I just got back from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s media availability — I’ll post it here as soon as it’s online. Here are some notes:

On the Boeing tanker bid: “We’re not done and we’re assuming nothing right now.”

On session: “The end is in sight … this is clearly a historic legislative session,” she said. She’s pleased with the Constitutional amendment on bail, the 520 bridge bill and progress on government reform.

On special session: There’s “potential” for special session. She said last year, 22 states held a special session and three are currently in special session. “What’s more important to me is get the job done and get it done well,” she said. She said one issue with special session is that once it’s called, they have 30 days and she can’t control what gets discussed — or limit the time to only a day or  two.

On things that aren’t quite finished yet: Race to the Top is an “essential step” — she said it was a “go home” issue, she wants to see movement on a jobs package, and she’s optimistic that the House and Senate can come to an agreement on the budget. She said she’s already started negotiating in private between the two.

The three things that need to be done to negotiate the budget: Agreement on the ending fund balance, agreement on the size of cuts and agreement on the revenue package size.

On the sales tax: She said she expressed concern to the Senate this morning about implementing a sales tax. But asked whether she’d agree to it under any circumstances, she said “never say never, never say always.”

On three big disparities in the budgets: 1. Public employees benefits 2. General Assistance – Unemployable 3. Institutional closures.

There’s much more. Stay tuned for the video.

Tags: Budget, Gregoire, special session, taxes

Tags: banks, economy, Gregoire

Gov. Chris Gregoire and Congressman Jay Inslee held a press conference this morning to discuss federal stimulus on the way.

“Our delegation has done a great job and I want to thank them for all that they’ve done for us … they know how important the federal government is to the states right now,” Gregoire said. She said the federal stimulus has “really kept Washington state from falling off a cliff.”

Gregoire said the state may get an additional $435 million from the federal government for Medicaid match. “I’m now convinced that we will be getting at least the Medicaid dollars.”

Inslee said the success of the stimulus “must be judged by dodging the bullet of the Second Great Depression,” he said. He says by that measure, the government is so far succeeding. “We cannot be celebratory today about that because our constituents are extremely frustrated” that so many people are still unemployed. “We have dodged the big one.”

Inslee said the recovery hasn’t created jobs where people “go out and dig holes and then fill them back in.” Instead, these are jobs that will help Washington in the long run.

Inslee said the danger right now is a double-dip recession. To prevent that, the federal government wants to make sure states don’t go bankrupt. He said he believes it’s imperative for the federal government to “keep states alive.”

Gregoire said five Republican states have already “booked” the federal money she’s now announcing. She said by that measure, that makes her more conservative.

Here’s an interactive map where you can see which counties are getting the most stimulus cash so far.

Tags: Gregoire, Inslee

This morning in her press conference, Gov. Chris Gregoire said all tax options are still on the table — though she said property taxes and across-the-board B&O tax increases are difficult — and that she’s still hopeful for federal help.

“My impression of where the public is anxious is they don’t want … a December all-cuts budget. They want to know that I firmly want to restore some of those cuts,” she said, like the Basic Health Plan, all-day Kindergarten and more. “I actually think it’s a little bit irresponsible for me to come out with a tax package when I’m sitting there waiting for a forecast” to see how much money the state expects to collect.

“In a state where we’re headed to 6.5 million population and 1 million don’t have health insurance,” she said, she hopes health care reform is on the way. “What’s really informing is the fact that those who are coming on Medicaid now are using it much more dramatically” than those already on it. “It’s not the time to walk away, and it’s not the time to begin again.”

Tags: Gregoire, health care reform

Gov. Chris Gregoire is testifying to the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee now about the Maurice Clemmons case. She said based on that case — and previous studies of the criminal justice and mental health systems — she has a number of policies she’d like changed. One: Guilty and Mentally Ill conviction, which sends mentally ill criminals into the prison system to receive mental health care.

You can read all about those here or watch live now.

