Patty in the News
Kyung M. Song
Gov. Chris Gregoire last month ordered $3 million set aside from federal worker-training funds to target jobs in the aerospace industry. But jobs for aerospace engineers and aircraft machinists in the Puget Sound area aren't growing, at least according to local projections under the same federal program. Boeing may be forecasting a hiring boomlet as production ramps up for the 787 Dreamliner and outlook for other aircraft orders brightens. But King and Snohomish counties have yet to account for that shift in drawing up their lists of in-demand occupations to pursue with training dollars. Addressing those seeming conflicting priorities is one of the key aims of a proposed rewrite of the Workforce Investment Act, the main federal vehicle for moving Americans from unemployment rolls onto payrolls.- Seattle Times
Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have joined five other senators in asking the IRS to provide guidance to same-sex couples who ran into problems filing their 2010 federal income tax returns. "Today, each of our States recognizes same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships that the federal government does not recognize," the senators wrote in a letter to IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman. "When couples in these relationships attempted to calculate their tax returns this year, they encountered significant problems." The letter also said couples in Washington, California and Nevada faced specific problems because of state community property laws.
- King 5
- King 5
Rick Anderson
Most of the testimony on defense spending yesterday at the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing in D.C. focused on Barack Obama's planned 2012 Afghanistan war drawdown, particularly the timing and politics of ending a war we can't win. For some, withdrawal can't come too soon; for others, such as the Pentagon, extension of surge forces is the first order. But as Sen. Patty Murray is always willing to ask, is anyone budgeting for the human costs? As the Seattle Democrat said to Defense Sect. Robert Gates, who retires in two weeks when he decamps for his home in Skagit County, "I think you know, the major components of this long-term war include the fact that deaths from suicide among veterans and service members from this war are on par with combat deaths, many of our warriors are facing difficult challenges accessing needed mental health care when they return home, and that many of the service members serving in Afghanistan today are on their third, fourth, or even fifth tours.- Seattle Weekly
Internet connects Murray with students
Jun 15 2011
Kevin Heimbigner
What is your opinion about using digital textbooks for learning? What are their advantages and disadvantages over the printed textbooks?” were the questions U.S. Sen. Patty Murray posed to Naselle junior Austin Smith and freshman Grace Zimmerman Thursday, June 9 during a teleconference with Western Washington students from four high schools. “It can be difficult to find your place in a digital textbook if you have forgotten to bookmark where you are, especially if the book is 600 pages long,” Smith answered. “Sometimes the lighting can be a problem, but having everything on an iPad and not having to carry around a lot of books is an advantage.”- Chinook Observer
Rob Hotakainen
“We do not need the courts to tell us that much more can and should be done to relieve the invisible wounds of war,” said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the chairwoman of the committee. “Although some steps have been taken, the stigma against mental-health issues continues within the military, and VA care is still often too difficult to access. This has had a tragic impact.”-The News Tribune
Michelle Dunlop
Members of Washington's Congressional delegation introduced legislation that would create an even larger market for biofuels: the U.S. military. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, along with Rep. Jay Inslee, are sponsoring a bill that would increase the length of time in contract between the military and biofuel producers.- HeraldNet
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., joined nine other U.S. senators in telling the National Labor Relations Board to ignore political pressure in its complaint against the Boeing Co. Last month, the labor board's general counsel accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against its Machinists union for strikes in Washington when it picked South Carolina for a second 787 production line. Boeing has denied the allegation. A hearing on the complaint is set for June 14 in Seattle.
- HeraldNet
- HeraldNet
Rob Hotakainen
Called the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, it's aimed at reducing an unemployment rate of 27 percent for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.- The News Tribune
According to Murray, more than 8 million students across the country in grade 4-12 read below grade level.
“That is absolutely unacceptable,” she said, adding later, “Here we are in the 21st century and we know literacy is not a luxury, it is a necessity.”
- The Bellingham Herald
“That is absolutely unacceptable,” she said, adding later, “Here we are in the 21st century and we know literacy is not a luxury, it is a necessity.”
- The Bellingham Herald
“One of the biggest barriers they face upon returning is finding a job,” Murray, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said in an interview Tuesday. “With their training, leadership abilities and skills, they should be at the top of the list for jobs, and too often they go to the bottom of the pile.”
- The Washington Post
- The Washington Post
