Democrats rallied behind candidates and top policy issues at their weekend convention in Clark County.  How many democrats?  700.  Compare that to the Republican convention two weeks earlier, when there were 1,200 delegates.  Rep. Sam Hunt, chair of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, joins me on set to talk about the party’s plan for energizing their voters in the face of a surging Republican party. Plus, the party’s plans for keeping Sen. Patty Murray in office.

In our final segment, you’ll meet the mother of “Fathead.”  Yes, she calls him that name too.  He’s a suspected  gang member in Auburn – the type of person that community corrections officers (CCO) are working to identify and track better.  We ride along with a CCO, as she visits offenders under supervision and looks for signs of gang activity.  During our first stop, we go inside Fathead’s house and talk with his mother about what he’s doing to stay out of trouble.  We also learn about how the Department of Corrections is streamlining a system for preventing gang violence.

You can catch The Impact Thursday nights at 7 p.m. & 10 p.m. on TVW and on Friday nights at 7 p.m. on KBTC.

Tags: Democratic convention, gang violence, The Impact

Reps. Shelly Short, Dan Kristiansen, Joel Kretz and David Taylor — Republican members of the House Ecology and Parks Committee — sent a letter to the State Department of Ecology asking it to stop drafting rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions.

The group is “concerned that over-reaching climate change rules could have a devastating effect on Washington’s stagnant economic recovery,” according to their statement. They said in the letter that Washington produces such a small fraction — 3/10ths of a percent — of greenhouse gas emissions, that it’s “statistically improbable” that implementing new rules here would have an effect.

“When government regulations begin to harm our economic recovery; and when they destroy jobs and make it harder for people to find work, we absolutely need to stop what we’re doing, take a step back and re-evaluate.  That’s what we’re asking DOE to do,” Kristiansen said in a statement.

And Kretz said he doubted that DOE has the authority to implement the rules. The group also noted that climate change efforts had failed in the Legislature, and that it may be best left to the federal government to set climate policy.

Tags: climate change

In May at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, a registered sex offender who is a student there allegedly sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled girl. That incident has legislative leaders calling for a review of the youth sex offender registration requirements.

Sens. Jim Hargrove and Rosemary McAuliffe released a statement today saying they’re asking the Sex Offender Policy Board to review the case, review of current law and recommend legislation for the upcoming session.

“Protecting public safety is and always has been our chief priority,” Hargrove said in the news release.  “An incident like this only reconfirms our commitment to identifying ways to improve the state’s comprehensive system of sex offender accountability, treatment, registration and notification.  The Sex Offender Policy Board was created to study this very thing.”

Tags: sex offenders

Gov. Chris Gregoire is in Washington, D.C. today with a group of other governors to ask Congress to pass an extension of the Medicaid match program, or FMAP. If Congress doesn’t pass the extension, Gregoire said she’d either have to call a special session or make across-the-board cuts.

The extension — for the first two quarters of next year — would amount to nearly $500 million for Washington. Moreover, that money has already been “banked” by the budget passed this session. Gregoire and lawmakers said that since the Senate and House had both passed bills that included the match and it was included in Obama’s budget, they thought it was a safe assumption.

In a conference call with reporters, Gregoire said all-day kindgergarten and hospice programs would be on the chopping block without the FMAP extension. She said the $480 million would equate to about 6,400 jobs or a 4 percent across-the-board cut to state programs.

“The message from governors is that we have every expectation that there will not be federal dollars in the next biennium but we need them to finish out this biennium as they began it,” she said. The current biennium ends July 1, 2011. The current Medicaid match is scheduled to end at the end of 2010, leaving two quarters of the fiscal year without the match.

Gregoire said FMAP funding would help avoid a double-dip recession. As for whether she would call a special session, she said she would only do that if she had assurances the Legislature would convene, make cuts and leave within a day.

Tags: Budget, cuts, FMAP, Gregoire

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office just sent out notice that she’ll be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow with a group of other governors to ask Congress to pass an extension of the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages funding — otherwise known as FMAP.

The state budget assumed that Congress would chip in about $480 million to extend the program from Jan. 2011 through the end of the fiscal year. At the time, Gregoire and legislators said it was a reasonable assumption.

But Congress hasn’t passed it yet — and it may not. If the money doesn’t come through, the Office of Financial Management warns the following: “…the state could face thousands of lay-offs and significant cuts to social service programs,” according to the press release, which continues: ”To cover the loss of $480 million in cuts alone would require a 7.4 percent across-the-board cut to eligible programs – with losses equaling $274 million for the Department of Social and Health Services, $52 million for the Department of Corrections and $83 million for higher education.”

Gregoire is holding a conference call tomorrow morning. Check back here for more information.

Thirty states, with both Democratic and Republican leadership, have included additional FMAP funding in their budgets.

Tags: FMAP, Gregoire

Amidst debate over amendments and deletions, a delegate at the Democratic convention moved to vote on the package as it stands.

The platform passed. Now, the move to resolutions.

Some delegates, however, were upset with the vote. One delegate said it was a “railroad job” that wasn’t worthy of his respect. Another delegate, in response, said the platform committee has been working on the issue for months, during which time she made comments on the process. “If you want to work, work early,” she said.

The convention delegates are working through all the resolutions, which isn’t a process that’s well suited for blog description. For the full, live convention coverage, go here.

Tags: Democratic convention, platform

Tags: Susan DelBene

Now up: Clyde Cordero, who’s running for Congress in the fifth district. He said he was disappointed at the lack of Democratic candidates in the race, then decided to run.

“I’m the grandson of agricultural workers and, in the tradition of the American dream, I was the first member of my family to graduate from college,” he said.

Cordero said his father was injured in combat, earning the Purple Heart. Cordero also served, working as an intelligence analyst.

“I’m running for Congress because the current Republican member … is out of touch,” he said. He said Cathy McMorris Rodgers is more concerned with playing politics than representing her district.

He said he offers voters a better choice.

Tags: Clyde Cordero, Democratic convention

Jay Clough, running for Doc Hasting’s seat: “This has been, and will continue to be, a difficult challenge,” he said. “But I firmly believe that this is a battle worth waging, and this is an election that can be won.”

“You can distill the entire platform of our Democratic party into those three simple words: Do what’s right.” He said Democrats stand up for what’s right, demanding universal access to affordable healthcare, education, public safety and more “because it is the right thing to do.”

He said he wants to bring sustainable energy to Central Washington, which would bring union jobs, he said. “I want to expand broadband communication services” to rural areas, he said, “because it is the right thing to do.”

He said the right thing isn’t always the easy thing. “Americans don’t shy from difficult challenges — we never have,” he said. “Make no mistake that the 21st century has difficult challenges,” he said, including two wars, a depleting energy source and the economy.

Clough said he joind the Marine Corps three days after his 18th birthday because he wanted to serve his country.

“Rep. Hastings is not serving the interests of the fourth district,” he said. “I stand here to announce today that Eastern Washington will elect a Democrat to Congress.”

Tags: Democratic convention, Jay Clough