About that Viaduct in Seattle

State, county and city planners have narrowed down eight Viaduct options to two options. (And yes, there was also a ninth "hybrid" proposal introduced by reps of downtown and business groups that wasn't part of the evaluation process.)

Now the baton has been passed to Governor Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and King County Executive Ron Sims to make a final decision, supposedly by the end of this month. That is, they'll share their decision with the Legislature. The Legislature will have to approve the plan.

And for some lawmakers, including Gregoire, that means all the options are still on the table.

So for anyone keeping track of who is saying what about which Viaduct options, here are two recent op-eds by Seattle-area legislators Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson and Rep. Ruth Kagi. Enjoy!

Who's on first?

Last week House Democrats finalized committee assignments for the 2009 session. As you might recall, there will be a few new committees and some new committee chairs. We also are looking forward to welcoming a new crop of freshman legislators.

So for anyone looking to get a jumpstart on talking to the legislators who work on your favorite issues, here's your list of 2009 House Democratic Caucus Committee Assignments.

Olympia press corps is a dying breed

Andrew Garber's article in today's Seattle Times is a must-read for anyone interested in government or media.

Those of us working in the Legislature have been watching sadly as fewer and fewer reporters occupy the press offices in what we fondly call the "White House" and "Blue House" next to the Capitol.

Garber reports:

During the past 15 years, the state population has increased by 25 percent and the amount of tax money spent by the state has more than doubled. Yet the number of print, television and radio journalists covering the state Legislature full time has dropped by about 70 percent.
It is a long-term trend that accelerated this decade and finally fell off a cliff this year because of plunging advertising revenue in face of the recession and a changing media landscape.
In 1993, there were 34 journalists covering the Washington state Legislature. By 2007, there were 17. This year, there may be as few as 10 full-time journalists, mostly newspaper reporters.

Garber makes the make the point (and legislators like Rep. Hans Dunshee agree) that having knowledgeable reporters around to keep an eye on the goings-on in the Capitol is essential. The scrutiny keeps lawmakers honest.
For those of us who work in the Legislature, we would add the point that reporters also keep each other honest. When fewer of them are trying to cover the same amount of news, it's harder for them to make sure their facts are straight and their stories are objective.
So the seasoned, can't-pull-the-wool-over-my-eyes Dave Ammons is no longer around to drill legislators about the nitty-gritty details of budgets and bills? The Columbian apparently won't be sending Kathie Durbin up from Vancouver to be embedded in legislative life for the few months of session? How much does it matter? When we see this same trend across the country and in the D.C. press as well, what does it mean about the Fourth Estate's ability to keep tabs on Congress and the White House?

This is the kind of story that really makes you think.

More about the budget in Gregoire's own words

The Seattle Times editorial board spoke with Governor Gregoire and her budget director, Victor Moore, yesterday following the release of her budget proposal. They posted their interview online. The audio is clipped into four convenient segments for your listening pleasure.

Okay, so maybe it's not a pleasure, but it is worth a listen. Gregoire shares some insight into what was clearly a difficult process.

Again, her proposal is only the first step and when legislators convene in Olympia for the 2009 session next month, they'll get to work quickly on proposals of their own.

Statement from Speaker Chopp on Governor Gregoire's budget proposal

From House Speaker Frank Chopp:

"The reductions in the Governor’s budget bring home just how serious our national economic situation really is. Cuts in health care for children and services to the elderly, people who can’t work due to disabilities, and the mentally ill will be devastating to them and will cost us more in the long run.

I also agree with Senator Brown’s concern that this budget counts federal money we don’t have yet.

But this is just step one. The final budget must reflect the basic values of Washington’s people – educating our children, protecting our vulnerable, and building our economy."

The longer short version of Gov's budget proposal

Lots of budget info to share here, so our apologies for the longer-than-usual blog post. For a look at some of the early news reports, visit here, here, here and here.

The Governor’s budget proposal makes it clear, if it wasn’t already, that our budget situation is dire. The budget cuts she proposes do affect our children, our seniors and many other vulnerable folks in our state such as those with disabilities. Her proposal marks the start of the budget-crafting process and when the Legislature convenes next months, lawmakers will take the torch and craft proposals of their own.

But for a review of where we’re at today with the Gov’s proposal, here’s a sample of the kinds of cuts we’ll be looking at. Complete documents can be found at OFM’s website.

Federal Funding: Governor Gregoire has assumed that Washington will receive about $1 billion in federal funding. About $779 million would be increased Medicaid funding. Additional federal dollars are also expected through the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Also, the state is expected to get additional funds for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Compensation: This budget does not include funding for state employee raises. The Governor does not fund the cost-of-living adjustments for K-12 employees under Initiative 732. Together, these compensation reductions save $680 million.

