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 Thurston County News
Increasing Public Safety and Combating
Crime:
Methamphetamine:
As a founding member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and
Control Methamphetamine, Congressman Baird has diligently worked
to provide Washington communities with funding to fight this
menace. Baird's efforts have helped to bring in more
than $11 million to combat methamphetamine use and clean meth
contaminated sites in Washington state. From these funds, Thurston
County received $533,367 in grants to create and fund the operation
of a Family Meth Treatment Court. The Family Meth Treatment
Court's mission is to help drug addicted parents get
off drugs and learn how to be good parents at the same time.
Early results suggest this program is making a real difference
and helping mothers and fathers kick their drug addictions
and care for their children more responsibly.
Career and Technical Education:
Congressman Baird
knows the importance of career technical education (CTE) in providing a
well educated and skilled workforce in America.
That’s why he founded the Congressional Career and Technical Education
Caucus in 2007 and continues to advocate for career and technical
education programs.
He’s fought for for students who are juggling work and classes and have
been unable to qualify for student loans because they are part time
students.
He’s supported the WIRED Grant Program awarded to Lewis, Pacific and
Thurston Counties to promote career technical education programs.
In recognition of his efforts, the Association for Career and Technical
Education honored Representative Baird as 2008 Policymaker of the Year.
Expanding Transportation Alternatives:
Intercity
Transit:
Over the past two years, Congressman Baird has secured almost $2 million for
Intercity Transit to purchase new buses for its service expansion. Intercity
Transit serves a population of more than 140,000 in Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey
and Yelm. Riders board these buses and vans more than 9,500 times each weekday
and 3 million times per year. This funding will keep the bus system safe by ensuring
that equipment is up to date and adequate.
Keeping Thurston County Moving:
Congressman Baird has helped secure over $3 million for the widening of Interstate
5 (I-5) from the Rush Road interchange to the Maytown interchange in Thurston
County. Currently, this area of I-5 has only two lanes of travel in each direction,
creating a bottleneck when traffic north and south of this area, which had been
traveling in three lanes, is compressed. Adding to the problem, the amount of
traffic using I-5 has steadily increased in recent years, contributing to delays
and congestion and increasing the safety risk. This project will increase capacity
and improve safety along the interstate. I-5 is a critical component of both
commerce and tourism in the state of Washington. Improving I-5 between Rush Road
and Maytown is vital to the economic success of this area and to maintaining
a positive quality of life for those who live and work there.
4th Avenue Bridge Reconstruction:
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Olympia in 2001 heavily damaged the
already aging 4th Avenue Bridge. Congressman Baird worked with local officials
as well as federal agencies to secure an emergency declaration, which allowed
the reconstruction of the 4th Avenue Bridge to be expedited by more than two
years. Congressman Baird also helped secure more than $18 million in federal
grants to reduce the burden on local officials and bringing relief to downtown
businesses and commuters.
Chehalis Western Trail:
Serving on the House Transportation Committee, Congressman Baird has
requested and secured an authorization of federal funding for a project
that will "bridge the gap" in the backbone of Thurston County's
regional north-south non-motorized transportation corridor.
Specifically, the project will construct a .6 mile pedestrian and bike
bridge over I-5 connecting separate parts of the Chehalis-Western Trail
system. The total system reflects a fifteen-year commitment of local,
state, and regional agencies to develop this non-motorized
transportation system.
Keeping the Tumwater Safeway Post Office Open:
Congressman Baird joined in the effort to keep the Tumwater Safeway
Post Office from closing, after the store posted signs stating that
Safeway would close all of its postal stations the following month. The
Department of Labor was requiring all 1,500 Safeway stores to provide
paperwork, which should have been required only for the approximately
two percent of Safeway stores with postal offices. Congressman Baird
successfully petitioned the Department of Labor to request an exemption
from coverage regarding certain contracts between Safeway and the
Postal Service. Thanks to his efforts the Tumwater Safeway Post Office
remained open.
Ensuring Equal Access to Mental Health Services
As a mental health professional, and one of only two clinical
psychologists serving in Congress, Congressman Baird has firsthand
knowledge of the impact and importance of mental health treatment and
the inequities that often exist in funding and consideration for mental
health treatments. In order to correct this imbalance Congressman Baird
was a leading advocate of the bipartisan Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act which became law on October 3, 2008. The law prohibits health plans from imposing time limits and
similar restrictions on the treatment of mental health disorders, if
similar restrictions are not imposed on medical and surgical benefits.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that this will lead to
less than a two percent increase in premiums, and it will remove one
of the barriers that keep millions of Americans from receiving the
mental health care they need.
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