Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
Our state has been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn – unemployment levels have skyrocketed and I’ve heard from many local communities struggling to cover basic services like education, public safety, transportation and health care. As a United States Senator, part of my job is to help critical priorities in our state receive attention from the federal government so that we can help reinvigorate our economy, create new, high-paying jobs, and help our working families stay ahead in these tough economic times.
Part of that process at the federal level includes making sure that our state gets our fair share of funding from the federal government. Washington consistently pays more in federal tax dollars than we receive back in federal investment and services.
During the annual budget process, I submit requests to the Senate Appropriations Committee for congressionally directed spending for Washington state (sometimes referred to as "earmarks") that benefits our state. Some of these include: flood control levees; airport, rail, highway and mass transit improvements; drinking water and wastewater infrastructure; gang crime prevention and intervention programs; workforce training; and, agricultural research. I am working to continue to make this process even more transparent and to ensure that we’re spending taxpayer dollars wisely.
Every year, I receive hundreds of requests for assistance from cities, counties, water and utility districts, transportation agencies, and others. I carefully review and evaluate these requests — and choose to submit a selection of these projects to the Committee. The final outcome for any request will not be known until the bill has been approved by the House and Senate, and signed into law by the President.
I will be posting each request I make to my Web site as they are submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Below you will find detailed information about requests I made for the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill.
Emergency Plan to Save Oyster Production on the West Coast – Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (Pacific and Mason Counties, WA).
Project Description – The shellfish farming industry is a vital economic engine in the costal Pacific Northwest. In Washington state, Pacific County and Mason County depend on the shellfish industry, which is the number one and number two private employer in the counties, respectively, with over 2,500 family-wage jobs. The value of farm-gate oysters provides the state $72 million annually, and the overall oyster industry provides $173 million annually. This important industry, however, is facing increased hardship due to the adverse effect of changing water chemistry on the vitality of Washington’s oyster beds.
I am requesting $600,000 for projects that will help protect both the local costal environment and the important shellfish industry. This funding will go toward retrofitting hatcheries to withstand changing ocean chemistry, implementing ocean chemistry monitoring activities and enhance identification activities of healthy oyster families. Together, these projects will help maintain a vibrant shellfish industry in costal Washington state while providing critical data on the changing costal environmental conditions, which will prove useful for the entire Pacific coastline.
Amount Requested – $600,000
Gang Intervention Initiative – King County Sheriff’s Office (King County, WA)
Project Description - Criminal gang activity is an increasing problem in urban areas across the nation. King County, home to Seattle, is no exception; it has seen a 40 percent increase in gang activity in the last year alone. The King County Sherriff’s Office (KCSO) has recently created, with federal and state support, the Gang Intervention and Juvenile Detention Diversion Program as part of the pre-existing Gang Intervention Initiative. I am requesting $500,000 to fund the Gang Intervention Initiative and provide resources for the KCSO to continue its gang unit and gang intelligence-gathering operations.
The existence of a specialized, standing Gang Intervention Initiative provides the KCSO with ongoing intelligence on gang activity and the community with a more effective and targeted gang prevention and intervention force. The Gang Intervention and Juvenile Detention Diversion Program would build on this program by utilizing a collaborative approach to gang prevention and intervention. By combining intervention, mentoring and education services together with the resources of the KSCO, state and local governments, non-profit agencies and the community-at-large, it will be in a better position combat gang activity and juvenile delinquency throughout the King County region.
Amount Requested – $500,000
Implementation of OJJDP Best Practices Gang Model – Phase One – Yakima County (Yakima, WA).
Project Description – Yakima County, in central Washington state, is currently facing an increased problem of youth gang activity. In order to properly address this problem, the county is beginning the implementation of the initial phase Gang Model (Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems) program through the The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This program utilizes several different approaches to address the youth gang problem, such as prevention, intervention and suppression programs, to provide at-risk and high-risk youth with the tools necessary to avoid gang participation. I would like to request $350,000 in funding to help implement this OJJDP program in Yakima County.
This funding in the fiscal year 2010 will provide Yakima county with the funding to sustain staff to provide outreach and support for 3000 at-risk and high-risk youth and 270 gang youth in three components: prevention, which consists of two staff operating in high schools around the county to foster an environment of zero-tolerance for gang behavior and provide alternatives to gang activity; suppression, which utilizes a staff, some of whom are former gang members, to provide around-the-clock services such as case management, mentoring, referral, and parent involvement to diminish gang involvement; and intervention, which utilizes Functional Family Therapy (Best Practice accredited by OJJDP and SAMHSA) to provide support for youth leaving gangs. Additionally, this funding will help create a Steering Committee, which the OJJDP maintains is "crucial in determining the success or failure of the community in implementing a comprehensive approach [to gang deterrence and prevention]."
