Jaime Herrera Beutler RSS Articles

Jaime Herrera Beutler, Bipartisan Group of House and Senate Lawmakers Introduce Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A bipartisan group of senators and U.S. House members today introduced bills to provide certainty to forestry companies and workers, by reaffirming the Environmental Protection Agency’s 37-year-old policy toward regulation of runoff from forest roads.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., introduced the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act today.

The bill would aid efforts to increase timber harvests and forestry jobs by preventing unnecessary litigation on a question that the U.S. Supreme Court settled in the EPA’s favor earlier this year. The bill, like the Supreme Court decision, upholds the EPA’s existing policy, which does not require water discharge permits for forest roads.

Despite the EPA and Supreme Court decisions, however, some groups have promised to continue litigation, which will needlessly delay needed forest restoration work without action by Congress.

Senators Max Baucus, D-Mont., and James Risch, R-Idaho, and Representatives John Barrow, D-Georgia, Dan Benishek, R-Mich., Sanford Bishop, D-Georgia, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., Doc Hastings, R-Wash., Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., Jack Kingston, R-Georgia., Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Michael Michaud, D-Maine, Collin Peterson, D-Minn., Nick Rahall, D-W.V., Reid Ribble, R-Wisc., Terri Sewell, D-Ala., Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Penn. are original cosponsors of the measure.

WYDEN: “We need a healthy timber industry to provide timber jobs and to do the restoration work that ensures healthy forests. The way to do that is to stop litigating questions that have already been answered, and start working together to improve forest management practices. This bill will reaffirm the determination by both EPA and the Supreme Court that forest roads and other silviculture activities are not open to more litigation over water discharge permits under the Clean Water Act.”

CRAPO: “The jobs and economic activities relating to the forest products industry are critical to Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. The decision to change a 37-year-old program that deferred the regulation of logging road runoff to individual states has brought increased hardships causing job losses and jeopardizing our rural communities. This bipartisan legislation will clarify that the Clean Water Act was not intended to regulate stormwater runoff on forest roads and allow the focus of private, state and federal land managers to return to improving forest management.”

HERRERA BEUTLER: “At the heart of our efforts are the moms and dads employed by healthy, working forests – and passing this law will help make sure they have jobs, and will help make our forests healthy. I’m proud to keep working with my colleagues in both parties to solidify a law based on sound science that takes people and their livelihoods into account.”

SCHRADER: “The ability to independently manage our forests in a sustainable and responsible way is crucial to the vitality of Oregon’s rural economies and helps to keep our forests healthy and thriving. The timber industry and EPA have worked together for over three decades to reduce forest roads runoff with much success. The Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act restores the certainty our state and local governments and private forest landowners need to continue managing forestlands using best management practices that have been successful in the past.”

Jaime Herrera Beutler Supports “Flex Time” Bill for Working Families

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Jaime Herrera Beutler announced today that she had put her support behind the “Working Families Flexibility Act” – a legislative solution that gives workers in the private sector more choices when they need time off to spend with their families. Jaime cosponsored this legislation last Thursday.

Currently employees working in the public sector who exceed a 40 hour work week are able to make a choice between paid time off or overtime pay. However, private sector employees are prohibited by federal law from making this same choice -- as of now, private sector employees must choose overtime. Parents working in the private sector who want to attend a child’s soccer game or music recital, and would prefer flex time to overtime, currently don’t have that option.

This bill would expand choices for families struggling to balance demanding schedules. The flex time option would be completely voluntary for employers to offer, and for employees to use.

“My goal here is to give working moms and dads more choices. This family-centered bill would allow employees to decide how to manage more of their time, whether that’s being with their child or an aging relative, or tending to personal responsibilities outside of work,” said Jaime. “It’s important to me that this bill protects workers’ rights to choose what’s best for them. We should update an outdated law to meet employees where they’re at today, and in doing so we’ll encourage a more productive workforce and a better work-life balance.”

The “Working Families Flexibility Act” received a hearing in the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Workforce Protection Subcommittee last week, and is expected to receive full committee approval in the coming weeks.

What this bill does:

The bill allows employers to offer employees a choice between cash wages and comp time for overtime hours worked. Employees who want to receive cash wages would continue to do so. It updates the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which prohibits private sector employers from offering their employees the choice of accruing time off for working overtime hours.

Workers are free to ‘cash out’ their accrued comp time whenever they choose to do so. The comp time option is completely voluntary.

