Meet the new 777X caucus

After the Governor’s Aerospace Summit in Everett ended Wednesday afternoon, members of the new 777X Legislative Task Force met with Gov. Jay Inslee, behind closed doors.

The governor has asked 12 legislators, six from each chamber, to tackle political barriers that remain on the road to Boeing bliss. The issues are primarily transportation and education funding and an arcane environmental regulation tied to how much fish the average Washingtonian consumes. In other words, the new bipartisan panel, it is hoped, will do what legislators could not during a regular session and two special sessions in Olympia.

Good luck with that. No, hey, really, seriously.

Anyway, the other day we reported the formation of this panel but did not have all the names. Now we do, and here they are:

• Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon.
• Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland.
• Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett.
• Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton.
• Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg.
• Rep. Drew McEwen, R-Union.
• Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.
• Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent.
• Sen. Nick Harper, D-Everett.
• Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina (Senate majority leader and a member of Republican-dominated Majority Coalition Caucus).
• Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale.
• Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor.

Also invited to sit in are representatives of the Washington Aerospace Partnership, the Aerospace Futures Alliance and two unions — the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 751 and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).