Military Air Refueling Tanker Decision

County Council Declares Support for Aerospace Machinists and Workers

Calls for New Procurement Process

The Snohomish County Council joined the growing chorus of community leaders expressing their outrage over the U.S. military's awarding of a vital U.S. Air Force air refueling tanker contract to the European-based Airbus consortium.

"This is an issue of jobs, whether we keep American jobs and particularly Snohomish County jobs," said Councilmember Dave Gossett, who introduced the resolution at the behest of the International Association of Aerospace Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO - District 751 and The Boeing Company. Several member of District 751 attended the council meeting.

Councilmembers unanimously called for "withdrawing the appropriation for the Airbus tanker" and starting from scratch a new contract competition "which will factor in the American economy, American jobs, national defense implications, the strategic importance of an American aerospace industry, the impact of additional long-term operating costs to taxpayers, the impact on the environment, the illegal European subsidies to Airbus, and will create a fair and consistent selection criteria."

"The 767 is the best return on investment for taxpayers," said Gossett, "because the Boeing plane is clearly the best buy for the taxpayers of our country. It is more fuel efficient and will have far lower operating costs. And it's also an issue of national security, something we have all been very concerned about."

Snohomish County, he said, intends to work closely with the state's Congressional delegation to make sure the Air Force's new air tanker will be built by Boeing.

Gossett Appointed to Dental Discount Card Program Task Force

Dave Gossett has been appointed to the National Association of Counties' (NACo) Dental Discount Card Program Task Force. The task force will review proposals for implementing the new program.

The proposed dental discount card program will be modeled after NACo's very successful Prescription Drug Discount Card Program that since 2005 has saved consumers nationwide over $83 million on their prescription drug purchases at local pharmacies. There is no cost to taxpayers for the program.

"I introduced the prescription drug discount card program in Snohomish County in June 2005 and to date over 3,000 families here have used the free card, filling nearly 8,000 prescriptions a month," he said. "These Snohomish County families are saving an average 26 percent over the retail cost of their prescription drugs -- saving more than $130,000 every month." 

To receive a free prescription drug discount card, please call the County Council office at 425-3883494, or e-mail county.council@snoco.org.

The NACo prescription drug discount cards offer uninsured or underinsured consumers with immediate, at-the-register discounts on their prescription drug purchases through a nationwide network of 57,000 participating pharmacists. The cards are free to obtain and easy to use. There are no age, health or income restrictions on who can use the cards and there are no registration forms the fill out.