Pensions: Governor Gregoire saves about $400 million in contributions to the state's pension systems.

Revenues: The proposal does not include tax increases, and increases only one fee that deals with federal cleanup activities at Hanford. It does assume additional revenues from additional liquor store hours and additional enforcement from the Department of Revenue.

K-12: Initiative 732 is not funded (saves $349.2 million). Governor reduces funding for Initiative 728 (classroom size reduction) activities by $178 million. Levy equalization, the match the state provides to "property poor" districts, is cut by 33%, saving $125.4 million. Other reductions include: Not funding the two state-funded professional development days for math and science (saves $39.7 million), and elimination of numerous programs and grants totaling $60.8 million.

Higher Education: Four-year universities take a 13% reduction and the community and technical colleges take a 6% reduction (savings of $342 million). Eligibility for the State Need Grant is reduced though the Governor funds increases in the state need grant required to cover tuition increases.

Early Learning: The Department of Early Learning will cut $3 million by suspending the Career and Wage Ladder, $2 million from suspending the Family, Friends and Neighbors program and $1.7 million from eliminating state support for the Child Care Resource and Referral Network.

Health Care: Reductions here include:

· Reducing Basic Health Plan funding by 42% - saves $252 million

· Supending coverage of children between 250 and 300% of federal poverty - saves $6.1 million state, $7.9 million federal

· Eliminating medical care for the General Assistance - Unemployable (GAU) program - saves $251.3 million

· A 1% reduction to rates paid to Medical Assistance managed care plans will continue through the biennium - saves $37.7 million state, $49.2 million federal

· Hospitals, excluding psychiatric ones, will see their inpatient and outpatient rates reduced by 4%- saves $46.9 million state, $53.9 million federal

· The state will no longer purchase all vaccines for children not covered by Medicaid - saves $49.6 million

· Increasing use of generic drugs by 20%, consolidating drug purchasing and reducing coverage for some drugs – saves $108.6 million state, $280.8 million federal

Human Services: These reductions are all in the Department of Social and Health Services:

· Discontinuing the Adult Day Health Program - saves $20.3 million state, $20.3 million federal

· Eliminating the General Assistance Unemployable (GAU) program - saves $160.6 million. "Offset" funding of $20 million for emergency housing and $40 million for community clinics is provided.

· Closing the Yakima Valley School, a developmental disabilities institution - saves $1 million state, $600,000 federal. Funding is provided for community settings.

· Medicaid nursing home rates are scheduled to go up by 2.5% on 7/1/09. The Governor proposes to reduce rates by 7.5%, so the net reduction is 5% - saves $46.2 million state, $42.6 million federal

· Mental Health Services provided through regional support networks are reduced. Medicaid rates down by 3.2% and non-Medicaid rates down by 7.4 % - saves $30.5 million

· TANF sanctions will be accelerated - saves $30.4 million

· The budget assumes that Initiative 1029, passed in November, will be suspended for two years – saves about $29 million

· Secure crisis residential centers are eliminated - saves $9.4 million

Public Safety: The Governor is proposing a number of changes in the state's corrections system. They include:

· Elimination of supervision for misdemeanants - saves $31.7 million

· Discontinuation of community supervision for low-risk offenders, except for sex offenders and violent offenders - saves $9.9 million

· Setting of community custody sentence lengths at 12 months - $27.2 million

· Early release for elderly and ill offenders - $1.5 million

· Deportation of non-citizen offenders with property or drug offenses - $9.1 million

The Governor is also proposing to close Naselle Youth Camp - saving $12.9 million; reducing funding to expand evidence-based programs in the Juvenile Rehabilitation program - saving $8.7 state, $1.4 million Reinvesting in Youth Account; and reducing chemical dependency treatment funding for adult outpatient and residential services - saves $11.4 million.

Natural Resources: The Governor is proposing the following:

· Closing some state fish hatcheries - saves $6.6 million state, $1.7 million other

· Closing 13 state parks - saves $5.2 million

· Reducing local watershed management technical and financial assistance - saves $2.3 million state, $2.9 million other

· Elimination of funding for geologic hazard studies - saves $2.4 million

· Water Resource Management Funding - saves $2.2 million

Ending Fund Balances: For the 2009-11 biennium, the ending fund balance is $408 million General Fund-State and $100 million in the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA), for a total of $508 million. For the current biennium, the ending GF-S balance is $183 million and $432 in the BSA, for a total of $615 million.

Snowed in with nothing to do?

Channel-surf your way to TVW at 9:30 this morning to watch Governor Gregoire unveil her 2009-2011 budget proposal. If you miss the morning show, the station will rebroadcast her press conference later today at noon, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.