The legislation retains all existing employee protections in current law, and adds additional safeguards to ensure workers remain in control of their overtime compensation.

It requires a written agreement between the employer and employee, voluntarily and knowingly entered into by the employee. An employer is forbidden by law from making the comp time agreement a condition of employment.

Employees represented by union would need the comp time agreement to be settled on through collective bargaining between a union and employer.

Neither the method for calculating overtime, nor the employees right to receive cash wages for overtime work, are altered.

Compensatory time off accrues at the same rate as overtime, 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime worked.

Employees could accrue up to 160 hours of compensatory time each year. An employer would be required to pay cash wages for any unused, accrued time at the end of the year.

Jaime Herrera Beutler, Suzanne Bonamici Reintroduce Bill to Speed Up Marine Debris Cleanup

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Today, Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) teamed up with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) to roll out legislation that would assist coastal communities impacted by tsunami debris and other unexpected marine waste.

They were joined by original cosponsors representing Washington, Oregon, Alaska and California – Representatives Peter DeFazio, Adam Smith, Kurt Schrader, Judy Chu, Sam Farr, Michael Honda, Jackie Speier, Earl Blumenauer, Rick Larsen, Louis Capps, Barbara Lee, Derek Kilmer, Jim McDermott, Mike Thompson, Don Young, Dave Reichert, Jared Huffman, Denny Heck and Suzan DelBene.

With debris from the 2011 tsunami that struck Japan still washing up on beaches and coastline all along the western U.S., Jaime and Congresswoman Bonamici reintroduced the “Marine Debris Emergency Act” to allow NOAA to provide quicker, more targeted cleanup responses. The Washington and Oregon representatives began pushing the bill last August, and are reintroducing the bill with the new congressional session.

Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides marine debris removal grants but does not distinguish between emergency and non-emergency scenarios. The Marine Debris Emergency expedites the entire grant application process.

“We’re working to address the continuing cleanup needs from the 2011 tsunami, but we’re also equipping Pacific County and communities all along the coast to respond to unforeseen debris emergencies,” said Jaime. “Keeping our water and beaches clean and our communities safe requires us to respond in a quick, targeted and efficient manner. This bill will put existing resources to better use on the front lines, protecting the people and ecosystems of Southwest Washington.”

The bill will require NOAA to give preference to those areas experiencing a marine debris emergency and applying for debris removal grants. Additionally, the bill will require NOAA to approve or deny all Marine Debris Program grant submissions within 60 days of application.

Pearson Air Museum Bill Approved by Congressional Committee; Next Stop is U.S. House Floor

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee today voted to approve Jaime Herrera Beutler’s bill to restore local management to the Pearson Air Museum. The legislation gained votes from both parties, and the next stop would be a vote by the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

“On one hand, I’m glad that our bill to restore Pearson Air Museum is quickly moving forward in in the U.S. House. Yet I continue to hope that the Park Service will take a cue from the strong support that’s building in Congress, and agree to a solution that is acceptable to our community,” said Jaime. “What our region cares about is access and careful stewardship of this resource, and we get there by treating the local community as partners, not vendors.

“I commend Chairman Hastings and Chairman Bishop for taking the time to understand this issue and move the bill through the Natural Resources Committee,” Jaime continued. “I also appreciate the effort that ranking subcommittee Democrat Raul Grijalva has made to reach out to the Park Service and urge a compromise.”

Jaime Herrera Beutler, Kurt Schrader Applaud Supreme Court Ruling on “Forest Roads,” Pledge to Keep Working to Protect Forests and Jobs

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Today, the United States Supreme Court overturned an earlier Ninth Circuit Court decision that upended more than 35 years of Clean Water Act protection. Before today's Supreme Court ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision would have required the dirt and rock runoff from forest roads to be treated the same – and require the same permitting – as industrial parking lots.

Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR) have led a bipartisan coalition opposing this onerous decision and resulting “forest roads rule,” introducing legislation last Congress that would have maintained the Clean Water Act protections. However, since that time the Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that forest roads are “point sources” of pollution which still leaves forest landowners, businesses, and state and local governments vulnerable to new lawsuits and unlimited regulations from the federal government.

“The Supreme Court decision today is very good news for workers, small businesses, and communities throughout Southwest Washington – but we’re not in the clear just yet,” said Jaime. “Until we’ve put clear protections into law, forest roads are still susceptible to job-killing federal regulations that simply aren’t necessary to protect our forests and waterways. I’ll continue leading efforts to preserve the Clean Water Act protections alongside Congressman Kurt Schrader, and preserving healthy ecosystems and a healthy economy.”