Amount Requested – $350,000
Kids in Medicine Program – Seattle Science Foundation (Seattle, WA)
The Seattle Science Foundation is a not-for-profit medical education and research organization. The Foundation’s Kids in Medicine program is a community outreach program designed for elementary school age children. The program combines short lectures tailored for specific age groups as well as unique, hands-on discovery opportunities with anatomical models, simulators, and cadaveric or animal tissue. After "gowning up," students explore the heart and brain by touching and feeling real organs, and experience a unique look into the human body. Students are exposed to a variety of medical and scientific fields of study beyond what they would traditionally recognize, in addition to interacting with medical professionals. The program tracks the WA State Essential Academic Learning Requirements and the National Science Education Content Standards.
The Foundation is teaming with the Shoreline School District to expand the Kids in Medicine program by developing a comprehensive medical science curriculum for 2nd through 4th graders. The goal of the curriculum is to stimulate an interest in the sciences through activities related to the field of medicine. With Federal funding, all ten elementary schools in the Shoreline District will be able to participate in the Kids in Medicine program.
Amount Requested $250,000
METH Strategy – Quinault Indian Nation (Quinault Indian Nation, WA)
As you know, methamphetamine use is a serious problem across the nation, but it is particularly devastating in rural and underdeveloped regions. This is particularly true in the Quinault Indian Nation in western Washington state. In recent years the government of the Quinault Indian Nation has implemented a Methamphetamine Strategic Plan, which is part of the Nation’s broad, comprehensive alcohol and drug strategy, developed to bridge the gaps in existing services and ensure the issue of methamphetamine is dealt with in a thoughtful and realistic manner.
I am requesting $250,000 to provide the Quinault Indian Nation with the resources to improve, integrate and strengthen the overall health and services of individuals and to protect communities from the significant risks related to methamphetamine production and use by targeting enforcement, outreach, prevention, stabilization and harm reduction services to high-risk populations. Within the Quinault Indian Nation’s jurisdictional boundaries, there is a need to collaborate on initiatives to address crystal meth use across all sectors, including government, regional health authorities, local school districts, community organizations and other partners. This funding will provide the members of the Nation with the services they need to combat the growing threat of methamphetamine use.
Amount Requested - $250,000
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Gang Prevent Project – Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (Muckleshoot Indian Nation, WA)
Project Description - Gang activity is an ever-increasing threat to public safety and is a particular problem in Native American tribes. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe in western Washington state is facing a sharp increase in the number of Tribal children joining gangs in increasing violent activity, such as drive-by shootings. Local law enforcement agencies have attributed the increase in Tribal gang activity to the evolution of urban gangs in the Seattle and Tacoma area focusing their recruitment on rural areas.
To help the tribal authorities address the increase in gang activity in the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, I am requesting $250,000 to fund the gang prevention efforts of the Tribe. The Tribe has ongoing efforts of gang intervention but needs to begin programs of gang prevention. These funds will be used to create anti-gang materials that are culturally appropriate for Native American children, since such culturally appropriate materials do not exist. Additionally, these funds will be used to address the challenges facing children with siblings or juvenile family members who have been identified as gang members and who witness abuse and drug addiction. Solving the problem of gangs and gang violence requires using prevention methods that address the problem from different angles and through culturally appropriate curricula.
Amount Requested - $250,000
Multi-Jurisdictional Data Integration Project – Whatcom Exchange Network (WENET) (Whatcom County, WA)
Project Description - Public safety is greatly enhanced when law enforcement agencies have quick and efficient access to criminal data. In order for such access to exist networks need to be created that connect different law enforcement agencies, including sheriffs offices and police departments, prosecutors and jails with secure, reliable data transfer mechanisms. In Whatcom County, which is located in northern Washington on the border with Canada, they have completed phase one of such a network, called the Whatcom Exchange Network (WENET), which connects several different law enforcement agencies in the region on a secure network and provides responses to data enquiries in fewer than 20 seconds. I am requesting $350,000 for the second phase of this important project.
Phase two of the WENET project will help integrate the system, which currently provides access to data between local and regional law enforcement agencies, to a broad network of national and international law and justice agencies, including both Canadian and US border authorities, Alaska Law Enforcement, Law Enforcement Information Exchange, and NDEX.
Amount Requested - $350,000
National Indian Center for Marine and Environmental Research and Education – Northwest Indian College (Bellingham, WA).
Project Description - Northwest Indian College (NWIC), one of 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities in the U.S. and the only regional tribal college, provides educational and leadership opportunities in native marine and environmental sciences throughout the Pacific Northwest. NWIC is requesting federal government funding for the support for the National Indian Center for Marine and Environmental Research and Education (NICMERE). This opportunity provides necessary funding to expand NICMERE’s existing capacity and move towards long-term sustainability. NICMERE will play an important role in preserving and restoring critical natural resources vital to the economic and cultural viability of the Tribes as well as the Nation as a whole.
