On March 31, Farm Power attended Governor Gregoire's signing of SB 6806, which provides six years of property tax exemption for digesters in Washington--the same exemption previously given to ethanol and biodiesel facilties. The bill was written and sponsored by our own 10th Legislative District Senator Mary Margaret Haugen. You can view our testimony in favor of the bill at 1:14:00 of this webcast. Senator Haugen's press release on the project is here. Despite the great story overall, we feel compelled to point out that Kevin and Daryl are not dairy farmers, and the $200,000 figure cited in this story is for all four farms' fiber consumption, not just one.

Also in the first two photos is Jeff Ellingsen (vest), a former dairy farmer and digester proponent from Stanwood, and Bob Lee, the Coordinator for the Senate Agricultural Committee, who was very helpful in helping us stumble through our first session of the legislature. We're also very grateful to Senator Haugen's Executive Legislative Assistant Nova Gattman (pictured with a glowing halo between Kevin and Daryl below), and Senate Democratic Caucus staffer Mark Strueli. They were friendly, responsive, and very effective at every step of getting this great bill passed. Democracy Works!

In the final picture, political divisions at Farm Power are revealed on the floor of the State Senate.