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Workers Comp Fraud?
The New York Times ran an article a few weeks ago that a constituent sent me for comment. He wanted to know if the same fraud occurred in Washington. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/business/some-physicians-making-millions-selling-drugs.html?smid=pl-share In some states doctors providing care under workers compensation were running schemes that resulted in their making crazy money selling drugs directly to patients. You…
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Openings for Boats on the 520 Bridge
WSDOT has negotiated a better deal with the Coast Guard regarding bridge openings when boats with tall masts want pass. More hours in the exclusion zone and more notice. If you travel the bridge frequently you may want to sign up for WSDOTs text message alert service. When they know, you’ll know. This is a…
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Frustrating but Powerful
This week I attended a meeting hosted by the Mockingbird Society where foster youth and young alumni of “the system” present proposals they’ve worked on in small groups for a year on how to improve their experiences. This isn’t the first time I’ve attended this event, and it won’t be the last. These young people…
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Fiscal Cliff and the Washington Budget
Richard Davis of the Washington Research Council posted today about the risks facing the Washington State budget. I don’t always agree with Dick, but he usually has something to say worth listening to. I do agree with him this time, that the largest risk we currently face is that Congress will fail to come to…
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Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fundraising
Fortunately you all haven’t seen me looking like this in a long time. in 2005 I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I went through a fair amount of chemotherapy and then a stem-cell transplant in 2007. It’s been five years and all good so far. Thank you Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center and everyone else…
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Long-term pension costs in Washington
The New York Times had an article this week about pension costs faced by states and large cities across America. Their argument is that the rate of return assumed by the plans is too high because returns for most funds over the last decade have been lower than the estimate. They say that 8% is…
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New (Preliminary) Economic Forecast for Washington
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has updated its forecast, as we do every quarter. This is the preliminary forecast. The final will be done in a couple of weeks when we get updated numbers from Global Insight, our vendor for national data. We modify that with specific data from Washington, and change a couple…
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Update on Floating Signs in Lake Washington
Seattle is saying no, he cannot float the sign. WSDOT has many more words to the same effect that I’ve included below. We are working with all the mayors surrounding the lake to make sure that this visual blight does not actually occur. I will continue to post on this issue, and propose legislation in…
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Eastside Schools Rock
5 of the top 5 high schools in Washington State and 5 of the top 200 high schools in the nation are in either the Bellevue or Lake Washington School District, acording to the annual US News and World Report 2012 ranking. While not an uncontroversial ranking (it doesn’t include Bellevue’s football prowess, for example)…
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More on Toxic Flame Retardants
In 2005, 2006, and 2007 I championed a bill in the Legislature that prohibited the use of poly-brominated diethyl (PBDE) flame retardants in products sold in Washington State. I argued that PBDEs were toxic for children and unnecessary. It was an ugly fight with the chemical industry. I was surprised at the level of duplicity…
