This week, lawmakers are in town for committee days. You can see the full slate of committee hearings and schedules here.

TVW will be covering many of the hearings live. Go here for the schedule.

Tomorrow, don’t miss the Senate Ways and Means Committee at 1:30 p.m. (and live on TVW) — they’ll undoubtedly discuss the recent revenue forecast and the state budget. At 8 a.m., we’ve got the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and at 3:30 p.m., we’ll show the Senate Health and Long-term Care Committee. Don’t miss it.

Tags: committee days, Legislature

We’re focusing on education in this week’s Impact show, when we’ll be recapping segments of our special report, The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding.  Joining us on-set: state Representative Kelli Linville, Chair of the House Budget committee and state Senator Curtis King, ranking minority member of the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education committee.  Given the current revenue forecast, lawmakers may need to cut an additional $1 billion from the supplemental budget when they return in January. Representative Linville says she is beginning talks with members of the budget committee regarding their options for crafting a supplemental budget. She says a targeted tax to fund specific education proposals in the Basic Education Finance Law could go to voters.

Also on the program:  Washington State Parent Teacher Association Executive Director Bill Williams and League of Education Voters Legislative Director George Scarola.  Both say they hope to see the legislature begin the process of funding the Basic Education Finance Law next session.

In another segment, we’ll outline proposals released this week by the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board to stablize funding for Washington’s public colleges.  It includes a new tuition policy proposal for state universities.

Don’t miss The Impact, tonight at 7pm on TVW and anytime online: tvw.org.

Tags: education, Higher Education, Schools, The Impact, The Quest for Quality, tuition policy

Brad Shannon at The Olympian reports that the state has received some 200 comments about whether to allow religious holiday displays at the state capitol. The deadline for filing your opinion on the matter is Thursday. Read the whole story here.

In other news, the state’s minimum wage will not increase this year. Why? The Consumer Price Index didn’t either. Get the full story here.

Tags: updates

Those are the words of Governor Chris Gregoire talking about the latest revenue forecast and the possibility of having to cut up to a billion more dollars from the state budget.

Gregoire  met with capitol reporters this morning to talk about a range of issues – everything from the case to keep Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner production line in Washington to the latest revenue forecast. And she even talked taxes. Gregoire was opposed to any tax increase last legislative session.  She says she is now open to lawmakers coming to her with a plan on how to raise revenue that won’t impact the economy.

“I’ve told the leadership, come make your case.  My door is open, you can make your case,” said Gregoire.

Tags: Gregoire, revenue, taxes

Legislators are back at the State Capitol this week for interim legislative assembly.  TVW will be LIVE with various committee hearings Tuesday through Friday — here’s TVW’s air schedule for the week.

The state budget is much on legislators’ minds — two weeks ago on “Inside Olympia” the Governor’s budget office said the 2010 supplemental budget will have a $750-million-to-$1-billion hole to fill.  Several committees will hold budget-related hearings.

But that’s not all.  There’s also a hearing on national health care reform, and college presidents are slated to testify at another hearing on budget challenges at their institutions.  Tuesday marks the first hearing for a new committee, the House Audit Review and Oversight Committee, which will hear from two quality management experts.  Here’s that committee’s homepage.

Tags: Budget, interim legislative assembly, national health reform

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Books, TVW “Author’s Hour” host Terry Tazioli will interview Chuck leWarne, who’s written a book on a fascinating bit of Washington history: the “Love Israel” commune that started on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill in 1968 and in the 1980s moved to a farm near Arlington.  Here’s a link to a book review in The Seattle Times.

If you lived around Queen Anne in the late 60s, 70s, or early 80s, or Arlington from the mid-80s, you probably heard of Love Israel.   TVW “Inside Olympia” host Austin Jenkins, who grew up on Queen Anne, told me he rode the school bus with one of the kids who grew up in the commune.

Elliott Bay has generously given TVW studio space in the store for these interviews, which are conducted in front of a studio audience who can ask authors their own questions after an interview.  The Love Israel interview will be taped tonight and televised Sunday, Oct. 4, at 7 & 10 p.m.

Tags: Author's Hour, Chuck leWarne, Love Israel, Terry Tazioli

Spend 90 minutes this Friday and get up to date on the history of funding Washington’s public school system. Our two-part series, ‘The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform and Funding’, premiered this week on TVW.  It explores the history of how the state funds its public schools and the debate over future reforms.

Watch it here now:

‘PART ONE: What’s the Cost of Basic Education?’

‘PART TWO: More Money or More Reform?’

For more information: questforquality.org

Tags: education, education reform, Quest for Quality, special report

Part One of our education series – The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding - aired last night on TVW.  Many who have already watched it are offering their rave reviews, so if you haven’t seen it yet, watch it here now:

‘Part Two: More Money or More Reform’ airs tonight at 8pm on TVW.

Click here for more information.

Washington public schools are paid for based on a complicated set of formulas that some say results in unfair and unequal funding across the state.  In part one of our two-part special report, The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding, you’ll learn the history of state funding for public schools in Washington and how the system has evolved over the years.  It’s airing tonight and provides a comprehensive look at the state’s public schools.

In other words – for anyone who cares about the future of public education – this series is not to be missed.

During the 2009 legislative session, Washington lawmakers passed a comprehensive education funding bill.  Known as the Basic Education Finance Bill, the new law could change the way the state pays for schools in Washington. But it’s years away from being funded and plenty of people have their own ideas on how the state should spend the money.

Don’t miss this in-depth look at the history and future of education in Washington state:

‘Part One: What’s the Cost of Basic Education?’, Tonight, 8pm
‘Part Two: More Money or More Reform?’, Thursday, 8pm

For more information: www.questforquality.org

Tags: education, education reform, Quest for Quality, special report