This week’s Q&A is with Secretary of State Sam Reed. I interviewed Reed in his office this morning, and have included the entire interview below.

Q. What are the challenges facing your office now?
A. Right now, the number one would be this Referendm 71. We’re checking the signatures on petitions now. One reason it’s a challenge is that they are very close – they’re going to be very close to qualifying – either just a little under or a little over. So both sides are just watching this intently and their observers are of course very nervous and questioning us. And we even expect some litigation to come of it. That is clearly our biggest challenge.
The second big challenge, which, in the long run is more significant and a higher priority is the Washington State Heritage Center, where we’re going to have a new building on the capitol campus housing the state archives, state library, a museum, there will be a place for a learning center for children. And that passed the Legislature in 2007 but then, because of the economy taking a dive and the bond market getting dicey and some of the fees supporting it getting dicey, the Legislature decided to delay it. So we are working very hard to move ahead and be ready by the 2010 Legislative session. (more…)

Tags: Q&A, Sam Reed

As you may recall, Referendum 71 — the one to repeal the everything-but-gay-marriage bill — faced a big challenge: How to get 114 pages of the text of the bill onto one, readable page (as is required by state law).

Well, they figured it out and here’s a first look, courtesy of Dave Ammons from the Secretary of State’s office: ref

They have until July 25 to collect about 120,000 valid voter signatures. Go here for more info.

Tags: Domestic partnership, referendum 71

Sen. Mark Schoesler: “We still do not have accountability. This bill does not give us accountability … nobody is held accountable for poor performance in this bill, we just go on to study (the problem),” he said.

Sen. Tim Sheldon: Yesterday’s tax protesters “represent thousands more people across this state who care about dollars and cents,” he said. He is advocating for a “pay as you go” system, where the state doesn’t commit any money that it doesn’t have.

Sen. Chris Marr said he can’t support the bill because it represents aspirations — but without the money to fulfill those aspirations.

Sen. Randi Becker said she spoke to a school administrator who said if you don’t have the money, don’t pass the bill because it would amount to an unfunded mandate for schools.

Sen. Rosa Franklin: Said you don’t always have all the money for something when you make plans and set goals. She said this bill amounts to making a plan — and the state should get started on it now, not wait until they have the money. (more…)

Tags: education reform

Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe: “Without this bill or with this bill, it doesn’t matter. (The teachers) will show up every day and they will be committed to every child’s learning,” she said. “But this bill … gives them the tools they need … it’s not OK to have a definition that is 30 years old… It’s not alright to have a drop-out rate of between 20 and 30 percent.”

McAuliffe said the bill would do great things for education.

Tags: education reform

That quote above is from Sen. Don Benton. They’re now done with amendments and debating the bill. He said the cost to implement the proposed definition of basic education is somewhere around $6 billion.

The problem, he says, is that the bill has no funding. “This is a disservice to the citizens of this state. Please reject this bill until we have the appropriate funding to implement it.”

Tags: education reform

Sen. King has offered a couple more amendments. Debate has been fast and the amendments have so far failed.

“Here is a good little amendment for you. It adds the task to the technical working group to review the current spending on K-12 education,” he said, of his third amendment. “All this amendment does is say, let’s look at that $14 billion we’re already spending,” he said, and look for efficiencies.

Sen. Eric Oemig: “I urge you to reject this amendment… it’s redudant … if this were just a paragraph that said ‘Do good things,’ that’d be one thing, but it’s a rather expensive paragraph.”

On a roll-call vote, the amendment failed.

Sen. Joe Zarelli on a new amendment: “Currently in statute it says that children can reside in (the bilingual program) for three years … what the underlying bill does is completely remove that statutory requirement so it deems that a child can stay in that program through early learning, high school … the problem is, it’s one of the fastest growing caseloads,” he said, and is growing at 10 times the rate of enrollment. “What we ought to be doing is looking at moving kids in the classroom with their peers, unfortunately there’s an incentive for keeping kids in there,” he said — some $900 per student.

Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe: “The current language is no longer needed under No Child Left Behind … this language is no longer needed.”

That amendment failed after a lengthy debate.

Tags: education, Reform

With 10 days left until the scheduled end of the Legislative session, there’s a lot happening:

- The Seattle Times reports that Rep. Eric Pettigrew has introduced a tax bill. The bill asks for a 3/10ths of a penny sales tax increase and would put the $250 to $300 million per year toward healthcare, the Times reports.

Here’s last night’s edition of The Impact, where Reps. Eileen Cody and Bill Hinkle discuss the chances of such a tax passing, as well as how they view the safety net. (Rewind a bit to see Jen’s story on healthcare cuts and some ads healthcare advocates have been running.):

- Here is last night’s Senate Ways & Means Committee hearing, where they passed the operating budget.

- And Joe Turner Pete Callaghan at The News Tribune is reporting that Gov. Chris Gregoire is now supporting the bill to reform basic education. Why the switch? Callaghan reports that she says the bill could include language that would prevent the state from getting sued if they didn’t meet the funding requirements.

All this before 10 a.m. — and I’m sure there’s more… Check back.

Tags: Budget, education, taxes

Here’s the press conference:

Tags: education, OSPI

Rep. Hans Dunshee’s plan to send a $3 billion school (and other public building) improvement bond to voters is having its first public hearing now in the House Capital Budget Committee.

One woman who just spoke told lawmakers to, “Do something, damn it.” She referenced poor air quality in schools and a child who had to use a respirator after being exposed to a solvent at school.

Rep. Maralyn Chase held up a bottle of yellow, dingy water. She said it came from the pipes at her grandson’s school, and that she was appalled at it. She said it’s taken a while, but that this bill is progress.

Rep. Norma Smith said she doesn’t think there’s any doubt about the needs for schools to be updated. But, she said, the state treasurer is warning that $3 billion in bonds could damage the state’s rating.

And Rep. Chase just said it’s “no secret that our prisons are in better shape than our public schools.”

Tags: Budget, Schools

State Treasurer Jim McIntire sent out a news release just after Rep. Hans Dunshee announced a plan to finance public building construction with $3 billion in bonds (see below).

Here’s what McIntire had to say: “We need to live within our means. Though we clearly have significant capital needs at our schools and universities, borrowed money is a limited resource that should be managed carefully.”

McIntire said $3 billion is too much and that it would threaten the state’s credit rating. The current budget considerations would put the state close to its debt limit, according ot McIntire.

Tags: bond, Budget, Schools