Three Rivers Alliance of Chambers in Olympia

I was one of 65 Tri-City business folk and city officials who visited Olympia for a 2 day junket to impress on our legislators and the Governor the need to spend some (more) of our tax money on the dry of the state. It is impressive that 65 people can make room in their schedule to come down in a show-of-force and present a united voice to the powers that be.

The primary focus of the trip is to get more $$. More for WSU Tri-Cities (both for more students and for the bioproduct/bioenergy research program), to fund the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center (Ice Age Flood Center), and to see if money can be found for the Steptoe Street project which would connect Gage Blvd with Clearwater Avenue. The first two sound like they might get somewhere, but the Steptoe Street project,, from what I have heard, is just getting it’s foot in the door while other programs have been in the room for quite a while and are therefore higher on the priority list.

We had a number of legislators come speak, and even the Governor talked to the group and answered questions for over 20 minutes. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.