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Gregoire: Job Growth Outpaces National Average

Washington State – Washington’s unemployment rate is holding at 4.5 percent, matching January’s near-record low. The state Employment Security Department released the numbers for February on Tuesday that show the state has had 13 straight months of unemployment under 5 percent. Both the January and February unemployment rates came in just one-tenth of a percentage point above the record low set last March. The national unemployment rate for February was 4.8 percent. Washington added 3,500 nonagricultural jobs last month. During that same time, the United States lost 63,000 nonagricultural jobs. “Job growth in Washington continues to outpace the national average, just as it has for the past year,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said.
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CO – Ritter Announces Incentives for BioMass Projects. Gov. Bill Ritter announced that the Governor’s Energy Office is seeking applicants for $100,000 in incentives for bio-heating projects that use community woody biomass. The funds are being made available through the Clean Energy Fund for a “Community Biomass for Thermal Usage Program.” Bio-heating projects support wildfire mitigation efforts, provide alternatives to slash pile burns, and build local wood-fuel markets. “Using Colorado’s large woody biomass supplies is a clean way to produce heat while addressing problems associated with beetle kill and using waste products from fire mitigation efforts,” Gov. Ritter said. “By offering financial and technical assistance to projects that use community produced wood chips or manufactured pellets, we are helping our communities participate in the New Energy Economy while addressing forest health issues and promoting local economic development. The long-term benefits are greater energy security, environmental security and economic security for our communities and our state.”
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KY – Beshear Announces Homeland Security Grant. Gov. Steve Beshear announced two U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants totaling over $1.5 million to be awarded to Louisville Metro Government. The funds will be used to update the communication infrastructure for local law enforcement officials and first responders. “In today’s climate, it is vitally important that all first responders have access to interoperable communications,” Beshear said. “This equates to greater safety for those answering the call, and it enhances public safety by providing a more coordinated response.”
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MI – Granholm Welcomes New Jobs. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is set to announce plans to spend $47.7 million on tax incentives that are intended to create 3,231 new jobs, mostly in the finance sector. Funds will go to 12 projects, but the main beneficiary will be North American Bancard, a provider of credit-card processing services, according to the Detroit Free Press. It plans to expand and move into a bigger office in the city of Troy, adding 1,500 new employees to its 214-strong workforce. Michigan offered the firm tax incentives worth $21.6 million over 12 years to remain in the state, which trumped an offer from Florida. Gov. Jennifer Granholm said this was “a good statement about our ability to attract jobs.”
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PA – Rendell Promotes Health Insurance Bill. Gov. Ed Rendell threw his support behind a House plan to offer subsidized health insurance to adults, applying pressure for approval in the Senate. Rendell called the bill a ‘landmark’ and, along with an insurance reform package that was being readied for a vote in the House, touted it as a guarantee for affordable health insurance in Pennsylvania. “It will ensure that every Pennsylvanian … who wants coverage can get coverage at an affordable rate,” Rendell said. The program would expand the state’s current adultBasic insurance program that covers about 55,000 people, while eliminating adultBasic’s 80,000-person waiting list and adding coverage that includes prescription drugs and behavioral health care.
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TN – Bredesen Sees Energy Conservation as a Model for Private Sector. Gov. Phil Bredesen wants reduced energy consumption by state agencies to serve as an example to businesses and homeowners in Tennessee. Bredesen was scheduled to sign an executive order that aims to create a comprehensive energy policy for Tennessee. The governor says the first step will be to assemble a group of experts to craft recommendations. Bredesen wants that group to report back by the fall on how best to reduce energy consumption in the state.
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WI – Doyle: Cut Mercury Pollution 90 Percent. Coal-fired power plants would be required to cut their mercury emissions by 90 percent under a proposed administrative rule Gov. Jim Doyle announced at the Alliant Energy Center corporate headquarters. The Department of Natural Resources rule would cut mercury output in the state by 4,400 pounds a year, Doyle’s office said. Under the proposed rule, power plants would have to cut mercury emissions by 2015 or take a multi-pronged approach to pollution reduction, requiring a significant reduction in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 2015 and a graduated reduction in mercury emissions—70 percent by 2015 and 90 percent by 2021.
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