Combined with support from Tribes and Tribal organizations and other private and public resources, this funding will allow NWIC to construct a facility to house the center, expand environmental preservation/restoration and aquaculture projects, implement environmental education training programs and build long-term sustainability through partnership development, fund raising and profit centers within NICMERE.
Amount Requested - $2,000,000
National Institute on State Policy on Trafficking of Women/Girls – Center for Women Policy Studies (Washington state).
Project Description – The Center for Women Policy Studies has been successfully educating and supporting state legislators nationwide to combat trafficking of women and girls. They provide expertise and support to help improve anti-trafficking programs and policies. The Center advises state policy makers, educates community leaders, prepares analyses/research on victim protections, maintains Clearinghouse on Trafficking Policy, and convenes Parliamentarians, state legislators, federal officials to build local/global anti-trafficking partnerships.
The Center’s work to combat trafficking of women and girls into the United States is a crucial part of its advocacy for women’s human rights. As a major destination country for traffickers, the United States -- and all 50 states -- must craft domestic responses to this global human rights crisis. Each year thousands of women and girls are trafficked into the United States, where they are held in involuntary servitude for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Amount Requested – $500,000
Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative – Washington State Department of Ecology (Olympia, WA)
Project Description - The goal of the Northwest Straits Initiative is to protect and restore the marine waters, habitats and species of the Northwest Straits region to achieve ecosystem health and sustainable resource use by, designing and initiating projects that are driven by sound science, local priorities, community-based decisions and the ability to measure results; building awareness and stewardship and making recommendations to improve the health of the Northwest Straits marine resources; maintaining and expanding diverse membership and partner organizations; expanding partnerships with tribal governments and continuing to foster respect for tribal cultures and treaties; and recognizing the importance of economic and social benefits that are dependent on marine environments and sustainable marine resources.
County-based Marine Resources Committees (MRCs) are the foundation for scientifically sound, locally-supported marine conservation measures. Guided by sound science, they develop priorities based on local/regional data and implement strategies for short and long-range projects consistent with the Initiative’s performance benchmarks. The Commission provides an ecosystem focus, helps mobilize science to focus on key priorities, provides resources to the MRCs, and serves as a forum for coordination and consensus-building.
Amount Requested - $1,000,000
Rapid Border Prosecution – Whatcom County (Whatcom, WA).
Project Description – Whatcom County government is responsible for providing law enforcement services to the residents in the jurisdiction as well as the transient population of people who visit and move through Whatcom County on a daily basis. Whatcom County is an international border community that has five ports of entry into our county, including the Peace Arch Port of Entry in Blaine, which is one of the busiest points of entry in the United States. Interstate 5, which begins on the United States/Mexican Border passes directly through Whatcom County and ends its northern terminus at the U.S./Canadian Border. The impact on the criminal justice system from border related crime, captured fugitives, drug trafficking and crimes committed by persons refused entry into Canada is at the heart of the law and justice process. The most common reasons for denial of entry into Canada are persons with felony criminal history, persons who are mentally unstable and persons with no funds. Therefore, Whatcom County ends up with a transient population that represents a significant criminal liability to the community.
From 2005 through 2007 the Rapid Border Prosecution Project was implemented to move so called, "fastrack offenders" through the criminal justice system in a more rapid fashion. This in turn frees up resources to deal with day to day local issues and find efficiencies in dealing with the impact of border related crime by the transitory population which severely impacts an already backlogged law and justice system.
Amount Requested – $560,000
Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative – City of Seattle (Seattle, WA)
Project Description - In early 2008 four young men were victims of gang violence in Seattle. Many other acts of juvenile violence have occurred in King County and neighboring cities. King County has seen a 40% increase in gang activity since last year alone. Fear about violence has grown among youth, parents and the community at large. The City of Seattle convened a meeting with community leaders, school principals, members of the faith community and concerned citizens to discuss how the community could form partnerships to reduce youth violence.
In order to achieve these ambitious goals, the City has proposed creation of three community-led networks to provide a full range of services including outreach, mentoring, case management, anger management, youth employment and pre-apprenticeships, recreation, community school police officers, emphasis patrols and neighborhood projects led by youth. These services are proven to reduce the likelihood that youth will continue to engage in violent behavior.
Amount Requested - $500,000
Technology Growth Fund – Sirti Foundation (Spokane, WA)
Project Description - The project is a revolving loan fund termed the Technology Growth Fund (TGF). The region’s [15-county] Community Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) plans emphasize both the creation of new businesses, as opposed to the expansion or enhancement of existing businesses. The Sirti Foundation currently manages the loan process with authorized funds from a 2005 Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration award matched with equal private dollars. The requested funding of $1.5 million would serve as a 50% match with private funds to continue this successful economic development technology-based loan project.
