It's civics, stupid

Okay, so no one really called anyone stupid, but today on the House floor, Rep. Dave Quall did plea with fellow legislators to support more civics education in our classrooms.

Legislators voted unanimously to pass Quall’s HB 2132 which essentially calls on the State Board of Education to require an additional half-credit of civics coursework in order to graduate high school. (The Board is currently reworking high school graduation requirements and is considering increasing the Social Studies requirement from 2.5 credits to 3.0 credits. Quall’s bill would only go into effect if the Board adopts that change.)

You can hear Quall’s brief but forceful floor speech here.

What's hot in the House next week?

On Tuesday, we start all-day (and sometimes all-night) floor action. We will update you daily as we know for sure what bills will be run and what events are planned. Follow us here and on twitter.

In the meantime, these committee hearing will be of interest.

Monday 3/2/09
12:00pm in Education Appropriations
Public Hearing/Possible Executive Session: HB 2261 – Concerning the state’s education system.

1:30pm in Transportation Jt. w/ Senate Transportation
Work Session: Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) Ferry Finance Study.

1:30pm in Capital Budget
Work Session: Water quality issues and programs and the potential use of federal funds.


Tuesday 3/3/09
9:00am in Health & Human Services Appropriations
Work Session: Department of Veterans Affairs discussion of anticipated health and human services needs of returning soldiers.


Wednesday 3/4/09
8:00am in Community & Economic Development & Trade
Work Session: Green Economy Jobs Initiative.


Thursday 3/5/09
8:00am in State Government & Tribal Affairs
Public Hearing: HB 1738 – Providing public funding for supreme court campaigns.


Friday 3/6/09
8:00am in Higher Education
Public Hearing:
SSB 5043 – Convening a work group to develop a single, coordinated student access portal for college information.
SSB 5044 – Changing work-study provisions.
SB 5554 – Regarding the job skills program.
ESSB – Regarding lifelong learning accounts.
SSB 5616 – Connecting business expansion and recruitment to customized training.

9:00am in Education
Public Hearing: HB 1185 – Concerning the sitting of new personal wireless service facilities on school property.
Work Session: Washington Youth Academy – National Guard Youth Challenge Program.

Today's Hot List

8:00am in Human Services
Work Session: Adolescent Brain Development and the Juvenile Justice System.

8:00am in Finance
HB 2250 - Modifying state and local lodging taxes used for convention and trade facilities.

10:00am Floor Action
You can see list of bills up for possible vote here.

1:30pm in Ways & Means
SHB 2167 - Providing flexibility in the education system (unfunded mandates in schools).
SHB 2239 - Concerning the creation of a student loan program with a dedicated revenue source.

Coming soon - big cuts to state's colleges

Now that legislators are really starting the process of crunching budget numbers, it's becoming (painfully) clear that the magnitude of the coming cuts mean big changes for many people. Like college students who likely face higher tuition and trouble registering for classes that fill up quickly because of fewer teachers.

Rep. Deb Wallace, Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, spoke to TVW's Austin Jenkins on Inside Olympia about what's in store for our state's colleges and universities in the wake of budget reductions as high as 20 percent.

The show will air on TVW tonight but you can watch it online now.

Today's Hot List

As was the case yesterday, the only committee action in the House is in our three appropriations committees. Committee members continue to make their way through any and all legislation that comes with a price tag.

You can check out the committee agendas here.

Reps. Green and Kelley chat with constituents during their annual House District Day in Olympia

Yesterday, Reps. Tami Green (D-Lakewood) and Troy Kelley (D-University Place) went beyond providing a typical town hall meeting and invited constituents from the 28th district to visit Olympia to gain a firsthand perspective of the legislative process.

During their House District Day, Reps. Green and Kelley joined their constituents for lunch and answered questions about unemployment, education, efforts to address climate change and other issues facing the 28th district.

The House District Day is an annual event offered by Reps. Green and Kelley to give their constituents an opportunity to have lunch with their legislators, take a tour of the Capitol Campus, attend committee hearings and witness bill action on the House floor.

Hunter talks taxes and digital goods

Rep. Ross Hunter was on the Dave Ross Show today to talk about HB 2075, the bill that would update the tax code related to digital downloads.

Hunter is emphatic that this isn't about raising revenue (the legislation actually makes changes so some things are no longer taxed and he plans for the bill to ultimately be revenue-neutral) but about streamlining and simplifying the state tax code.

Hunter essentially thinks it's unfair that certain business models can take advantage of loopholes that results in, for example, someone who rents a movie having to pay sales tax while someone who streams the same movie doesn't.

You can listen to Hunter talk about the legislation in his own words here.