Gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Jay Inslee, seeking a job Democrats have held for 27 years, on Monday unveiled an economic program with sweeping promises of job creation on both sides of Washington’s “Cascade curtain.”
Inslee pledged that “the farmer in Colfax” and “the welders of South Seattle” will be as one as Washington develops bio-fuels, combats software piracy, angles for defense contracts, and closes tax loopholes while giving B & O tax breaks to start-up research companies.
Inslee
“‘Job One’ is growing jobs,” said Inslee.
After months of denouncing and debunking Republican hopeful Rob McKenna, Inslee is promising a series of positive unveiling events on topics ranging from restoring resources for education to creating a “prevention oriented health system.”
The state’s Republicans hit back Monday with a statement detailing how a key element of Inslee’s plans, the promise of jobs in a new “green economy”, have come up short. It cited the bankruptcy of a solar firm in California, recipient of more than $500 in federal loan guarantees, and the maladroit, sluggish launch of Seattle’s home weatherization program.
Those are fighting words to Inslee, who co-authored the book Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy.
“Let them go to Marysville and talk to Silicon Energy who are producing the best solar cells in the world,” he said. “They problem with the naysayers is they haven’t walked around and talked to Washingtonians who are creating whole new energies.”
Several Inslees were on display Monday. They included:
–”Alfalfa Jay” talked about living in a 100-year-old Selah farmhouse andgrowing alfalfa. He is pledging to boost agriculture with promotion of “wine country tourism” and developing the Yakima River Basin Enhancement Project that would store water upstream for fish and farming.
–”Armed Forces Jay” promised to “land more (military) contracts here,” press for more use of bio-fuels by the military, and create a “cabinet-level military liaison and ambassador for Washington to strengthen the relationship between military installations and host communities.”
–”Aerospace Jay”: Inslee pledged to expand training of the state’s aerospace workforce, bolster apprenticeship programs, create “an aerospace sector lead” in the governor’s office, and personally lead recruiting efforts with aerospace manufacturers and suppliers.
–”Apollo Jay” sees the sky as the limit for growing a green economy, or as he put it Monday: “The clean technology industry is growing. It is going to surge when I am governor of the state of Washington.”
Inslee argued that tough vehicle emission standards give off jobs as a byproduct: “We’re not going to let clean car jobs go down to California. They’re going to come here.”
Inslee has brought to politics the enthusiasm and hyperbole of a star high school athlete. One can pick up cadences of the Ingraham High School quarterback in the huddle, or the basketball star urging hustle.
“We have seen nothing yet when it comes to information technology in this state,” he enthused, saying a moment later: “We are not going to let people steal the intellectual property we develop right here in this state.”
A great many of the details — such as how Inslee’s promises will be paid for — have yet to be disclosed.
The state’s problems are interrelated. While host to a technology economy, Washington has starved education — particularly higher education — in recent state budgets.
The state ranks 37th of 50 states in per capita granting of college bachelor’s degrees. It falls to 45th in the granting of engineering degrees in proportion to the number of engineers employed in the state.
Hence, Washington is, per capita, the number one importer from out-of-state of people with college degrees.
Inslee predicts that “prevention-oriented health care” can save the state between $300 million and $400 million that can be used to begin restoration of education spending.
“We’ve hollowed out education and increased health care, and that has to change,” he argued in a brief interview.
McKenna has made education restoration, and training in the engineering, mathematics and science fields, a cornerstone of his election platform.
The inevitable nasty TV spots of this fall’s campaign will, hopefully, be counterbalanced by serious debate between the candidates about how to maintain Washington as a center of invention and innovation.
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