Lewis County News
Increasing Public Safety and Combating Crime:
Methamphetamine:
When law enforcement in Lewis County asked for Congressman Baird's help in fighting a growing meth problem in the county, Brian stepped up to the challenge. Congressman Baird founded the Congressional
Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, and through that organization
he has worked diligently to provide Washington communities with funding
to fight combat this scourge. Congressman Baird's efforts led
to the inclusion of Clark, Cowlitz, and Lewis Counties in the Northwest
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. With support from this
program, and thanks to the Congressman's leadership on the
statewide Washington State Methamphetamine Initiative, more than
$11 million in federal dollars have come to our region to prevent
meth use, crack down on meth cooks and dealers, clean meth contaminated
sites, and provide treatment for those who are motivated and willing
to work to kick their addictions.
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.
Making
Government More Effective and Efficient:
Streamlining the environmental
permitting process:
Protecting the environment is always a priority, but regulatory processing
and permitting have become unnecessarily costly and time consuming.
In recent years, Congressman Baird has organized a series of meetings
throughout Southwest Washington to bring local business leaders,
farmers, builders, ports and others together with federal, state
and local officials to improve the permitting process. As a direct
result, several federal and state agencies have made significant
progress in streamlining permits, reducing application backlogs and
complexity, and improving coordination to expedite the process. There
is still work to be done, and much room for improvement, but Congressman
Baird will continue to work with the consumers of permits and agency
representatives to push for further improvements in efficiency and
savings in time and money.
Expanding Transportation Alternatives:
Widening I-5 through Lewis County:
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. 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.
Centralia Flood Control Project:
Congressman Baird helped secure $1 million for the Army Corps of
Engineers to continue work on the Centralia Flood Control Project.
For more than 70 years, the Corps has been searching for solutions
to the chronic flooding problems throughout the Chehalis River Basin.
Twice in the last fifteen years, Interstate 5 (I-5) and the north-south
railway have closed for three days at a time due to flooding, at
a cost of more than $50 million per day. This funding will help complete
construction design tasks related to the project. Additionally, Congressman
Baird has fought to ensure that local government will be reimbursed
for their out of pocket costs. As a result of this effort, local
taxpayers will be reimbursed for more than $6 million in project
costs.
Replacing the Annonen Bridge:
In 1993, Lewis County received federal funding to replace of the
Annonen Bridge. Replacement would be fully funded as long as the
project moved forward in 10 years. Lewis County completed the preliminary
work and sent their permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers in 1998. However, due to changes in the Endangered Species
Act review process, a second biological assessment was required,
which was completed in March 2002. By June of 2002, Lewis County
still had not received a decision from either the Corps or US Fish
and Wildlife. Lacking agency approval, and with the ten year deadline
approaching, the County risked losing its federal funding for the
project and also faced the prospect of having to pay back approximately
$99,000 spent on the work already completed. At the County's
request, Congressman Baird contacted the Corps and other agencies
to explain the situation. The permits were approved not long thereafter,
just in time to meet the deadline and allow the project to move forward.
Leonard Bridge Repair:
Leonard Bridge needed support replacements or it risked being washed
away during heavy rain. By June, Lewis County had not heard from
the Corps on the status of the permits and the time of year when
they could no longer work in the water was quickly approaching. Lewis
County informed Congressman Baird that they needed to finish work
by late September to ensure that it would be completed before their
window of opportunity closed in October. Congressman Baird contacted
the Corps on behalf of Lewis County and the Corps expedited the 3
to 4 month biological evaluation review and federal permit process
to less than one month. Repair work then began on Leonard Bridge
in late August.
Protecting Jobs and Increasing
Job Opportunities:
Morton Business Development Project:
Rail access is essential to economic industrial development, but
for the past 24 years Morton has been without viable rail service.
Thanks to efforts of the local community, service has once again
been restored, but a great deal of work is needed to repair and replace
deteriorated infrastructure and equipment.
To make these repairs possible, Rep. Baird secured $1.2 million for
rail improvements in Morton as part of the 2005 appropriations bill.
These funds will be used to purchase three railcar-loading chutes,
repair three spur tracks, and install two new crossing signals for
State Route 7. The improvements will lower the cost of shipping products
from Morton, which in turn make the products more competitive in
the global market. These improvements will help secure several hundred
family wage jobs at Morton lumber mills and other industries.
White Pass Ski Area Expansion:
For more than two decades the White Pass Ski Area has planned an
expansion of trail, lift and lodge facilities into an area designated
for that purpose in the 1983 Washington Wilderness Act. Congressman
Baird knows the importance of tourism to the economy of the area and
recognizes how beneficial this expansion could be. To help facilitate
this project, and consistent with the original intent and express
language of the 1983 legislation, Congressman Baird has drafted
legislation clarifying that the intended 800 acre area was in fact
designated for expansion of the ski area. The Congressman has
personally visited the site, reviewed the plans for the expansion, and
strongly believes it can and should be achieved in a way that will help
the economy without harming the environment.
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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