Governor Gregoire addresses the Mercer Island Rotary Club

June 3, 2008

*As Written*


Good afternoon, and thank you Petra for the kind introduction.

I�m always happy to come to Mercer Island � especially this time of year when your community is so lush and beautiful. Mercer Island is such a jewel.

Before I start today, I just want to share with you that I�m well aware the clock is ticking, and the big day looms closer and closer�And larger and larger.

Sometimes I even wake up in the middle of night and think about it. Visions of disaster dance in my head.

Will the big day go the way we want it to go? Will it be just perfect?

If you�re wondering whether or not I�m thinking about November�I�m not.

I�m thinking about August � when our eldest daughter, Courtney, ties the knot!

Courtney and I, with a little help from Mike, have pretty much already navigated what I call the Wedding-Industrial Complex.

If you�ve been through it, you know what I�m talking about, and if you haven�t, I don�t want to discourage you � because marrying off a daughter is an important and wonderful event!

Anyhow, we�re finally done with the really big stuff � (like picking the color for napkins.)

And we just passed the milestone of dress alterations and cake tasting. Plus, I recently attended Courtney�s weekend �Bachelorette� Party. All I will tell you about that is that I managed to get really sunburned.

So the big day is coming ever so closer. And as we all know � it just has to be perfect!

I�m sure it will be, and seriously, we are looking forward to the wedding, and we are really looking forward to gaining a wonderful son � which, by the way, especially pleases Mike in our family of three women.

I also want to take a minute to congratulate the Mercer Island Rotary for the great work you�re doing for people with disabilities in other countries. I know you collect money for wheelchairs to send to poor people abroad, and that fills a very basic need.

On behalf of the people of Washington, I thank you for this compassionate work.

I can�t come to Mercer Island without starting with one of the biggest issues on all our minds � transportation � specifically the State Route 520 Bridge.

I�m happy to tell you that we are well on our way to replacing that vital -- yet vulnerable -- bridge. And we have expedited the schedule so a new bridge will be opened in 2014 � a full four years earlier than initially planned.

The new bridge will have three lanes in each direction � one of the three a high speed lane for carpoolers and buses. There will also be breakdown shoulders for disabled vehicles � a huge improvement over the current bridge in terms of traffic tie-ups.

We are not building an eight-lane bridge for a several reasons. But the one I�ll mention today is that it wouldn�t help motorists because the road system at either end of the bridge can�t handle it. The fact is, an eight lane bridge would just get drivers to traffic backups sooner.

So here�s where we are:

I signed a bill in March that closes the funding gap for the bridge. This will allow us to match existing state and federal dollars of nearly $2 billion with tolling.

The bill also establishes a committee with Bob Drewel, the Puget Sound Regional Council executive director; Dick Ford, State Transportation Commission member, and my Department of Transportation director, Paula Hammond.

The committee will evaluate tolling options, consult closely with local jurisdictions and the public, and provide a report to me and the Legislature by January.

Meanwhile, we are closer to a design solution on the west side of the lake -- thanks to the good work of the communities and neighborhoods participating in the mediation process.

And early next year, we will begin construction of a single string of pontoons, and begin deferral of the sales tax on construction costs.

We simply have to replace the 520 Bridge � and soon. As I�m sure each of you knows, the bridge is extremely vulnerable to earthquakes and wind.

There is nothing to it but to do it, and do it we will.

Well into my fourth year as governor, I could talk about many other things today too:

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.

Or, about our fiscal discipline that has left us the envy of other states with a savings account of $850 million going into the next budget year, and a recent award from the Pew Research Center that finds us tied among three states as the best managed state in the country.

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 by 2010.
Or about what we�re doing to make our streets safer by cracking down on sex offenders.

Or about how we�re confronting the high price of gas and beginning to move our state into an economy where we create green-collar jobs and make transportation more affordable.

Or 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, what I�d really like to do is share with you some of what we are doing to help small businesses in Washington, and also talk about the engine driving so much of Washington�s economy � International Trade.

Maybe we can get to other issues during Q&A.

Things are definitely tough out there right now for Washingtonians � fuel at record prices and grocery budgets that don�t go as far as they should.

But the highly respected Economist Magazine, in a recent presentation in Tacoma, confirmed something we already know. And it�s that Washington is still faring better than most for two big reasons...

�As the magazine pointed out � one reason is our economic diversity�and the other is our powerful export engine that sends Washington products aboard.

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

To solar-panel component makers in Moses Lake, start-up high-tech companies in Seattle; computer chip manufacturers in Vancouver, and wheat growers in the Palouse.

I have a business plan for Washington � we call it �Next Washington� � and it recognizes that diversity, and by the way, it also recognizes that small business is the lifeblood of Washington�s economy.

To that end, we have strategies to lower the cost of doing business in Washington, and at the same time make targeted investments to promote small business and commerce. A good example would be our significant new investments in promoting tourism.

One way we have directly lowered costs for small business is through lower taxes.

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 by a total of $465 million through a rate holiday last year.

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 Washington Health Insurance Partnership.

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!

We have been recognized nationally for our on-line business portal, which provides on-line business registration, and now provides a one-stop location for businesses looking to hire new employees.

We�re right now actively reaching out to small business to learn what their problems are and how we can help.

For the first time in 16 years, we have increased funding to our Economic Development Councils, which in turn look for opportunities to promote business growth in their regions from the ground up.
As the Economist magazine noted, Washington�s other big strength is International Trade.

Some in my political party are less than enthusiastic about free-trade policies.

Well, let me be very clear right now that I differ on that score. Why? Because it�s our bread and butter. We not only accept that we are in a global economy � we embrace it and make it work for us.

That�s a big reason Forbes Magazine ranked us among the top five states to do business.

The fact is, we are a huge export engine, and that�s a big reason that although times a getting tougher right now in our state � we�re still in better shape than much of the nation.

I see the power of our export engine every time I fly in a Boeing plane to far-off lands�Checked e-mail via Microsoft Outlook�And stop for coffee at a Starbucks on the way to a supermarket to put on an apron and hand out Washington cherries or French fries in Mexico and Korea.

You in this room understand it too. You understand that whatever your business, the platform for our economy as a whole is international trade. One of three jobs in Washington depends on it.

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

That�s a lot in three years, and Don Brunell, head of the Association of Washington Business, says we can�t do enough trade missions. That�s because they pay off in big ways and small.

In a trade mission to Mexico last year, I and leaders of Pearson Packaging of Spokane met with Grupo Modelo, which makes great Mexican beer including Corona.

Pearson landed itself $2 million in equipment sales to Grupo, and told us later that what made the difference was having the Governor of Washington at the table.

Led by aerospace industry sales, our exports rose to a record of nearly $67 billion last year. In fact, our exports have doubled since 2004. Believe me, that�s not just because of aerospace.

Across the board, exports are up. Our growers are reaping the rewards of a weak dollar, are also enjoying the benefit of worldwide demand for their products. This is why trade accounts for one in three jobs in Washington!

We have a strategy to keep international trade strong. Let me offer just one result of that strategy. 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.

I think it�s time to stop and take a few questions. But I want you to know, I�ll keep working hard to keep our state at the top of our global economy � across the aisle, across the state, and across the oceans.