House Republicans have called for state lawmakers to pass a separate K-12 budget that would fund schools before the rest of the operating budget. They will discuss details of that plan, as well as a proposed K-12 education budget, in a news conference Thursday at noon.

The House Education Appropriations and Oversight Committee held a public hearing on Tuesday on the bill that would require the Legislature to pass a separate K-12 education budget. You can read a full Q & A with the bill’s prime sponsor Rep. Bruce Dammeier about education funding on our blog.

Tags: education, K-12, Republicans

Today, two lawmakers from different ends of the political spectrum made statements announcing that they will vote in favor of same-sex marriage in Washington.

Sen. Jim Kastama held a press conference today in which he said he will vote in support of same-sex marriage, and that he believes this legislation should pass without a ballot amendment. He said with the struggles of the economy and government, marriage can provide a “true safety net.”

“In 2012, I believe we have reached the point where society is ready to recognize and support same-sex couples who seek the bonds, benefits and security of marriage. They too, deserve this ‘safety net.’”

Kastama said this was a hard decision to make, saying that “Unlike some of my colleagues in liberal districts, I will not return home to cheers and handshakes.”

He said if the legislature is able to address this difficult issue, there will be no excuse for tackling other challenges.

Rep. Glenn Anderson also issued a statement announcing his support for gay marriage. In a lengthy statement, Anderson says that he thinks same-sex marriage meets the federal constitution test for equal protection and that he will vote in favor of the same-sex marriage bill in the House.

He uses three criteria to evaluate same-sex marriage:

1. The historical purpose of civil marriage
2. The historical religious doctrines on traditional marriage
3. The federal judicial record for determining equal protection under the law in the 14th Amendment the U.S. Constitution

Anderson said the distinction between civil and religious marriage has been long settled, and that “civil same-sex marriage does not undermine the right of individuals to freely choose association with religious organizations that seek to encourage traditional marriage values with which they agree. Neither does it obstruct the ability to practice the values of religious marriage, either individually or with like-minded persons.”

He also said that there is sufficient physiological research and historical records to show that homosexuality is a normal expression of biology.

Anderson cited the Code of Hammurabi, Council of Trent, and the Emperors Theodosius and Justinian to back up his claims about civil and religious marriage.

Tags: Anderson, Kastama

The 2012 Legislative session kicked off on Monday, and we covered lots of ground here on the blog and on Legislative Review, our 10-minute wrap-up of the day’s events that airs nightly at 6:30 p.m. on TVW. Here’s a quick look back at what happened this week.

Monday: Opening ceremonies got underway with speeches from Reps. Frank Chopp and Richard DeBolt. TVW aired a two-hour opening day special of “The Impact” with interviews from the Governor and dozens of lawmakers, who touched on everything from the budget to gay marriage and medical marijuana.

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review here.

Tuesday:  Gov. Chris Gregoire gave her final state of the state address, calling for a $3.6 billion transportation package that would include a $1.50 fee per barrel on oil produced in Washington. Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, delivered the Republican response. That was followed by a news conference where several Republicans said they were concerned that the Governor’s proposed oil fee would cause prices to rise at the gas pump.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review here.

Wednesday: After three years of delivering gloomy economic forecasts, the state’s chief economist Arun Raha announced he was resigning to take a new job in Cleveland — but not without cracking a few of his signature “Arun-ism” jokes first. We kept an eye on two environmental bills — one would ban plastic grocery bags in Washington state, and the other would ban petroleum-based plastic bottles. And, the Senate took a look at a proposal that would consolidate the healthcare benefits of K-12 public school employees under one insurance plan.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review here.

Thursday: A bipartisan group of lawmakers held a press conference to announce their plans for education reform, including a bill that would authorize charter schools in Washington state. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, held a press conference to promote his version of a bill that would ban plastic bags. The employment department and chief economist Arun Raha gave an update on how the state’s economy is doing.

Watch Thursday’s Leglative Review here.

