Two South Snohomish County state senators were honored with Business Championship Awards by the Joint Government Affairs Committee of the Everett Area, South Snohomish County and Monroe Chambers of Commerce.
Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, and Sen. Paull Shin, D-Mukilteo, received the awards May 25.
The breakfast featured the committee’s report on the actions of the 59th State Legislature, which adjourned at the end of April.
Before each legislative session, the joint chamber committee sets an agenda focused on improving business competitiveness, spurring economic growth and protecting Snohomish County jobs.
The chamber committee then tracks the progress of its legislative agenda throughout the session and evaluates individual legislators’ support for the agenda. This year the committee evaluated 79 bills; 12 of those supported by the chamber coalition ultimately were delivered to Gov. Christine Gregoire for signature, as were several the chambers opposed.
This year’s winners of the committee’s Business Champion Awards were recognized for voting more than 70 percent of the time to support the chambers’ agenda. Schmidt voted to support the agenda 86 percent of the time, while Shin voted 71 percent of the time to support the chambers’ agenda.
Schmidt also received a special leadership award for his support of transportation legislation that brought additional funding to Snohomish County for State Route 9.
“Transportation woes hurt business when our goods, services and people can’t get to market in a timely, cost-efficient manner because they are stuck in traffic,” said Everett Chamber committee co-chair Steve Neighbors in his report to Chamber members.
“While no one wants to see tax increases, the Joint Chamber committee has supported moderate gas tax increases in the past if the projects these taxes funded are identified and are focused on relieving traffic congestion,” Neighors said.
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