Maria’s Monday Memo

Maria’s Monday Memo

Senator Maria Cantwell’s Weekly Update for Washington State

Monday, February 28, 2005
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Providing Information About How the President’s Social Security Plan Would Affect You

One of the most important issues that Congress will take up this year is Social Security. Any changes that are made to the Social Security system will have profound and lasting consequences for the retirement security of generations of Americans. As the debate continues, I believe it’s important for Washingtonians to be able to see for themselves how the President’s proposal could affect them. That’s why today I launched a new feature on my web site that allows users to see how their Social Security benefits could be affected if President Bush’s proposal to change Social Security is passed. My calculator, which can be accessed on my web site at http://cantwell.senate.gov, provides users with an estimate of the Social Security benefits they will receive under the current system and what they could receive under the Bush Administration’s proposed system. The only information you need to provide is your average annual salary and year of birth. I hope you find this information helps you learn more about how this proposal would affect you and your family.
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Continuing the Fight Against the Administration’s Plan to Hike Northwest Power Rates

A new study confirms the concern of many Washingtonians: the Bush Administration's plan to hike regional power rates would devastate the Northwest economy. An analysis released on Friday by the Northwest Power Planning Council assessed the Bush Administration's proposal to raise the energy rates of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) until they are roughly the same as rates charged elsewhere in national electricity markets. Based on assumptions about current market prices, the Council estimated the Administration's proposal would raise Northwest power rates by $1.7 billion. On average, residential customers of public power utilities would see rates rise about 39 percent, or by $288 a year, and some families could see their power bills jump by nearly $500 per year.

Even worse, the Washingtonians who can least afford it will pay the most under the Administration's plan to raise Northwest power rates. It'll slam the brakes on our regional economy and raid the pocketbooks of working families a second time. The economic aftershocks would mean lower personal incomes and lost jobs for Washington. I'll use every tool at my disposal to stop this disastrous rate hike plan. One of those tools is an online petition I’m hosting on my web site. In the last few weeks, more than 8,000 people from around the state have shared their opposition to this short-sighted plan by adding their names to the petition. If you’re also concerned about this risky scheme, please add your name today. If you have already joined the petition, I thank you for your time, and please consider sharing it with your family and friends.
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Working for Tax Fairness for Washington Workers . . .

Last week I introduced legislation to prevent Oregon and Idaho from imposing an income tax on Washington residents who work across the border in those states. More than 50,000 residents of southwest Washington who work across the river in Oregon paid more than $104 million in income tax to Oregon in 2002. Similarly, about 20,000 residents of Spokane and Pullman who commute to work in Idaho paid $18 million in income tax to Idaho. This is money that funds social, educational, and healthcare programs in Oregon and Idaho to which Washington residents do not have access. These Washingtonians are getting a raw deal. Our country was founded on the notion that we oppose “taxation without representation,” but that's exactly what's happening to Washingtonians who work in Oregon and Idaho. My bill, and a companion bill introduced in the House by Rep. Brian Baird, would put a stop to this, and replace it with the common-sense notion of tax fairness.


. . . and Tax Fairness for Local Government

Although it’s not something that we often think about, our local governments depend on payments from the federal government to help provide the important services we all count on. The federal “Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes” (PILT) program assists counties that have tax-exempt federal lands within their boundaries by offsetting the costs of providing services to federal employees and users of those public lands. Without adequate PILT funding, local taxpayers must bear a disproportionate share of the burden for basic services, such as education, solid waste disposal, law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, firefighting, housing, social services and transportation. Unfortunately, today counties must rely on an inconsistent annual appropriations process to receive these funds. I have introduced a bill in the Senate to make PILT funding a guaranteed feature of the federal budget. I’ll continue to make the case in the Senate that guaranteeing these payments to our counties is a matter of simple fairness. These communities deserve the certainty this legislation will provide. The federal government should guarantee it will hold up its end of the bargain – not shift these costs onto counties and their residents.


For more information, please visit my web site: http://cantwell.senate.gov