Friday: The Sandusky scandal prompted the Senate to hear a bill that would hold certain higher education employees responsible for reporting suspected child abuse. Also, the Senate honored Sen. Scott White, who died in October of a heart attack. Friday’s edition of Legislative Review airs at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Arun Raha, Environment, gay marriage, Gov. Gregoire, Legislative Review, Schools

This week: Senate Democrat Leader Lisa Brown and House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt share their views on the state budget, possible tax hikes, and other key issues facing the 2012 State Legislature. Enjoy.

Tags: Budget, House, Inside Olympia, Reform, Senate, taxes

In preparation for tomorrow’s show The Impact, host Jessica Gao just interviewed Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt and Senate Majority Caucus Leader Karen Fraser.

With the session set to kick off next Monday the thing on everyone’s mind is the budget.  Both caucuses are busy trying to figure out how to balance the books with a $4.6 billion shortfall and with what legislators are referring to as  a resounding message from voters last November: no new taxes.

“The voters have spoken,” said Hewitt, R-Walla Walla. “It is a bit schizophrenic to be here these days. They want services but don’t want to pay for them.”

One of those services is Washington’s transportation infrastructure. When asked about the possibility of sending a tax package to the voters in order to fund it both Senators were reluctant to commit to any one idea. Both agreed though, on the importance of the state’s transportation system and its direct link to the economy.

Fraser, D-Olympia, added that there has been talk of exploring traditional sources of revenue for projects like gas tax and tolls as well as new measures.

To watch the entire interview tune into The Impact tomorrow evening at 7 or 10 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Budget, The Impact, transportation

Here’s what Rep. Gary Alexander’s office sent out on his reaction to the House budget. Alexander is the ranking Republican on the Ways & Means Committee:

“Washington citizens need long-term leadership, not short-term fixes. Placing a Band-Aid on our budget problems in hopes of a better economy in the future, or for voter-approved tax increases down the road, is the wrong approach.

“It appears House Democrat budget writers followed a similar formula to their Senate Democrat counterparts in that they rely entirely too much upon one-time state and federal money. They propose to spend $5 billion that we know will not be available the next time we sit down to write a budget. What happens then? We’re delaying the inevitable and setting ourselves up for more problems tomorrow by not exercising true leadership today.

“I’m also dismayed at the cavalier attitude the majority party is showing in regards to referencing and spending federal tax dollars. I think we need to remember that no government — local, state or federal — has any money of its own. It all comes from taxpayers at some point. It seems their attitude is to thank President Obama for his generosity at the taxpayers’ expense because he helped cover the mistakes they made in the last four years of unfettered spending.

“We’re settling for the easy way out if we just focus on the reductions being made and not on the opportunity we have to make state government more accountable, more efficient and more responsible to the people.

“Yes, both the House and Senate budgets made cuts. But the families in our state are doing much more than just cutting things in their own budgets to get by. Families are prioritizing their needs, they’re finding different ways to get things done, and they’re changing the way they go about their daily routines to streamline their own finances. Families realize that ‘business as usual’ won’t work for them. Shouldn’t state government do the same?

“I said it when the Senate released their budget and I’ll say it again: Borrowing against our future, relying upon one-time money, and hoping for a tax increase at the ballot is not the type of leadership our state needs right now.”

Tags: Budget

Sen. Joseph Zarelli, on the budget:

“There are two questions to ask about the Senate Democrat budget: what are the priorities, and where would this put our state in two years?

“This is not an ‘all-cuts’ budget because it would require tax increases – but even if it was all-cuts, that alone doesn’t make it acceptable. Our families are expected to realign their priorities when times are difficult, yet the Senate Democrats are choosing to increase K-12 classroom sizes so they can allocate more taxpayer dollars for state-employee health care, cut access to our colleges and universities in favor of continuing health care for illegal immigrants, and reduce support for nursing homes instead of freezing wages for all state employees.

“They point to spending reductions for the Basic Health Plan and General Assistance-Unemployable program, but those are only temporary cuts when what we need are reforms that would bring long-term efficiencies.

“The state expects to take in as much revenue in the next two years as it will in this biennium, so it really does come down to priorities. Senate Republicans have shown how the Legislature could produce a budget that is balanced without higher taxes, protects services for the most vulnerable and does not repeat the mistake of relying on gimmicks or one-time money. Unfortunately the Senate Democrat proposal falls short on all of those fronts. It does almost nothing to produce the kind of farsighted change Olympia and our taxpayers badly need.

