactors that the UK is set to lunch the first nuclear fusion power plant at the West Burton site in Nottinghamshire. Hydrogen is acceptable but the process to attain it is expensive, relies on fossil fuel or a great deal of electricity and lots of water to produce it. The technology is not there yet. We need to move forward now. Lastly, we need to confirm the state has an accurate water audit and inventory of all water users and distribute it evenly/fairly.
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
When Sportsmen/women purchase outdoor tags, fishing, hunting, etc. this money apparently goes into the states Wildlife Account and some goes back to fund programs at the WDFW. Where exactly or how much of this money is located or goes to (the general fund, states rainy fund) is not very clearly known and is hard to verify. More transparency or a public audit needs to be provided by the state to its outdoor users to keep us from thinking we are taxed twice ( sales tax and outdoor tags, permits, etc.) that go into the general fund instead of the Wildlife Account.
SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE
The heart of the American economy and capitalism belongs to small business’s located throughout the United States. Most American citizens have a latent desire to own or have a small business and this happens to be one of the reasons our economic system does so well. I understand that soon they will have to pay back their Covid loans to the federal government. Coming after an economic inflationary period is going to be difficult for most of them. We need to defer or revise their payback to the government.
The Northwest Small Business Administration believes there is no wrong door through which someone can access their programs and services. But for some communities, especially of those with ‘color’ or rural owned businesses, there is no door to begin with. A lot of this is due to discomfort with the government or lack of being familiar with the SBA. There is a need to ensure equitable access and opportunity. Use it!
The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act was passed to fund better access and entry to SBA services and programs for funding working capital, counseling, Advising services and digital capacity building or other tools to grow revenues. Contact Mike Fong (pdxhelp@sba.gov) Northwest Pacific Regional Administrator for the SBA.