Peninsula Daily News - July 3, 2008

(Port Townsend) - Shifty Sailors sang colorful sea chanties, politicos praised project supporters and community leaders on Thursday hailed the official "cake-breaking" of the $8.2 million Northwest Maritime Center. It was a project that naysayers once said would never leave the dock, but today it is moving full-speed ahead, being constructed on the waterfront at the end of Water Street. The seaside community celebration drew about 300 Thursday to Pope Marine Park, adjacent to the 2-acre maritime center site where Carlsborg-based Primo Construction already is building the foundation.

The center is expected to be completed in September 2009. "It seems like we've been working on this for generations, almost," quipped U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, launching laughter from the crowd. Dicks was a key federal fundraiser for the project, along with Washington U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Freeland, and Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace. Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, also spoke of the state's role in generating a special appropriation of $2.25 million to match the $1.8 million federal contribution, along with a U.S. Housing and Urban Development loan of $1 million...Click Here for More

Konp.com - July 1st, 2008

(Olympia) - A local lawmaker has joined a call to keep cities from banning legally concealed weapons in parks. "Cities and counties have no authority to limit the right of people who have concealed weapons permits to carry firearms," said state Representative Kevin Van De Wege. He says it's clear to him: With only few specific exceptions, a local government -- whether it's a Seattle or a Montesano -- can't override state and federal laws with restrictive gun laws of their own.

The Sequim representative and five of his fellow Democratic lawmakers fired off a letter Monday seeking an Attorney General's opinion on the matter."We want to protect the people's right to carry a firearm, and we also want to keep firearms laws consistent throughout the state so law-abiding citizens don't get in trouble for doing something that is perfectly legal in their hometown but is illegal in another town," said Van De Wege...Click Here to Continue

By Brian Gawley, Peninsula Daily News

(SEQUIM) - State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege is seeking input from military veterans about their programs and treatment by government agencies following his appointment to an advisory committee to the state Legislature. "I hope to get input from veterans who need help. I love to get help for those folks," said Van De Wege, who has never served in the military. "I'm proud of our vets and I fully believe they deserve the benefits they were promised."...Click Here to Continue

By Brian Gawley, Peninsula Daily News

(OLYMPIA) — Providing a permanent solution for the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry route will be one of the hot topics for our 24th District lawmakers during the 60-day state Legislature session that begins at noon Monday. Others include toughening sex offender laws and maintaining funding for a $32 million project to widen to four lanes a 2.5-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 between Shore Road and Kitchen-Dick Road. The 24th Legislative District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and one-third of Grays Harbor County.... Van De Wege has pre-filed three bills.

House Bill 2468 directs the state Department of Natural Resources to make recommendations for improving urban forestry.

House Bill 2560 would allow small business owners who get less than 75 percent of their income from their businesses to qualify for group health insurance.

House Bill 2626 would allow the governor to waive the one-week unemployment insurance waiting period for people left unemployed because of a natural disaster or other emergency.

Property tax reform

The Legislature reinstated Initiative 747 during a November special session and other property tax reform proposals are out there, Van De Wege said. "Property tax reform is very much alive," he added.

Proposals include the predictable property tax measure championed by Sequim resident Shelley Taylor, homestead exemptions and senior exemptions, all of which simply shift the tax burden onto another group, he said. A possible solution is reducing the state's reliance upon property taxes, but that is more an appropriations committee issue, he said.

Widening highway

The money to create four lanes on Highway 101 between Shore Road and Kitchen-Dick Road remains in the state's 2009-11 budget period for now. But earlier this month, Gregoire declared that the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle was coming down by 2012 "because I'm going to take it down." That could leave the North Olympic Peninsula competing with Seattle for transportation funding. Van De Wege said he and Kessler will work to keep the money in the budget, but that he is concerned that new projects could be delayed because construction costs are up and gas tax revenues are down. "The viaduct really is a concern," he said. "I'm concerned that the Regional Transportation Investment District bond issue didn't pass because that would allow [King, Pierce and Snohomish counties] to fund their own projects," he said... Click Here for More

Freshman Lawmaker Comes Home, But Not to Rest

By Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News

(SEQUIM) - The final day of the 2007 Legislature - which wrapped up around 9:30 p.m. April 22 - was much like election night in November for Rep. Kevin Van De Wege. After both events, he went directly to work at his day-and-night job. "I got elected, and went back to work," he said. "And on Sunday, I drove back here and finished a shift at the fire station."

Van De Wege, the freshman Democrat who represents the 24th District, is a firefighter-paramedic in Clallam County Fire District No. 3 and the father of two children, ages 3 and 5. So he knows all about being up for long hours and at wee ones. Ask him and his wife Jennifer, a Sequim High School biology teacher, how hard it was to juggle work, family and more work, and they neither grimace nor moan. Both seem to get energy from Jack and Allie, the kids who climb onto them when they come home from work. Their jobs, for that matter, also seem to invigorate them.Firehouse shifts During the 17-week legislative session, Van De Wege worked 10 24-hour shifts at the fire station. On three other weekends, he worked 12-hour shifts.

He shrugs and smiles while recalling his Monday morning conversations with other lawmakers. "They'd say, 'I slept all weekend, and I'm still tired.'" Van De Wege's response: "I worked [at the fire station], we did this family activity, and now I'm ready for another week." This may have something to do with the fact that Van De Wege is 32. Many of his fellow legislators are a couple of decades older, and retired...Click Here for More

Lawmakers Favor Future Port Townsend-Seattle Ferry Route - If the Money Works Out

By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News (12/27/2007)

(PORT TOWNSEND) - Two of the North Olympic Peninsula's lawmakers support the concept of a permanent Port Townsend-to-Seattle passenger ferry - so long as it is financially feasible.

At the same time, Washington State Ferries says the route can't support itself, no matter how popular it is. Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, said they are encouraged by the efforts of a grass-roots group of commuters to Seattle who want the ferry MV Snohomish, or some other passenger ferry service, to continue operations between the Emerald and Key cities. The group - led by Kyle Montgomery, a Port Ludlow resident and longtime commuter to Seattle via the Bainbridge ferry - has gathered more than 1,000 signatures online at Seattle2PT.com in the past week. "I think that's our great hope, is to put on the pressure," Kessler said Wednesday. "If it turns out that there is enough support and it pencils out, then I think it would be fabulous. Both Kessler and Van De Wege said that cost is the issue. "I fully support it," said Van De Wege. "Whether or not it's possible, that's yet to be seen."

House Majority Leader Kessler and Van De Wege expect to take up ferry issues when the state Legislature reconvenes on Jan. 14. The two represent the 24th District, which covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and a portion of Grays Harbor County. Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a $100 million budget to build three new ferries within the next 18 months to serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route...Click Here for More

Wa. House Passes Eminent Domain Measure

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The state House unanimously approved a measure to require better notification of citizens before their property is condemned for a public purpose through eminent domain. The Senate passed a similar measure earlier this session. Leaders will now have to decide which bill to send to Gov. Chris Gregoire. The measure has strong bipartisan support, with Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna jointly requesting it. 'A person's right to property can't be taken lightly and should only be done when absolutely necessary,' said Rep. Kevin Van De Wege D-Sequim, the bill's sponsor, in a news release Wednesday. 'Better notification will increase the integrity of this process.'...Click Here for More