“I applaud today’s Supreme Court decision which upholds the EPA’s long-standing policy of managing forest roads as non-point sources under the Clean Water Act,” said Schrader. “The next step in the process is for Congress to affirm today’s ruling with legislation to codify in law that forest roads are indeed non-point sources. That’s why I look forward to continue working with my Pacific Northwest colleague Rep. Herrera Beutler to reintroduce the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act to provide that certainty for our state and local governments as well as our private forest landowners.”

VIDEO: Pearson Air Museum Bill Gains Support in Congressional Hearing

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Jaime Herrera Beutler’s Pearson Air Museum bill gained crucial support during a congressional hearing that took place yesterday.

The House Natural Resources Committee’s Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee hosted the hearing yesterday on Capitol Hill. Jaime’s proposed legislation would transfer Pearson Air Museum and the surrounding seven acres of land from National Park Service control to the City of Vancouver.

“It was heartening to see strong support for our bill from other Members of Congress -- including the subcommittee chair,” said Jaime. “I hope the Park Service got the message that stall tactics and empty gestures are unacceptable. With this bill gaining support and advancing through Congress, I remain determined to help rectify the current mess and restore the Pearson Air Museum to our community.”

Video 1: Jaime’s opening statement

Video 2: Jaime’s questions

Video 3: Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) questions and remarks

Video 4: Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) questions and remarks

Video 5: Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) discusses legislation -- “this is legislation… that is going to move”

Jaime Herrera Beutler Bill Takes Aim at Fraudulent Government Contractors

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Today, Jaime Herrera Beutler introduced a bill that would stop taxpayer money from going to people who lied about their business’s qualifications in order to win government contracts.

A 2012 investigative report by Seattle’s King 5 TV revealed that multiple business owners filed misleading or false applications in order to win lucrative transportation contracts through Washington state’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. Some of the contracted businesses weren’t disadvantaged at all. Yet a loophole in federal law allows businesses disqualified from the DBE program for cheating the system to continue work on federally-funded transportation projects – and get paid for it.

Jaime’s bill puts a stop to this practice of rewarding cheaters. It requires the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (USDOT) to close this loophole and prohibit federal transportation dollars from being paid to businesses kicked out for cheating the system. In addition, the bill directs USDOT to recuperate unobligated funds made available to these fraudulent businesses.

“It’s bad when people cheat the system on the taxpayer’s dime, but it’s worse when those folks are caught and continue to be rewarded. My bill ends the payday for people who break the law to line their own pockets,” said Jaime. “For every crooked contractor that continues to collect taxpayer dollars, that leaves one less opportunity for a struggling small business to compete. When it comes to spending the public’s money, there is simply no room for fraud or abuse at any level.”

Background:

The King 5 investigative series, Fraud on the Job, found that multiple people had falsified their businesses’ qualifications to gain access to Washington state’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. One Mukilteo-based business was still carrying out contracts worth $31 million, despite having been thrown out of the program.

Jaime Herrera Beutler Questions Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in CRC’s Spending Plan

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Jaime Herrera Beutler today sent a letter to Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Director Nancy Boyd seeking details on hundreds of millions of dollars in questionable expenses within the CRC’s spending plan.

The text of the letter follows, and the original letter can be found by clicking here:

Nancy Fenno Boyd, P.E., L.E.G.
Director, Columbia River Crossing
700 Washington Street, Suite 300
Vancouver, WA 98660

Dear Ms. Boyd,

I am writing to obtain information on proposed expenditures within the Columbia River Crossing I-5 project. Outside sources have investigated the financial documents for this project, which have raised some interesting questions and expenditures that need to be explained. I hope you can provide me with some clarity regarding the purpose and relevance to the underlying project of the following:

· $51 million for a TriMet Maintenance facility in Gresham Oregon -- located approximately 10 miles east of the CRC project.

· $2.7 million for an administrative facility for Oregon’s Mass Transit organization, TriMet, in South Portland.

· $10 million for a “Curation Facility.” The best explanation my office has found for this expenditure is that it refers to the construction of and/or improvements to a museum. I would appreciate your clarification.

· $15 million for a restoration project at the Lewis River – located approximately 22 miles north of the project.

· $343,936 for upgrades to Portland’s Steel Bridge. This bridge is located 6 miles south of the project.

· $6.9 million for Hood River Channel Restoration, located 60 miles east of the project.

