Gov. Gregoire addresses the Tacoma 8 Rotary Club

October 23, 2008

AS WRITTEN

Good afternoon, and thank you Debbie (Senator Regala) for the kind introduction.

Let me just say how much I appreciate Debbie.

She, the rest of the Pierce County delegation, and I have worked extremely well together on a number of big issues � not the least of which are the big steps we�ve taken in the past four years to crack down harder on sex offenders�

� And legislation that makes sure Pierce County gets no more than its fair share of offenders once they are released from prison.

Thank you, Debbie, for all your support.

I�m pleased to be back in this beautiful city again. I just came from speaking to the World Trade Center of Tacoma about the amazing position this city and the Port of Tacoma are in as a vibrant center for international trade � now and in the future.

I seems like, I�ve been here and in Pierce County so often recently that it feels like my second home.

In fact, I�ve been in Pierce County so much lately that I might even have the good fortune of running into my husband since this is his second home -- either working on veterans� issues or playing on his favorite golf courses.

So anyway, here I am again, which brings up a point. I�ve been invited to speak as your Governor -- not as a candidate. But I�ll be happy to take candidate questions.

Nearly at the end of my fourth year as governor, I could talk about many things today:

I could talk about why the Pew Center on the States finds us one of the three best-managed states in the country.

I could talk about our substantial investments to create a world-class, seamless, learner-focused education system from pre-school through college to make sure our sons, daughters and our grandchildren have the knowledge and skills to thrive in our global economy.

(And by the way, in case you missed it, our thriving UW-Tacoma just celebrated the grand opening of the new William Philip Hall � which will draw crowds for everything from lectures to concerts � another shot in the arm for this community.)

Or, about what we�re doing to make health care more affordable, and to make sure every low-income child in Washington has health insurance � or about how 100,000 Washingtonians so far have already saved nearly $5 million using our new prescription drug card program.

Or about what we�re doing to make our neighborhoods safer, resulting in the lowest crime rate in 14 years.

Or about how we�re offering a gradual solution to high gas prices by moving our state into an economy where we create green-collar jobs and make transportation more affordable by offering alternatives if people want them.

Or how when I took office in �05, DOT had completed only 12 transportation projects in all of 2004. Since the Legislature chose to put DOT under my control in July of �05, DOT has completed 167 projects!

Right now, DOT is working on 66 more, and will start another 43 in the next six months!

And these are not stop signs, folks. They are projects like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge�where the number of collisions alone has dropped by 60 percent, and far safer commuters are getting to work and home is less than half the time it used to take them.

�And the $119 million contract to rebuild the westbound section of SR-16 over Nalley Valley to open up a major traffic bottleneck.

Or I could talk about how Washington is becoming a center for Global Health research and delivery � through the Gates Foundation and our own state Life Sciences Discovery Fund � to name just two � and through our research hospitals and universities in Seattle and Pullman.

But in the time I have today, I want to share with you some of what we are doing to help us weather the nation�s economic woes.

Things are definitely tough out there right now for Washingtonians � fuel and grocery budgets that don�t go as far as they should � a credit crisis that threatens small business and makes the housing market even tougher.

But here�s the thing folks. A highly respected Economist Magazine writer, at a recent presentation here in Tacoma, confirmed something we already know. And it�s that Washington�s economy is structurally better off than much of the country�

And for two big reasons...

One is our work to help diversify our economy�and the other is our powerful export engine. These are the reasons our economy has created nearly 250,000 jobs since I took office, while, for example, Michigan and Ohio have lost more than 600,000.

By diversity, I don�t mean just the broad types of businesses, but where they are located too � from wineries in Walla Walla, machinery manufacturers in Spokane, and semi-conductors in Vancouver.

�To the bustling Port of Tacoma and the facility at Frederickson making the composite fins for the new Boeing 787.

By the way, I was recently at yet another grand opening here � this one for the new IKEA distribution center going in at Frederickson to create 125 more jobs for the Pierce County economy.
I have a business plan for Washington � we call it �Next Washington� � and it promotes that diversity, and by the way, it also recognizes that small business is the lifeblood of Washington�s economy.

We have lowered the cost of doing business in Washington, and at the same time made targeted investments to promote small business and commerce.

One way we have directly lowered costs is through tax incentives -- nearly $900 million since I took office � smart, targeted reductions to promote economic activity.

