Hilarity in the House

It isn't all policy wonkery and political hardball in the House; sometimes, there's a bit of legislative levity, too. And each year, TVW nominates mirthful moments from its video coverage for the awards it calls "Cammies" -- a blend of "cameras" and "Emmys" -- and puts them to a vote by the attendees at its annual gala.

Two of the side-splitting solons honored with Cammies this year are House Democrats Ross Hunter of Medina and Steve Kirby of Tacoma: Hunter in the category of "The Grinding Gears of Government"  and Kirby in "Collegial Comity."

Check out Hunter's riff on color-coding in the Appropriations Committee and Kirby's transgressive remarks about the other chamber on the House floor.





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House budget will be released today

House Appropriations Chair Ross Hunter

House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, Appropriations Committee Chair Ross Hunter, and Finance Committee Chair Reuven Carlyle will release the House 2013-15 operating budget proposal at 12:15 today in House Hearing Room A.

TVW will cover their press conference live, and documents will be made public at the same time.

Check back here later for more details.

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Ross Hunter comments on the Senate Republican budget proposal

The Senate Republicans released their 2013-15 budget proposal today, and House Appropriations Committee Ross Hunter issued the following statement in response:

“While it is nice that the Senate Republicans have acknowledged our responsibility to fund the McCleary decision, they have done so with a budget proposal that relies on assumptions that are unconstitutional or unsustainable. The Supreme Court has been pretty cranky about this issue, and this budget will do nothing to improve their mood.

“In addition to being unsustainable, some of their decisions seem downright cruel. Providing child care subsidies for parents trying to get back into the workforce was part of the deal when we “reinvented welfare” two decades ago.  Cutting it now will not only force single moms back onto welfare, it will perpetuate the opportunity gap in our schools for years to come.

“I am also very concerned with some of the shaky assumptions made in the proposal.  There are $157 million in unnamed efficiencies, $40 million in an uncollectable use tax, and $166 million in a school trust transfer that is clearly unconstitutional.

“We have spent the last five years making our budget more sustainable with actions like reducing our long-term pension obligations and cutting staffing at all levels.  A budget built on unconstitutional actions and assumptions that are unlikely to come true moves us away from sustainability.”

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HDC reactions to Governor Inslee's budget proposal -- it's all about the kids

Governor Inslee released his operating budget proposal today, which included $1.26 billion in new spending for K-12 education.

"I feel deeply that my number one priority is to help rebuild our economy, get people working again and take important steps toward building a workforce for the future," Inslee said. "And that begins with education."

House Democratic leaders agree. 

Said House Speaker Frank Chopp: “Taking meaningful steps toward better-funding of our public schools is a top priority, and many of our members have long argued for giving tax breaks serious scrutiny.  So we are heartened to see the governor call for closing some tax loopholes to fund the education of our kids."

Appropriations Chair Ross Hunter added: “Governor Inslee’s proposal focuses on funding education and responsible budgeting – these are the right priorities for Washington."

And House Finance Committee Chair Reuven Carlyle said: "We strongly agree that fully funding public education is a higher priority than continuing tax exemptions that may not provide a reasonable return on investment for the future of our state.”

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Budget matters matter

Appropriations chair Ross Hunter

The Washington Budget and Policy Center thinks that the Budget Matters -- and they brought 300+ people together to talk about ways to move Washington's economy forward. Advocates, stakeholders, policy experts, and legislators participated in plenary and break-out sessions throughout the day. 

Deputy Majority Leader Marcie Maxwell

Several members of the House Democratic Caucus participated in panal discussions, including Ross Hunter, chair of the House Appropriations Committee; Marcie Maxwell, Deputy Majority Leader for Educationa nd Opportunity; Reuven Carlyle, chair of the House Finance Committee; and Laurie Jinkins, vice-chair of the House Health Care and Wellness committee.

Governor Gregoire released her final budget today

After eight years, three biennial budgets, many supplemental and "special" budget bills, Governor Gregoire sent her final budget proposal to the Legislature this morning.  According to her press release, she addressed the looming McCleary decision this way:

A $1 billion down payment in 2013-15 -- a 12.3% increase over the current K-12 budget.  That funding would:

• Reduce class sizes in grades K-2
• Step-up the phase-in of full-day kindergarten programs across the state
• Improve professional development for teachers and principals
• Increase funding for maintenance, suupplies, and operating costs
• Fully-fund the state's new pupil transportation funding formula

House Appropriations Committee Chair, Ross Hunter, issued this statement in response to the governor's proposal:

“I’d like to thank Governor Gregoire for the thoughtful work she’s put into this budget. Her proposal exposes the basic structural problems that will make it difficult to build an operating budget that meets the needs of Washington’s citizens and business community without changing the revenue picture.

“It also points out the big issues the Legislature will have to address this year: Medicaid expansion, educational requirements coming from the McCleary decision, and the impact of the recession on the state’s revenue picture. We have a lot of work to do to resolve these issues and create a stable platform for continued economic growth.”

Read this story in Spanish here.

Ross Hunter, Tour Guide

A group of Seattle University students dropped by the Capitol today, hoping to get a chance to see the House floor.  Generally, the House Chamber and the wings are not available to guests, except from the gallery.

