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Rep. John McCoy, serving the 38th District Serving Snohomish County, including the communities and neighborhoods of Everett, Marysville and Tulalip. |
McCoy keeps reins of Technology, Energy & Communications Committee
Snohomish County lawmaker looks forward to tackling public-access issues
Dec. 5, 2008
OLYMPIA – State Rep. John McCoy won
re-election yesterday (Dec. 4) to continue leading the work of the House
Technology, Energy & Communications Committee in the upcoming 2009
Legislature.
The members of the House majority caucus again named McCoy, D-Tulalip,
to chair what he calls “a key science, innovation and public-access
committee for the 21st century.” Recently elected to his
fourth term representing Snohomish County’s 38th Legislative
District, he was first named to chair the technology panel a year ago.
McCoy’s committee considers issues such as deployment, regulation, and
access to technology and electronic communications. The committee also
reviews energy availability, production, and conservation, and related
infrastructure matters.
The massive state-revenue shortfall will probably get the lion’s share
of attention from Olympia in the coming session, he said. But
strengthening broadband access and services – bridging the so-called
digital divide – will also take a center stage in the coming session.
McCoy wants to continue hammering home the fact that Washington needs to
build stronger access – “It’s a simple reality that dial-up Internet
service just doesn’t cut it.”
Access is a major driver for economic development, he pointed out. And
yet in terms of access, “the United States has fallen out of the world’s
top five. Frankly, we’re not even in the top 10; there is actually
better and cheaper Internet access in many other countries.”
In the 2008 session, McCoy sponsored the House version of a successful
Senate proposal that works toward developing a high-speed Internet
deployment and adoption strategy.
McCoy has decades of experience in the high-tech arena.
Shortly after retiring in 1981 from a 20-year career in the U.S. Air
Force, McCoy went to work as a computer technician in the White House.
“Then
when I came home to our community in the early 1990s, there were only
six computers on the whole Tulalip Reservation. Six computers!”
he said. “Today, we’re double-ringed and we’re fiber optic. Everyone has
a home computer.”
The 2009 legislative
sessions starts Monday, Jan. 12, and is scheduled to run 105 days.
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