“Instead of making policy adjustments that will generate substantial ongoing savings, this proposal is about punting and doing temporary backfill that would put off the problem for another two years. It keeps spending artificially high by playing about 3 billion dollars in federal money plus some ill-advised fund transfers that include a raid on the capital budget.

“It’s not whether you take the federal money, it’s how you spend it. These are dollars we can only spend once – but this budget would use them to maintain programs and services. That is exactly the approach which started our state down the road to a deficit. Back out the one-time dollars and it’s clear how this budget sets the stage for a repeat of where we are now.

“We will be asked what we would do differently. The answer is we already tried – by repeatedly encouraging the majority party to make timely spending reductions that would have resulted in lasting savings to taxpayers, and sharing our ideas for building the kind of budget our state truly needs. Unfortunately the leaders of the majority party didn’t heed our warnings against overspending, and it doesn’t look now like they’ve taken our suggestions for long-term fixes either.

“The Senate Democrats could have made policy changes months ago that would have established a new baseline for state spending and reduced the size of the budget gap by billions of dollars. By failing to act earlier they have almost guaranteed we will be back in this position again in 2011.”

Tags: Budget

Rep. Gary Alexander sent out a reaction to the Senate Democrats’ budget.

Here’s what he had to say:
“The Senate’s solution to closing the state’s nearly-$9 billion budget shortfall is shortsighted, relies too much on one-time money, attempts to bait the public into buying off on a tax increase, and sets us up for budget shortfalls again in the near future.

“It seems Senate budget writers still don’t get it. While Washington families are making do with less, state government is going to get more. This next biennium’s budget actually spends more money than the last one when you add the one-time funding from the federal stimulus and capital budget transfers.

“Instead of streamlining government and delivering services more efficiently and effectively, the Senate proposes to use nearly $5 billion in one-time federal and state money to backfill the overspending of the last four years. Because we’re not actually making systemic changes to the process, we’re going to be right back in the same situation in the very immediate future.

“The Senate proposes to borrow money for operating expenses by transferring capital budget dollars to the operating budget. The reduction in capital budget money will then be backfilled by more bonding. In essence, we’re placing daily expenses on the state’s credit card which is a horrible and shortsighted budgeting practice. This sets us up for deficit spending down the road.

“Finally, making the most dramatic cuts in K-12 education is, I believe, a way of making the most noise possible with the budget reductions as a way to convince the public that a tax increase for education is needed. This is not so. We can balance the budget, fund education and protect our most vulnerable without raising taxes on hard-working families.

“Borrowing against our future, relying upon one-time money, and hoping for a tax increase at the ballot is not the type of leadership our state needs right now.”

Stay tuned for another take on the budget: Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn.

Tags: Budget

More on this: Mark your calendars for 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 19. That’s when the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will give the preliminary forecast.

The formal forecast will still be a month later, on March 19.

Two things:
1. They’re expecting a lot of people — Hearing rooms A, B and C have been reserved for the announcement.
2. They don’t sound like they’re expecting things to get better – the forecast is to provide the Legislature “with early guidance regarding the impact of deteriorating economic conditions…”

Tags: Budget, Revenue forecast

Thursday at 7 p.m. TVW’s Inside Olympia will look back at the last time the budget was this bad.

Host Austin Jenkins will talk with then-Gov. John Spellman as well as Republican House Speaker Bill Polk and House Minority (Democratic) Leader Wayne Ehlers. It ought to be a very interesting conversation.

Background: In Nov. 1979, Washington voters approved a Constitutional amendment to require the Legislature to meet annually. (Before then, it was a once-per-two-years affair.) According to the official legislative history, the following session, in Jan. 1980, was virtually a non-event.

In Nov. 1980, Republicans took control of the House, Democrats had a 25-24 lead in the Senate and Gov. Dixy Lee Ray was defeated.

And then: The state suddenly faced a budget shortfall of $1 billion.

If session this year has been stressful for you, reading this could give you heartburn (speaking from experience): In the middle of budget negotiations, a scale-tipping Senate Democrat switched parties, (more…)

Tags: Budget, Democrats, Inside Olympia, Republicans, taxes