However, Ways and Means Chair Ross Hunter happened to be on campus for a meeting and he offered the lucky group a personal, hands-on tour of the floor.

To read this story in Spanish, please click here.

Rep. Hunter hosts telephone town hall

Rep. Ross Hunter of Medina will host a telephone town hall 6-7 p.m. Monday, May 14. He looks forward to a live conversation with his constituents about the issues that matter most to his district and the state.

Under the telephone town hall format, thousands of constituents will receive telephone calls to their homes in Rep. Hunter’s 48th Legislative District just before 6 p.m. Monday. The constituents may ask questions for him to answer by pressing *3 on their phones during the call, and they may listen to the live conversation to hear questions from others and answers.

Residents who do not receive a phone call may participate in the meeting by calling 1-877-229-8493 and entering the ID code 18646 when prompted.

To read this story in Spanish, please click here.

Democrats approve budget with no cuts to education

The House Thursday passed a state budget that closes a $1 billion-plus revenue gap while protecting funding for K-12 schools and higher education and maintaining the safety net.

Rep. Ross Hunter of Medina, chair of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, assured House members the $31 billion spending plan is responsible, sustainable and will put the state on solid ground heading into the next two-year budget cycle. During floor debate, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan of Covington said that he would be proud to bring this budget home to his constituents – especially those students preparing to enter the workforce.

The 54-43 vote for the budget (ESHB 2127) sends it to the Senate.

A key to the House-passed plan is better management of the state’s collection and distribution of local sales taxes. The modernization, endorsed by the state treasurer, will provide a $238 million boost to the bottom line.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

House Democrats release budget proposals

Rep. Hans Dunshee at this morning's press conference

As the end of the special session approaches on Tuesday, House Democrats unveiled a good faith plan in a press conference this morning to move forward on a compromise with the Senate around government reform measures, an operating budget, and a capital budget.

The reform measures are currently being discussed in the House Ways & Means Committee. You can also read about the numerous government reforms championed by House Democrats in recent years here and here.

As for the operating budget, our proposal no longer includes a $330 million K-12 apportionment shift. Instead, House Democrats have proposed modifying the method in which funds are transferred to the account that distributes sales tax revenues to local governments. (More details on that proposal to follow in a separate blog post.) House Democrats remain committed to making no cuts to basic and higher education. Our budget also preserves funding for vital public services like the Basic Health Plan, critical access hospitals, and adult day health.

This budget solves a $1 billion budget deficit problem by enacting several government reforms and without raising additional revenue. This is the very definition of “moving to the middle.”

The new House budget will be introduced as a striking amendment to the original House budget – HB 2127.

Joining House budget writers Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Pat Sullivan at this morning's press conference was House Capital Budget chair Rep. Hans Dunshee, who spoke about the urgency of putting unemployed Washingtonians back to work by passing a jobs package.  Rep. Dunshee held up a copy of today's Olympian newspaper, in which the lead story is about the impending loss of federal long-term unemployment benefits for Washingtonians.  He also played a brief video interview of a woman who used to work as an architect for 20 years until the downturn in the construction industry.  She is now trained as an iron worker, and hopes that the legislature will approve a jobs package so that construction projects pick up again around the state.

To read this post in Spanish, please click here.

HDC aims to break budget impasse

Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, House Ways and Means Chair Ross Hunter, and House Capital Budget Chair Hans Dunshee will meet with reporters and members of the public at 10:00 this morning in House Hearing Room A.  They will discuss their operating and capital budget proposals and other bills the House plans to move forward with this week.

Sullivan has stressed that the operating budget proposal does not represent an agreement between the House and Senate, but does include many changes requested by the Senate Republicans. 

"If we are to have any chance at all of getting a budget finished on time, we have to get something moving," he said. "We will continue to meet, continue to talk, and continue to negotiate, but we also have to get a budget in motion."

Details of the proposal will be available on LEAP at 11:00 am.

To read this post in Spanish, please click here.

The budget has passed the House!

A budget that is balanced, supports basic education, maintains the social safety net, AND keeps higher education affordable – at the same time as per-capita revenues are at a 50-year-low? That is exactly what Rep. Ross Hunter and the House Democrats have put forth in their 2012 supplemental budget (HB 2127).

While it was necessary for some cuts to be made, the 2012 supplemental budget that just passed the House tonight continues to fund vital programs like Disability Lifeline medical services and the Basic Health Plan. Elimination of the Basic Health Plan would mean 35,000 residents would be completely uninsured, not to mention removing all hope for the 150,000 Washington residents on the waiting list. By keeping these important programs running, we are enabling Washington to bridge the gap to 2014, when the Affordable Care Act is expanded, providing insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of Washington residents.

This budget will also enable Washington to better meet its “paramount duty” to fund basic K-12 education, as reinforced by the state Supreme Court in January.

This budget actually spends less than the most recently projected revenues. After adjusting for inflation, Washington state is currently spending at 1985 levels, with the lowest state and federal tax rates in 50 years. These are hard times financially, but let’s not forget the February official revenue forecast which included the first increase in four years, as well as a predicted decline in welfare cases. In layman’s terms, this means $400 million on the upside. 