We helped new businesses get off to a good start by reducing unemployment insurance taxes by 15 percent. We also have reduced L&I insurance costs for all businesses through a rate holiday.

In the four years before I took office, L&I rates rose by 45 percent. In the last four years, they�ve risen 4 percent while inflation measured by the CPI is up 15 percent.

We are embarking on an innovative experiment to help small businesses and their employees get affordable health insurance by combining public and private dollars in the new, voluntary, Washington Health Insurance Partnership.

And of particular interest to this area � with your proximity to Mount Rainier and other beautiful environmental assets -- we have tripled state investment in tourism and, with rising fuel and food costs we�re out there telling Washingtonians -- You need a stay-cation � in Washington State.

We have made tremendous strides to cut red tape. One obvious example -- We are communicating with folks in simple English. We call it Plain Talk.

You know, sometimes that means something as simple as talking to people in Plain English.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine you�re sitting at your kitchen table reading the following letter from the Department of Labor and Industries.

"We have been notified that you did not receive the State of Washington warrant listed on the attached Affidavit of Lost or Destroyed Warrant Request for Replacement form F-242."

Does anyone know what that means?

Today that letter has been rewritten, and here�s what it says: "Have
you cashed your L&I check yet?�

That�s an example of our Plain Talk program, where we are making government communicate in a way you and I can understand. What a concept!

Those are all reasons Forbes Magazine � one the country�s best business magazines -- recently moved us from 5th best place to 3rd best state to do business. And Fortune Magazine has ranked us in the top five for small businesses.

As the Economist writer noted, Washington�s other big strength is International Trade.

We have decided to make the global economy work for us. The fact is, we are a huge export engine, and it�s a big reason that even though times are tougher right now � we�re still in better shape than much of the nation.

I�ve led five trade missions to 10 different countries since I took office. And that�s not counting my annual trips to Canada.

Just one example of success -- If you�re going to do business abroad, you need to be able to get there easily.

That�s why we have worked to help establish new direct flights to five foreign capitals in the past few years � Beijing, Paris, Frankfort, Mexico City and London.

Our exports rose to a record of nearly $67 billion last year. In fact, our exports have doubled since 2004, and they have increased by more than 20 percent this year alone. And our growers shipped more product abroad by July of this year than all of last year!

Obviously, things are slowing down. They have to in the worldwide downturn we�re now experiencing. But in terms of trade, including here at the Port of Tacoma, we remain fairly strong, and international trade will be Washington�s ace in the hole forever.

The current economic situation brings me to the state budget, and I want to talk about it before I stop for questions.

First of all, more than half of new spending since I took office has been for education � from getting our smallest children ready for First Grade�to beefing up math and science in our public schools�to opening the doors of our colleges, universities and trade schools to more high school graduates.

These are my values, and these are Washington�s values. I know this because I�ve gone out and asked Washingtonians directly.

In terms of education � I want to add that if businessmen and women like yourselves have told me anything in the past four years � it�s that education must be the state�s number one job. And in terms of our progress with education? Forbes ranks us number two.

Now, here we are in October, 2008, and thanks to the melt down on Wall Street, and the failure to police it along with the mortgage and credit crises -- we are tightening our belt just like every other governor � from Republican Arnold Swarzennegger to Democrat Janet Napolitano.

More than 30 states have deficits in their current budgets while we have a surplus of over half a billion dollars in our current budget.

I�ve made deep cuts before � in 2005 when I stepped into a $2.2 billion shortfall -- and I�ll do it again. And I�ll do it without raising taxes or fatally injuring the progress we�ve made on education or our other shared values.

And we�re already well on the way � even before I�ve written my proposed budget.

For starters, I fought for and won creation of the Rainy Day fund � and the fact is that right now, we�re one of the few states that has one.

Nevertheless, I started this summer with a freeze on hiring, travel, and contracts, and followed it with an across-the-board cut in state agencies and a host of other measures.

The result? We have already found ways to cut nearly $1 billion in spending, and that solves nearly half the shortfall projected for 2011.

We will get there. I�ve done it before and I will do it again. We have to live like a family and that means living within our means. It won�t be without some real pain, but I am determined to protect the services and programs that Washingtonians expect.

Thank you, and I think it�s time to stop and take a few questions.