Here’s a short look at what’s in store for today:

- At noon, Republican leaders will hold a media availability.

- At 3:30, both House and Senate Ways & Means committees will meet. In the Senate, they’ll be considering the revenue bills — 6873, 6874, 6875. In the House, they’ll be considering amendments to the budget introduced yesterday. I’m posting the videos from yesterday’s Ways & Means hearings below the jump in case you missed them.

- At 4 p.m., Gov. Chris Gregoire will sign the bill to suspend most of Initiative 960. As soon as that happens, the Legislature can pass a tax increase with a simple majority vote.

- At 4:45 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown will hold a media availability.

- At some point to be announced, the House will release their revenue package.

- At 7 and 10 p.m. tonight, The Impact will air — host Jessica Gao has already interviewed Rep. Kelli Linville and Sen. Joe Zarelli. I’ll post the show as soon as it’s available online.

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Tags: 960, Budget, taxes

Another busy week. Here’s a few videos you may have missed. That’s what the weekend is for.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s tax package unveiling:

The intense Fish and Wildlife Commission confirmation hearing for David Jennings.

The hearing on the “Clean Water Act of 2010″ to triple the hazardous waste tax to 2 percent: (more…)

Tags: 960, Budget, governor's tax proposal, hazardous waste tax, Inside Olympia, The Impact

This week’s Q&A is with Marty Brown, Gov. Chris Gregoire’s director of Legislative Affairs. Read what he has to say on taxes, the 960 bill, the Constitutional amendment and more.

Q: When Gov. Gregoire introduced her tax package yesterday, she indicated it wasn’t a temporary package. Can you say more on that?
Brown: I think it’s at least through next biennium. We haven’t finished up all the bills. What we’d looked at was exactly how to make sure we raised some money for 2011-2013 biennium, too. We haven’t looked out any further than that. I think she’s considering them to be at least last three years.

Q: Why not go with a sales tax increase?
Brown: I think she thinks that it is probably our most regressive tax. It hits folks that can least afford it the hardest and I think that’s the main reason right there.
Will the Legislature still consider it? Possibly. I know they have at least one bill to do that.

Q: How much did you consult with the Legislature in putting together the tax package?
Brown: We had meetings with legislative leadership, we talked about some of the direction she was going. Obviously some of the issues have already been introduced.
We met with finance, Rep. Hunter and Sen. Murray, about things they were talking about. It wasn’t like people signed off. Much like when she put forth her budget, it’s what she proposes, understanding that the Legislature will have different ideas.

Q: Let’s talk about reform. There’s one proposal to fold the Parks and Fish and Wildlife commissions into the Department of Natural Resources. I’m wondering if that’s an idea the governor would consider?
Brown: A couple things: We considered DNR-natural resources reform and doing the same thing that some of the legislators are talking about. We are not convinced that it saves much money up front. There are lots of policy questions, but we understand the Legislature is working on that.
We have several reform things working right now. In natural resources, we’re trying to combine growth management hearings boards into trying to slim down other environmental hearings boards. We’ve got bills in on boards and commissions – to get rid of a bunch of those. The Legislature always has a hard time doing that. We’ve got a proposal to put Medicaid into the Healthcare Authority. We think that putting all of the health purchasing in one place is a cost savings we could work on. So quite a few things are moving right now. Whether or not the Legislature will be able to do it or not is an open question.

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Tags: 960, Constitutional amendment, Governor, liquor privatization, Marty Brown, taxes, Thursday Q&A

Second night of debate on this bill, to suspend most of Initiative 960.

Rep. Scott White: “There was a comment earlier that the state, the government doesn’t create any jobs,” he said. But government provides jobs in schools, infrastructure and public health. He said government jobs help create a civilized state. He said there’s been many mentions made of California. “We’re not California, we’re Washington,” he said. “Over 30 states raised taxes last year. Washington state did not.”

Rep. Glenn Anderson: “The courts of the state of Washington for the last generation, for the last 30 years have said it’s the mandatory, Constitutional obligation to fund K-12 funding before any government operations or obligations.” He said that was recently revalidated in the Erlich decision. “We can talk about needing more money for our schools — and we do. But it’s not how much that comes first, it’s where do we spend” to get the best results.

