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Wednesday, January 29, 2014 • The South Whidbey Record
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen outlines 2014 agenda OLF closure is not ‘in the cards’ By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record Now that Congress has finally passed a budget, federal legislators can get down to business, Congressman Rick Larsen said this week. Larsen outlined the next steps for Congress in the coming year and answered questions about issues on Your Real Estate Consultant
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Whidbey Island during a sit-down Thursday with the South Whidbey Record. “The big picture that we’re dealing with in Congress is that the budget deal that we came to in December mostly put a halt now to the ‘shut the government down, keep it open, shut the government down, keep it open’ routine we’ve gotten into,” Larsen said. “And that’s good news and lets us go forward with the spending bills.” Once President Barack Obama releases his budget in May, legislators will start writing the 2015 appropriation bills that include spending for veterans, defense, transportation and other key government functions. “It may not mean it will increase the approval ratings, it will certainly let us get on with doing our job,” Larsen said. He predicts that, during his State of the Union address next week, the president will highlight one of Larsen’s key objectives — raising the minimum wage. “The demographic of the low-wage worker has changed demonstrably in the last 30 years,” Larsen said. He said the average low-wage worker’s age is now 35 and that 56 percent of low-wage workers are women. “The myth of the teenager being the predominant group isn’t true anymore,” Larsen said. Larsen is the co-sponsor of a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over a three-year period. He said that 62 House and Senate Republicans voted for the last wage increase under President George W. Bush “so there is the possibility for broad
Janis Reid / The Record
Congressman Rick Larsen explains the next steps Congress will take in 2014 during an interview with the South Whidbey Record. support for this.” “It’s an important point that the minimum wage has the purchase power of the 1968 minimum wage,” Larsen said. Larsen also said the United States must invest in transportation infrastructure and education to create jobs and grow the economy in the long run. Congress is working on a five-year transportation plan that should include improvements to Washington state ferry terminals, he said. The transportation bill will be an important part of job creation, he said, adding Congress passed the SAFE Bridges Act last year, in response in part to the Skagit Valley River bridge collapse. He said that will be rolled into the transportation bill. This will, Larsen said, “put people to work main-
taining and repairing the ing the health of residents bridges of this country.” and are demanding that As for the future of Outlying Field Coupeville, Whidbey Island Naval Air or OLF, be closed and the Station, Larsen said, “things Growlers based elsewhere. are in a good place” for Asked if he believes the the base, which is expect- Growler squadrons now ing three or four additional using OLF might be moved P8-A squadrons and poten- to another location, Larsen tially two more EA-18G responded, “Where is that?” Growler squadrons. “That’s the point. There “It’s all good news for the isn’t (another location).” north end (of Whidbey),” “I think that’s a better Larsen said. question for the Navy, but T h e I think fact that the Navy “They’re not going to be N A S would Whidbey s a y doing things that add to is the that’s the training costs or add to s o l e issue,” operation costs.” location Larsen for the Congressman Rick Larsen s a i d . Navy’s “You just Growlers d o n ’ t h a s pick up raised concerns from those the planes and put them living near the airfields down, you have to pick up where touch-and-go training the people and put them is conducted. Some claim down, pick up the buildings the Growler noise is damag- and put them down.”
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“It’s not just a matter of just moving airplanes.” Larsen said the federal defense budget is lower than projected as a result of sequestration and that the Navy is not looking to develop new locations. Getting the Navy to move OLF is unlikely, he said. “I don’t know, I just don’t see that that’s in the cards,” Larsen said. “I know there’s a desire from some people on the island to do that, I don’t see that that’s in the cards. The military generally isn’t looking to spend money developing new places because they’re not getting a lot of new money from Congress.” “They’re not going to be doing things that add to training costs or add to operation costs.” Asked whether it is inevitable that the Navy’s technology will outgrow OLF, Larsen deferred to the ongoing Environmental Impact Statement that started in July. “I don’t know the answer to that — that’s why they’re doing an EIS,” Larsen said. “They have plenty of physical space but it’s a matter of whether the training space is available to them.” When asked if he believes he is being responsive to the concerns of those concerned about jet noise at OLF Coupeville, Larsen listed 24 instances this past year in which he met with or corresponded with local leaders, those calling for the closure OLF Coupeville and other residents. “What I sometimes find is when I hear from folks that I’m not listening to them, they’re saying I don’t agree with them, that sometimes does occur,” Larsen said. He stressed that even though he may not be able to attend every meeting personally, “it doesn’t mean I don’t hear what people are saying.”
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