Gregoire fashions stimulus package

OLYMPIA – Trying to bolster the state’s flagging economy, Gov. Chris Gregoire is steering millions of fast-track federal dollars into home heating assistance, distressed fishing communities and bonds for new housing.

The governor also is renewing her call for hundreds of millions of dollars more for state and federal construction projects, as well as more money for Medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamps and help for families struggling with mortgage debt.

“By acting on these proposals,” Gregoire, a Democrat, wrote Monday to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, “we will jump start programs that generate paychecks rather than a single check, provide basic help to people in need, and start rebuilding our weakening infrastructure to make our economy stronger.”

A third proposal is in the works for next month. The governor met Monday with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, and House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, to discuss a state economic stimulus plan. The Legislature, which will return to Olympia in January, would have to approve the proposal. Gregoire spokesman Pearse Edwards said the state plan, too, would likely focus on construction projects and jobs rather than a one-time stimulus check.

Here’s a breakdown of the proposals under way:

•Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The state is steering $84.6 million in federal grants for home heating help to 27 community agencies. In Spokane, the program is run by Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs. For an appointment, call 509-242-2376 or see www.snapwa.org.

To qualify for the money, people must be living on less than 125 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $1,000 a month for a single person, for example, or $2,150 for a family of four.

•Fishing communities. The state has distributed nearly $7 million so far to gillnetters, charter boat operators and others affected by the collapse of the wild salmon fishery off the West Coast this year. An additional $13 million is on the way.

•In a lemons-to-lemonade move, Gregoire is offering to issue more than $202 million in tax exempt bonds for housing development. The thinking is that developers may want to take advantage of the fact that construction companies are underbooked.

In her letter to Murray, Gregoire asked for the following help from Congress:

•An increase in federal dollars to stave off state cuts to Medicaid, a joint state and federal program that provides health care for the poor.

•More federal support for the food stamp program and unemployment insurance “to get money circulating while relieving the suffering of families.”

•Money for counseling and legal help for homeowners struggling with mortgages or predatory lenders, plus legal changes to protect those with loans.

•Construction cash for dozens of ready-to-go water, sewer and road projects around the state.

That wish list is still being revised, but it is likely to borrow heavily from a similar proposal Gregoire made unsuccessfully back in February.

At the time, she called on the Bush administration and Congress to provide grants and loans for 156 water and sewer projects and 29 road projects totaling $425 million.

That February list included millions of dollars in repaving and other road work in Adams, Lincoln, Garfield and Columbia counties. The water and sewer proposals included millions of dollars in loans for water system work in Loon Lake, Addy and near Fairchild Air Force Base. It also named wastewater projects in Spokane, Cusick and Airway Heights.

Edwards said the new proposal wouldn’t exactly mirror that February list. Some of the projects may be under way by now, he said, and others may have cropped up.