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Caped crusaders: Reps. Hunter and Kagi

Rep. Hunter
Photo credit:
Sarah Francis, MomsRising

They may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but Reps. Ross Hunter of Medina and Ruth Kagi of Lake Forest Park sported superhero capes on Feb. 23, thanks to MomsRising, a grassroots organization that promotes policies to improve family economic security, help families, children and businesses thrive and end discrimination against women and mothers.

Rep. Kagi, center
Photo credit: Sarah Francis, MomsRising

MomsRising members visited the offices of Hunter, Kagi and other legislators and conferred capes on them in recognition of their efforts to stand up for families and to support early learning.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Operating budget, capital budget and Jobs Now - oh my!

It's been a busy day in the House today, so here's a little catch-up post.

Ways and Means Chair Ross Hunter released the House 2012 supplemental operating budget proposal first thing this morning.  Here's his press release, his presentation, and the actual budget documents.

Rep. Hans Dunshee, chair of the House Capital Budget committee, also released his proposed supplemental budget today. Included in the budget is the Jobs Now plan, projected to create over 23,000 jobs. You can read his release here.

The public hearing on the supplemental operating proposal is happening right now and you can watch it live on TVW.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

House Democrats unveil budget

House Democrats will roll out their proposed 2012 supplemental operating budget in a few minutes. Follow @WAHouseDems on Twitter or watch TVW for live updates on education, higher education, health care, public safety, and more!



UPDATE: Click here for Rep. Hunter's 2012 supplemental budget proposal presentation!

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

State budget gets second shot of good news this month

The state revenue collections are looking up for the first time since the spring of 2010, giving state budget writers a second bit of good news for the month.

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met this morning and adopted a revised forecast for the current biennium and the first forecast for the 2013-15 biennium.

In the current biennium, revenues are expected to grow by about $45 million.  The forecast shows an increase of about $96 million, but $51 million was part of the budget proposal adopted in December 2011.  That funding was due to HB 2169 which dealt with earlier collection of unclaimed property. 

Last Wednesday it was announced that a reduction in the demand for state services has saved the state around $340 million.  All this good news has reduced the current budget shortfall from about $1.5 billion to more like $1.1 billion.

"It's the first positive forecast we've had in nearly two years," said House Ways and Means chair Ross Hunter, "so of course I'm happy to see it.  However, much of the uptick is due to policy changes we made in December.  We're still fighting the effects of the recession and need to temper our optimism with caution."

If it's just too nice to go outside this morning.......

You can watch the House Ways and Means committee work!  Yes, Chair Ross Hunter and the rest of the budget-writing committee are holding a public hearing today and you can catch all the action on TVW. Of course, if you'd rather enjoy the rare February sunshine, we can't actually say we blame you.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Education remains high priority in Olympia

Education is always a hot topic in Olympia during the legislative session. This year is no different, but there may be more of a focus this time around in light of the recent McCleary decision by the state Supreme Court. The court reaffirmed lower court rulings stating that the legislature hasn’t met its constitutional obligations to fully fund basic education.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos gets mic'd up for TVW

However, the court also reaffirmed that staying committed to sweeping reforms passed by House Democrats in 2009 and 2010 will get us back on track to providing our children with a quality education  and fulfilling our constitutional obligations.  These reforms provide a cohesive, student-focused funding system that is transparent and easy to understand.

K-12 education funding is only one of the many issues facing lawmakers this session. Other education hot topics being discussed in the House Education Committee include authorization of charter schools, teacher and principal evaluations, and educational opportunities for low-income, at-risk diverse students.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-Seattle) discussed the McCleary decision and other issues on TVW’s The Impact. You can play the embedded video below or click here to watch the interview.

Update: We've posted another video, this time from Rep. Ross Hunter, discussing his vision for basic education funding.

Calling all 45th District residents…

Feeling a bit disconnected from your state legislature these days?  Wish you could talk directly with your state representative?

Well, if you live in the 45th Legislative District, you’ll be able to participate in a live telephone town hall with state Rep. Roger Goodman tomorrow evening.

Rep. Goodman will be calling households in his district at about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 14.  To participate in the live town hall, simply stay on the line when you get the call.

During the hour-long event, participants will have the opportunity to ask Rep. Goodman questions and speak directly with him.

Telephone town halls are another way for legislators to communicate with and receive feedback from their constituents.  While they are not a replacement for live town halls in the district, they do provide a way for more people to participate.  In fact, over 6000 constituents participated last month in a telephone town hall hosted by Rep. Ross Hunter in the neighboring 48th Legislative District.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Budget hearing at 3:30 today

A bipartisan plan to close nearly one-fourth of the projected $2 billion state budget gap was set for a hearing Monday in the House Ways and Means Committee.

The bill, by Chair Ross Hunter of Medina, spells out $480 million in cuts and savings in the 2011-13 biennial budget, which was initially adopted by the Legislature last spring. Since then, the economy’s sluggish growth has resulted in official forecasts that revenues will fall $2 billion short of what’s outlined in the budget, plus necessary reserves.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.