The capital needs of emerging technology firms are generally not fully addressed in the region’s CEDS plans. Nationally, angel and venture capital firms have supplied the needed funds. Within Sirti’s fifteen county service area, very little venture capital is available. Debt financing is even further out of reach, as banks and other traditional conventional lenders do not provide financing for startups and emerging companies. The project seeks to help achieve the goals and initiatives of the five CEDS reports which include fostering the development of technology related jobs, economic development initiatives, plans to improve personal income levels through new and existing job development, efforts to increase the numbers of technology based jobs in the region, as well as the amount of risk capital available for startup and emerging businesses.
Amount Requested - $1,500,000
Tribal Ocean Ecosystem Inatitive – Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (Northwest Washington state)
Project Description - As you may know, the Olympic coastal ecosystem in western Washington state is the engine that drives the Neah Bay, LaPush, Hoh River, and Taholah tribal economies. I am requesting $3,170,000 to develop programs to conserve, protect and ensure the future of the Olympic coastal ecosystem. This project will build on current and ongoing data and research programs to improve current data collection programs on sea-floor environment research and improve the forecasting capabilities. This program will also focus on rockfish assessment and habitat mapping. This will be used to improve upon the current stock assessment of rockfish resources and build knowledge of surrounding seafloor terrain and habit.
Amount Requested - $3,170,000
Washington State Methamphetamine Initiative – Pierce County Alliance (Tacoma, WA).
Project Description – Washington state continues to combat one of the most serious methamphetamine crises in the nation. Demand, production, availability and abuse of methamphetamine remain high in all areas of the Pacific Northwest but especially in Washington state. The DEA and other federal agencies have undertaken major efforts to combat meth production and use nationwide. However, the most effective approach to addressing this national problem is through federal, state, and local partnerships. Funding will be used by the State to provide resources and support to community-based Meth Action Teams, fund collaboration efforts between law enforcement and community-based prevention programs and support community outreach and public awareness programs and campaigns.
Amount Requested – $4,000,000
Washington State University Research Center for the Study of Methamphetamine and Other Drugs of Abuse – Washington State University (Pullman, WA)
Project Description – The requested funding will enable the Washington State University Program of Excellence in the Addictions, which currently has a focus on methamphetamine, to expand their work to combat prescription drug abuse. WSU has the ability, based on our geographic location and its recent funding to establish a program of excellence in rural substance abuse, the capacity to be an absolute leader in understanding, treating and preventing prescription drug abuse in rural areas. Washington state leads the nation in deaths from prescription abuse
Under WSU’s leadership the research team will devise evidence-based procedures that can be applied in the current health care arena. This partnership will also facilitate the development of strategies for treating and preventing drug use utilizing modern medical technology (e.g., electronic medical records and shared electronic communication between providers at various levels).
Amount Requested - $500,000
Weather Protection for Washington State: Acquisition of a Coastal Weather Radar – National Weather Service (Seattle, WA).
Project Description – The western coast of the United States is often the first part of the country to experience severe weather patterns, since many storms move eastwardly from off shore. It is important to be able to accurately forecast such weather events, not only to provide the communities in Washington with reliable weather information, but to protect the heavily trafficked sea lanes on which commercial, recreational and military watercraft travel. The current weather radar system, which was installed nearly 20 years ago, is incapable of following weather patterns on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain, rendering most of costal Washington invisible to accurate, high-powered radar. I am requesting $8 million of for a coastal weather radar installation on the central Washington coast.
This radar will be able to see hundreds of miles offshore, providing detailed information about storms approaching the coast and providing real-time weather information for coastal regions as well as out at sea. Enhanced weather technology will not only provide residents and sailors with improved forecasts, but will provide meteorological researchers with vital data necessary to study the intricate nature of earth’s atmosphere. This request will complete the procurement of land, equipment, and installation that was funded at $2 million in FY09.
Amount Requested – $8,000,000
Yakima Valley Safe Communities Initiative – City of Yakima (Yakima, WA)
Project Description - The elimination and prevention of violent crime, gang activity and drug trafficking is the top legislative priority for the City of Yakima. The Yakima community has experienced a marked increase in violent crime. The City’s responsibility to provide for the public’s safety and build capacity in their most crime-ridden neighborhoods can only be accelerated to keep pace with the increase in crime through federal financial assistance. This project will fund emphasis patrol sweeps, new technology and equipment, and costs associated with establishing a neighborhood presence in the most affected communities. Yakima’s officer to resident ratio is 1.576 per thousand people. This compares with a Washington State average of 1.8, a western states average of 2.0 and a nationally recommended average of 2.2 officers per thousand.
Amount Requested - $500,000
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