Tacoma Urbanist
Jan. 15, 2008 at 9:26pm
Governor's State of the Union Speech
The Washington State Legislature and Governor greatly effect Tacoma. They completely fund the University of Washington Tacoma. They will decide how much, if any funds will allocated to repair Tacoma's infrastructure such as the Murray Morgan Bridge.
The state legislature also decides what tax incentives can be offered to preserve historical buildings and to attract businesses and investment in Washington cities such as Tacoma.
This year, the legislature will determine whether the the Port of Tacoma should be merged with the Port of Seattle.
Tacoma may very well be asking its legislators to approve special tax incentives to keep the Russell Company in Tacoma.
Yesterday, I received the following Email:
Friends, Tomorrow, I will deliver my fourth State of the State address as Governor, and I hope that you will be able to tune in so that I can share with you the real progress we've made to move our state forward, as well as my vision to build on that success as we tackle the challenges ahead.
You can watch the speech live on the Internet, starting at 5:00pm at
http://tvw.org/media/liveevents.cfm.
Three years ago, Washington faced tough times. We were struggling with record unemployment and a $2.2 billion budget deficit that threatened to prevent us from making progress on key issues from education to health care to improved safety in our communities.
Over the last 3 years, we have invested wisely to give our kids a better education, to make our families healthier and safer, and to help bring family-wage jobs to this state. And we have done all that
while turning a $2.2 billion budget deficit into a $1.2 billion surplus.
I am excited about tomorrow night's speech because of how far we have come together as a state and for the progress we have made for Washington families. During my State of the State address, I will share with you more details about the successes we've had and the doors we have opened. But our job is not done.
Tomorrow night we begin a new conversation about continuing our progress and building an even brighter future for of our state. I hope you can join me.
Please tune in by visiting http://tvw.org/media/liveevents.cfm and watching the State of the State live.
Thank you.
Chris Gregoire
About
A ongoing conversation to make Tacoma a better to live and work through better urban design.
See my Downtown and Neighborhood Pictures
-Erik B.
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Useful Links
Tacoma Streetcars - Join the citywide effort to restore streetcars to Tacoma's Neighborhoods.
Congress for New Urbanism - the leading organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl.
Planetizen - A one-stop source for urban planning news, commentary and interviews.
New Urban News - Discussing traditional neighborhood development focusing on building mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods instead of conventional suburban subdivisions, shopping centers and office parks.