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 morning the Senate Health and Long-Term Care committee heard details about an overhaul of the healthcare benefit system for nearly 200,000 public school employees.

The proposal would consolidate the healthcare plans of 295 school districts, and include medical, dental and vision. Life insurance and long-term disability would be left to the individual school districts.

The plan could save the state an estimated about 1-2 percent of the current billion dollars that is currently spent on public school employee benefits, according to a report by the Health Care Authority.

Sen. Steve Conway said that although the cost savings was important, that’s not the only issue at hand. “What we’re trying to do is get a good product to the people who work in the school districts,” Conway said.

Randy Parr of the Washington Education Association said that they oppose any plan that would give a government board power over employee healthcare plans.

“This is a genuinely seriously subject and you are talking about 200,000 lives,” Parr said. “I hope you understand the importance and magnitude of decisions” that could affect people’s healthcare coverage, premiums and choice of doctors, Parr added.

Tags: benefits, education, healthcare, Schools

Gov. Chris Gregoire, unveiling her education reforms, said the current evaluation system for teachers and principals isn’t working. She’s proposing a new, four-tiered plan where low-performing teachers and principals can be fired if they don’t improve over a set period of time.

She said as with any profession, sometimes teachers or principals “just aren’t cut out” for teaching, and the state should work harder to weed out the field. “We owe it to our kids,” she said. She said modest funding would need to accompany this plan so that schools could be trained on how to effectively implement the new evaluation system.

Another reform idea: Take six lowest-performing schools and turn them into “lab schools.” Each low-performing school will partner with an area college of education, responsible for turning around the schools.

She’s also proposing an “Office of Student Achievement,” a cabinet-level office to be created in July 2012. “The office will focus on students in high school through graduate school,” and focus on raising the level of learning.

“These are reforms with real outcomes,” she said. “These reforms will help our kids and our businesses in the years ahead,” she said. And when the recession is over, Washington students will be prepared for the job market.

To read the governor’s press release on the proposals, click through to the jump. (more…)

Tags: Governor, Schools

The House Capital Budget Committee is holding a public hearing on the 2011-2013 capital budget proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

So far, one school testified that they’re putting a 20-year bond on the ballot this month and they think they have a good chance of getting it through. Under their plan, the local voters would pay $40 million and the state would kick in an additional $20. The problem? The budget may not have room for them, since the state’s bonding capacity is down. The superintendent said that without state matching money, his district wouldn’t have enough cash to build the school — and if they wait to build up reserves, they won’t be able to afford it.

Sean Eagan with the Port of Tacoma says they’re thankful the Governor’s proposal keeps some money in the toxics account, but he said more projects need to be funded. One waterfront site is so toxic, you have to wear a Haz-mat suit to visit it. He said the site can’t be cleaned up if there’s no money in the toxics account.

Tags: capital budget, ports, Schools

Gov. Chris Gregoire is signing the budget and the “healthy schools” bill — to use money from new bonding to make schools more energy efficient. Watch live on TVW now.

Voters must approve the bond before the bill goes into effect. The bottled water tax goes toward paying off the bond.

Gregoire was joined by a group of school children during the “healthy schools” bill. She jokingly quizzed them about what would happen if  she didn’t sign the bill — or vetoed it.

Now, for the capital budget. “The supplemental capital budget is expected to support an additional 9,000 jobs,” Gregoire said. “We know that these projects will help jump start our economy,” she said, and add family wage jobs. The bill includes $123 million total for Puget Sound Projects, including $50 million for stormwater clean-up.

And now for the operating budget. Gregoire said the Legislature used a three-prong attack last year — cuts, federal money and fund shifts — to balance the budget without taxes. But, she said, that wasn’t possible this year.

“We’ve reformed how we do business,” she said, including closing or partially closing state institutions. “But in this budget we do more to shrink the bottom line” while ensuring that critical services are retained.

“This budget will leave $452 million” in the Rainy Day Fund, she said.

Update: Here’s a post by Jordan Schrader about some of the things Gregoire cut from the budget.

Tags: Budget, Schools

State schools superintendent Randy Dorn sent a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire asking her to veto a section of the budget. Read the whole letter below.

The segment he wants her to veto the section that would set aside $250,000 for a committee that would look at how to reorganize the state’s school districts.

Dorn’s letter says that the new commission would have powers that overlap existing regional boards, that there isn’t enough money budgeted for such an effort, and that creating a new commission goes against the Legislature’s efforts to shut down and defund most boards and commissions.

Here’s Dorn’s veto letter to Gregoire.

Tags: consolidation, Dorn, Gregoire, school district, Schools

The House just started debate on the bill to create jobs by making schools more energy efficient. The improvements would be paid for with bonds — and the bonds would be paid for by energy savings.

The problem, as Republicans have said it: The bill would put Washington further into debt.

“We cannot afford the debt. Get off the dope,” Rep. Glenn Anderson said. He called the bill “delusional.”

Rep. Dawn Morrell said the state needs jobs — and this bill would make schools more energy efficient. She said thiis bill would do both.

“As a mother of a child with asthma, I know what it’s like to send your child to school ina building that’s 50  years old with mold,” Rep. Tina Orwall said. She said the bill will help teachers and kids have a healthier place to work.

Rep. Charles Ross: “I had a chance to go home over the weekend,” he said, and talk to people. “The public is outraged at what’s going on … people are sick and tired of big government and I think it’s telling that we’re opening the special session” by talking about a bill that’s about debt and “disguised” as a jobs bill. (more…)

Tags: Jobs, Schools

The bill that Rep. Hans Dunshee introduced last year that would issue $861 million in bonds, then use the money to make schools more energy efficient (and, in the process, create jobs around the state) is up for debate in the House this morning.

Check back here for more on the debate — right now, lawmakers are in caucus discussing amendments, but they’ll be back soon.

Tags: bonds, Schools, weatherization

Randy Dorn, state schools superintendent, will deliver a “major policy speech” about math and science requirements for high school graduation on Thursday at a gathering of school superintendents.

The speech will be available at tvw.org on Friday afternoon, and will be played on Friday evening at 7 and 10 p.m.

Tags: graduation requirement, Schools

We’re focusing on education in this week’s Impact show, when we’ll be recapping segments of our special report, The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding.  Joining us on-set: state Representative Kelli Linville, Chair of the House Budget committee and state Senator Curtis King, ranking minority member of the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education committee.  Given the current revenue forecast, lawmakers may need to cut an additional $1 billion from the supplemental budget when they return in January. Representative Linville says she is beginning talks with members of the budget committee regarding their options for crafting a supplemental budget. She says a targeted tax to fund specific education proposals in the Basic Education Finance Law could go to voters.

Also on the program:  Washington State Parent Teacher Association Executive Director Bill Williams and League of Education Voters Legislative Director George Scarola.  Both say they hope to see the legislature begin the process of funding the Basic Education Finance Law next session.

In another segment, we’ll outline proposals released this week by the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board to stablize funding for Washington’s public colleges.  It includes a new tuition policy proposal for state universities.

Don’t miss The Impact, tonight at 7pm on TVW and anytime online: tvw.org.

Tags: education, Higher Education, Schools, The Impact, The Quest for Quality, tuition policy