· The CRC’s prime contractor was granted a $50 Million “Maximum Amount Payable” contract to perform the environmental impact studies for this project. Through June 2012, that contract stood at $131.2 Million.

· According to the CRC, the actual cost of building the bridge structure is $790 million in post escalation dollars. In that same scale, the CRC budget shows that Oregon interchanges will cost $800 Million. The CRC’s finance plan calls for the cost of the bridge to be paid for by tolls, and includes the Oregon interchange price tag in that cost. If the current proposal were to move forward, Southwest Washington commuters would pay a lion’s share of the tolls, meaning that Southwest Washington taxpayers would also be paying for a large share of Oregon interchange improvements.

· The projected per mile costs for the CRC light rail portion of the project are unprecedented. For a 2.9 mile expansion of Portland’s light rail system, the CRC is estimating a cost of $850 million -- or $293 million per mile. The projected cost per mile is significantly higher than that of recent light rail projects in both Seattle ($179 million per mile) and the latest Portland line ($204 million per mile). Both projects had the distinction of being the most expensive in the nation as they required extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, stations as deep as 180 feet and, in the case of the Portland line, a dedicated light rail bridge across the Willamette River. Excluding these projects, the average per mile costs of Light Rail across the nation are about $35 million per mile. What makes the CRC’s light rail costs so much higher?

· In a recently released report, serious questions have been raised pertaining to several subcontractor relationships by the CRC. Details have been provided which speak to a troubling pattern of former employees of CRC contractors leaving their employment to return as subcontractors at substantially higher rates of income. Are these subcontractors performing work duties that are similar to the work they provided as employees? How did these increased expenditures help the project achieve strategic objectives? Have state and federal employment regulations been adhered to? What steps are being taken to protect our taxpayers who must foot the bill for these substantially higher costs?

Since I've been asked by some within the community to support this project in Congress, it is important to me that I have an understanding of its full scope. It is also important to me that every taxpayer dollar is used wisely, and I hope you can ease my mind in that regard.

Jaime Herrera Beutler Announces 2013 Congressional Art Competition

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler is extending an invitation to high school students across Southwest Washington to participate in the 2013 Congressional Art Competition.

The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students, grades 9-12, who either reside or attend school in Southwest Washington’s 3^rd Congressional District.

The winner of the competition will have his or her artwork displayed for one year in Washington, D.C.’s U.S. Capitol Building Corridor. The winner will also receive free airfare for themselves and one guest to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Washington, DC.

The deadline for entering the competition is April 11^th, 2013.“The Congressional Art Competition is a chance for Members of Congress to show off the most talented artists from their districts. It’s become a tradition in our nation’s capital, and I look forward to seeing submissions from talented students here in Southwest Washington,” said Jaime. “I encourage any interested students to contact my office today for more information.”

Details:

Entries must be submitted electronically, via digital photo.
To be eligible, the actual art must be two-dimensional, framed, and can be no larger than 28”x28”x4 (28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep).
Artwork must be original in concept, design and execution.
Artwork accepted mediums are as follows:
•   Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
•   Drawings: pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers
•   Collage: Must be two dimensional
•   Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints
•   Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
•   Computer-generated art
•   Photography
Entries will be evaluated by a blue ribbon panel of judges from within Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
Second and third place entries will be displayed in Jaime’s office over the next year.

For complete details and guidelines, students and education leaders should call Jaime’s office at (360) 695-6292.

Art submission forms can be found at: http://jaimehb.house.gov/assistingyou/artscompetition.htm

Jaime Herrera Beutler Praises FAA Move to Drop Proposed Regulation on Pearson Airfield

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Jaime Herrera Beutler today applauded the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for dropping its proposed “Pearson Box” restriction for Pearson Field. The FAA issued official notification that it would allow Pearson to continue operating under its current air safety guidelines – the same guidelines that it has been safely operating under for years.

Jaime and her staff have been closely involved in this issue over the past year, from organizing the initial stakeholder meetings to determine next steps, to communicating directly with the FAA to delay the Pearson Box rule and come to a swift resolution.

“This resolution brings welcome relief for the local pilots, and the local businesses and workers supported by the economic activity from Pearson Air Field,” said Jaime. “I appreciate the FAA’s willingness to reassess the safety and economic implications of its proposal, and to consider more reasonable solutions. Our community was facing a big challenge, and it’s my job to ensure federal agencies are serving our community and helping solve those challenges.”