Tags: Gregoire, Maurice Clemmons, public safety

Gov. Chris Gregoire held a press conference this morning on her plan to improve Washington’s schools — and be eligible for federal Race to the Top funding in the process.

Gregoire’s plan includes: A early education program called “All Start” that lets parents choose where to send their children for preschool “as long as that preschool is certified.” It would redo the way the state evaluates teachers and would allow the state to intervene with low-performing schools across the state.

On the subject of preschool certification: There are currently no standards and no certification process in the state. Gregoire’s plan calls for the Department of Early Learning to write those standards.

Tags: education, Gregoire

Gov. Chris Gregoire, in her press conference for bills to address public safety, got a number of questions about legalizing marijuana.

One TV reporter asked if she’d be willing to sign a bill to legalize marijuana if it generated “a billion dollars of revenue” to address the budget shortfall.

“I don’t know how you generate any money when it’s illegal under federal law,” Gregoire said.

When asked if her bill to create a “guilty and mentally ill” conviction would shift costs, she said she’s put money in her budget to address increased mental health costs.

“There’s no one who knows better than I how tough the economic times are that we’re in. But you don’t compromise public safety in tough economic times,” she said. “I’m prepared to pay for it, even in tough economic times. I’d rather do that than have the tragedies we’ve had in the past two months.”

Tags: Gregoire, public safety

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office just sent out a release about her package of public safety bills — she talked about the bills in her State of the State speech yesterday, but no details were available.

The plan: Create a “guilty and mentally ill” verdict. “This option would allow courts to find a person guilty of a crime and sentence them to prison, instead of a state psychiatric hospital. ‘The rights of dangerous mentally ill offenders can’t trump the safety of our families,’ Gregoire said in the release.

What’s the difference? Currently, if someone is found not guilty by reason of insanity, they are sent into a state psychiatric hospital. After they’ve received sufficient treatment (as deemed by the state), they are released. This new classification would send those mentally ill convicts to prison, where they would receive mental health treatment.

Frontline has a comprehensive explanation of such classifications here. They say that by 2000, at least 20 states had enacted “guilty and mentally ill” laws.

In addition to that, Gregoire is proposing a new Safety Review Panel — that group would review the release of those already convicted not guilty by reason of insanity with “an eye toward protecting our community.”

Gregoire’s other public safety initiatives are after the jump: (more…)

Tags: Gregoire, guilty and mentally ill, public safety

Gov. Chris Gregoire is testifying to the Senate Ways & Means Committee now about her list of buy backs. Here’s a quick look. See the rest here (you have to check Senate Ways & Means, then click through to Gregoire’s presentation).

K-12 Levy Equalization increases: $165 million
Basic Health Plan: $160 million
Higher Education State Need Grant: $146 million
Redesigned General Assistance-Unemployable: $84.5 million
K-12 all-day Kindergarten, gifted program and Reading Corps: $42 million
Working Connections child care option: $39.5 million
Maternity support services: $21 million
Optional Medicaid services: $18 million

The total for all the restored programs is $779 million.

Tags: Budget, Gregoire

Gov. Gregoire is now testifying — live on TVW – on her budget. She said in making her Book 1 budget, “the process, quite honestly, was gut-wrenching.”

“This was not … a shock and awe tactic,” she said — an accusation she’d read in a newspaper.

She said her Book 2 budget adds back about $779 million to the cuts she made in the Book 1 budget. But, it still doesn’t spare every program from cuts.

Gregoire said the state needs to eliminate tax policies that advantage out-of-state business over in-state business. “I will be proposing to you legislation that will level that playing field,” she said. That will raise $75 million this biennium.

She said various federal money could amount to $1 billion. But we won’t really know, she said, until the State of the Union speech. She said it would be irresponsible for her to pencil in a number before then.

“This, to me, is a time for all of us to work together. It is not a time for all of us to have separate budgets,” she said. “Last year, I told you that as difficult as writing the budget was for me … your job was even harder, as the effects of the recession grew. I am hopeful that we have seen the worst of it,” she said.

Tags: Budget, Gregoire