Update: The House passed the bill 51 to 47. Here’s the full video: Keep reading below the jump for more quotes.

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Tags: 960, taxes

Today, I was joined by Reps. Cary Condotta and Steve Conway. The two talked to Jessica Gao on The Impact for tonight’s edition about labor issues. But I stole part of their lunch break to discuss tonight’s 960 debate and taxes.

Tags: 960, taxes

This is last night’s debate. I’ll post this morning’s debate as soon as I can. And don’t forget to tune in tonight at 8 p.m., when I’ll follow along with the continued floor debate!

Tags: 960

Last night, the House debated suspending debate on the bill indefinitely. Right now, they debate passing the bill. Update: As of 12:20, the House is at ease until 8 p.m.

Rep. Ross Hunter: “I hope … we also produce a budget that meets the moral definition of balance.” He said the state can’t get to $2.8 billion only using cuts. He cited a predicament the Legislature faces: Cutting social services versus ending a loophole for out-of-state food processors. “I would urge you to type California, budget and Maldonado into your search engine,” he said, making a point that supermajority budgeting doesn’t work.

“I expect that I will have to explain my votes this year to my voters,” he said, adding that he would much rather do that than allow one third of members to decide the budget.

Rep. Norma Smith: “I sat silently last night and listened to the debate on this floor. And I looked for where we share the same heart, where we all have agreement,” she said. “Where we agreed last night is that this state and its people have a big heart … to make sure that our most vulnerable are taken care of.” She said she believes the state can change the way they look at the issue. She said personal sacrifice is necessary to balance the budget, and it will require listening to everyone.

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Tags: 960

The House is now debating the bill to suspend Initiative 960. Watch live here. The bill was brought up by Republicans in a motion to indefinitely suspend debate on the bill.

Rep. Bruce Dammeier said his printing company had to lay off employees when the recession hit. He said he’s had to make ends meet as unemployment insurance, workers’ comp and other costs have skyrocketed. “This is a precursor for taxes and we need to be talking about jobs… tonight, I am asking us to set aside this and let’s go to work on the important issues for the state of Washington.”

Rep. Kathy Haigh: “When I first moved to the state of Washington and set up business, it was very hard times,” she said. “I understand and I’m still having to figure out ways to cut costs,” she said. She said she served on the school board shortly after moving to Washington and was shocked to find out that a levy vote took 60 percent voter approval. “I have had to deal with 60 percent. Whether I wanted the issue or did not want the issue. It’s very obvious to me that when you ask for 60 percent, you empower the minority,” she said. If the Legislature is bound to 60 percent, she said maybe initiatives should be held to the same standard.

Rep. Dan Roach he said Initiative 960 was meant to tie the hands of lawmakers. He said when the state has money, the Legislature wants to spend it. He said it’s the same as in his own household. He read a note from “Joe” from Auburn. “It seems to me that the Legislature has missed the point of 960 … it meant that acceptance must come from both parties,” he said. “It meant that the partie must not just look across the aisle, but walk over there” and work together.

Rep. Geoff Simpson: “I think it’s really important that we move forward,” he said, meaning they need to suspend 960. He said he voted against the budget last year because it did too much harm. “We made it more difficult to provide safe quality care for our parents and grandparents” to get quality care, tuition was increased, schools were cut. “We made some really bad cuts last year.” He said if the minority would have allowed it, they could have worked together to make a budget and add revenue with a two-thirds vote.

Rep. Jan Angel said she’s had constituents call and beg her for help. “(960) is the will of the people. They passed this and I do not believe we have the right to gut this.”

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Tags: 960

Here’s the version of the bill to suspend Initiative 960 and make it easier to raise taxes that the House Finance Committee ended up advancing to the Rules Committee. You’ll note that it adds back the provision to send cost projections of bills. And here’s the full hearing:

Tags: 960

Update: The House Finance Committee passed the bill to make it easier to raise taxes by suspending Initiative 960. You can see earlier posts on that below.

And here’s the full procedural debate from last night’s floor session:

Tags: 960, taxes