On this week’s edition of The Impact, host Jessica Gao outline the major themes of the opening days of the 2012 session, including the various job creation proposals. Plus, why the state’s Supreme Court Chief Justice is doing temp work in county court.

Tags: education reform, jobs package, supreme court, The Impact

Gov. Chris Gregoire will be delivering her State of the State address at 10:15 a.m. in a joint session, immediately followed by the Republican response. TVW will be live with both speeches — and live blogging here, too.

We’ll also be following the 1:30 p.m. education hearing in the House, where they’ll be discussing the recent Supreme Court decision that said that the state isn’t doing its duty to fully fund education. They’ll also be looking at innovation in schools. Catch the full recap of today’s events on tonight’s edition of Legislative Review at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

At 3:30, we’re watching the House Transportation Committee. They’re scheduled to hold a work session on the governor’s supplemental transportation budget.

Tags: education, Gov. Gregoire, supreme court, WA House

This morning, the Washington Supreme Court released a long-awaited decision on the McCleary case. Their verdict: The state isn’t doing it’s paramount duty to fully fund education. Read the full opinion here.

While the court said the Legislature has failed at it’s primary function, they did say the state is headed in the right direction: “The legislature recently enacted sweeping reforms to remedy the deficiencies in the funding system, and it is currently making progress toward phasing in those reforms.”

For that reason, the court says it will retain jurisdiction on the case — and keep an eye on legislative progress — to ensure that schools are fully funded by 2018.

This morning, lawmakers at the Associated Press Legislative Preview offered reaction. House Speaker Frank Chopp said he’s “very hopeful” about the ruling because it specifically mentions the reform bill that has already passed the legislature.

Rep. Richard DeBolt said that the ruling underscores the need to fund education first. He wants the Legislature to write an education budget first, then worry about funding everything else with what’s left of the budget.

But Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said she disagrees with DeBolt’s approach and equated it to ignoring other critical parts of the budget, like public safety and social services.

Gov. Chris Gregoire headlined the event and said the ruling “puts an exclamation point” on what she’s been saying for a while.

Attorney General Rob McKenna said at a press conference later in the day that he’s pleased that the court addressed the case. He said the superior court ruling was so far-reaching, it could have made the state and schools vulnerable to endless lawsuits. “This is a much better opinion, a much clearer opinion and an opinion that’s easier to follow,” he said.

Tags: McCleary, supreme court

This morning, the TVW crew is at the capitol for the Associated Press legislative preview, where legislative leadership, the governor and human services and education advocates are talking to the media  – you can watch along live on TVW.

In the meantime: The Supreme Court announced this morning that the state is not fully funding education. You can read the full McCleary decision here.

We’ll post more on it after the AP forum.

Tags: Legislature, McCleary, school funding, supreme court

Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed Steven Gonzalez to the Washington State Supreme Court. He replaces Justice Gerry Alexander, who retires at the end of this year. Gonzalez will begin his term in January.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said his experience “with profoundly important issues, close study of the law and perspective as a trial court judge will make Judge Gonzalez an excellent Supreme Court Justice.”

“I look forward to serving with my colleagues on the Supreme Court,” Gonzalez, who will be the first Latino justice, said, “Thank you.” His speech got a standing ovation from the packed room.

“We have cookies and punch for 20,” said Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, joking at the large turnout for the event.

Gonzalez has served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District. He has also served in King County Superior Court. And he has a long record of volunteering in the community. He’s married to Michelle Gonzalez, assistant dean of the UW Law School. They have two children.

Tags: supreme court

A new and possibly budget-busting state revenue forecast and plans to carve out new state congressional and legislative district boundaries highlight TVW’s coverage for this week.  Both those events, and others, will be shown live on TVW and live on the web at tvw.org — check TVW’s air schedule here.

We’ll also have live coverage of two legislative hearings, Senate Ways & Means on Monday, and a joint House hearing on Tuesday, both looking at K-12 school issues.  The State Supreme Court’s fall docket kicks off Thursday, TVW will carry three of the four cases live.

We’ll be at Seattle CityClub Tuesday covering a conversation with new UW President Michael Young, and at The Olympian Editorial Board Wednesday recording pro-con interviews on I-1163, the in-home care initiative.  On Saturday we’ll be in Port Angeles for the ceremony that begins the removal of the Elwha River Dams, and at the Seattle U Law School for a conference on civics education and the law.  All these events will be recorded and televised this week and/or next.

Tags: Elwha Dams, Initiative 1163, Legislature, redistricting, Revenue forecast, supreme court, The Olympian

Today at 1:30, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments in McCleary v. Washington — the court case alleging that the state of Washington does not adequately fund public education. The case will be televised live on TVW.

The case was already decided last year in Superior Court, where Judge John Erlick ruled that the state is not fulfilling its Constitutional duty to fully fund public education. The state appealed that decision.

Read more on the background here. And don’t forget to tune into TVW in just a few short minutes to watch.

Tags: McCleary, public education, supreme court

The Supreme Court is hearing Mills vs. Western Washington University right now — live on TVW.

The case revolves around whether faculty disciplinary hearings should be open public meetings. Professor Perry Mills, who is bringing the case, is fighting to have such hearings open — his lawyer is arguing that faculty disciplinary hearings are quasi-judicial and should be open.

One justice asked why the client wanted the hearing public. “I don’t know that he was thinking through the process of people will testify more truthfully if it is open … he thought that if it was open that the university would learn the truth,” the lawyer said.

Here’s a bit more on the case, from the Bellingham Herald: “Mills was suspended for two quarters without pay in 2006 after allegedly making a variety of abusive remarks. He argued that his disciplinary hearing, which was closed to the public and the press, should have been open.” Mills wanted the hearing to be open in part because he felt like his suspension was retaliatory. A lower court ruled that he was not given his right to an open hearing, and that ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court.

Tune in now.

Tags: supreme court

The Supreme Court started their fall docket today – kicking off the calendar with a case involving the Seattle Times. For the next two months, they’ll hear dozens of cases from around the state. Read more about those cases here.  

And, of course, you can watch: TVW covers every single Supreme Court session live on www.TVW.org – just click on live programming to watch.

Tags: supreme court

Sorry for the delay, but this week’s Q&A is very special: I went to Seattle earlier this week to co-moderate debates between Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson and challenger Stan Rumbaugh and Justice Richard Sanders and challenger Charlie Wiggins (the other challenger, Bryan Chushcoff, didn’t show. Neither did Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, who is running unopposed).

The candidates discussed their views on judicial activism, victims’ rights,  the relationship between the Legislature and the court, medicinal marijuana, the high-earners income tax on the ballot, gun rights, opponents’ allegations and much, much more.

Here’s the video:

On a related note: Have you received your ballot yet? They were sent out this week, so check your mailbox. In the case of the candiddates in the video above, if one gets more than 50 percent of the vote they win. No general election required.

Tags: elections, Q&A, supreme court