BILL REQ. #:  H-3115.2 

Read first time 01/16/12.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH STATE'S LEGISLATURE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Our State, as most others, faces the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics cites an October 2011 unemployment rate of 9 percent in the State of Washington, yet closer to 30 percent are unemployed if residents who have exhausted their benefits and given up hope of finding a job are counted; and
     WHEREAS, The poverty rate in Washington State is 11.7 percent; and
     WHEREAS, State support for community-based businesses that hire locally, and the ability of workers to earn wages that exceed a subsistence rate, are keys to economic recovery in Washington State; and
     WHEREAS, Since fiscal year 2001, taxpayers in the State of Washington have paid 26 billion dollars toward the total spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and
     WHEREAS, Taxpayers in the State of Washington will pay an additional 3.5 billion dollars toward total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending for fiscal year 2011, bringing the total war spending bill for Washington State taxpayers to 29.5 billion dollars; and
     WHEREAS, One year of taxpayer war spending dollars could have alternately built our state infrastructure by creating 48,461 school teacher jobs, hiring 45,205 firefighters, creating enough jobs to convert 1.3 million households to solar energy, creating 42,585 new police or sheriff's patrol officer positions, or providing 113,000 four-year university scholarships; and
     WHEREAS, 11.7 percent of soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed, with many having inadequate support to adjust to civilian life; and
     WHEREAS, Counties with military facilities are experiencing the highest foreclosure rates in Washington State, and the already high number of homeless veterans is increasing; and
     WHEREAS, In February 2011, the State Legislature passed House Bill No. 1432 relating to veterans' relief by permitting private employers to exercise a voluntary veterans' preference in employment; and
     WHEREAS, For every 1 billion dollars spent on the military 11,600 jobs are created; yet for the same 1 billion dollars 17,100 jobs are created by investments in clean energy, 19,600 jobs are created by funding health care, or 29,100 jobs are created from spending on education; and
     WHEREAS, United States military spending has more than doubled since 2000; and
     WHEREAS, The proposed fiscal year 2012 military budget is 703 billion dollars, with military spending by other agencies raising that total to more than 1 trillion dollars; and
     WHEREAS, Adjusting for inflation, the level of funding proposed for the base defense budget in the fiscal year 2012 request comprises 60 percent of the national discretionary budget, the highest level since World War II; and
     WHEREAS, The United States military budget presently represents 43 percent of worldwide military spending, distantly followed by China (7.3 percent of world share), the United Kingdom (3.7 percent), France (3.6 percent), and Russia (3.6 percent); and
     WHEREAS, The Washington State Governor and Legislature have had to cut nearly 10.5 billion dollars from current and projected spending with another 1.4 billion dollars in reductions looming, resulting in significant job losses and cuts to vital programs; and
     WHEREAS, Projected revenues for Washington State continue to plummet, depleting our state reserves; and
     WHEREAS, This drain on the public treasury is bleeding our state and forcing increasingly severe cuts in vital social programs and public services, resulting in the inability of state government to support job creation and meet the most basic needs of our people, while producing ever-greater debt that will be borne by future generations;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Congress and the President change course by ending the war in Afghanistan: Dramatically shifting our national priorities to create stable jobs at living wages for all who seek employment; restoring vital social programs and public services; rebuilding our nation's deteriorating infrastructure; and putting our nation on an environmentally sustainable, ecologically responsible path that addresses the challenge of climate change and environmental degradation while reinvigorating jobs and our economy.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state's legislature, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.