Rep. Ross Hunter: "Just spending less money...that’s not reform"

Publicola gained some pithy insight into how the lead House budget-writer thinks about the budget.

When asked to compare the steeper cuts in the Senate proposal against the cuts made in the House, Ways & Means Chair Ross Hunter earned his second Publicola quote-of-the-day:

Just spending less money on education and children’s health care, that’s not reform, that’s just spending less money. Spending less money on kid’s health care and not giving a hand up to people that need help, that’s not why I’m here. In fact, that’s the opposite of why I’m here.

Read the rest here. Hunter has also written about the budget on his personal blog here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

Restless Rhetoric Syndrome Sufferers: Avoid contact with the following information

Warning: The following contains graphic illustrations of Washington’s business-friendly climate. Those leery of shifting paradigms or who suffer from Restless Rhetoric Syndrome should avoid contact with the following information and discontinue reading further.

USA Today reports to the US, today, that Americans are paying the smallest share of their income for taxes since 1958, a reflection of tax cuts and a weak economy:

The total tax burden — for all federal, state and local taxes — dropped to 23.6% of income in the first quarter, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

By contrast, individuals spent roughly 27% of income on taxes in the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s — a rate that would mean $500 billion of extra taxes annually today, one-third of the estimated $1.5 trillion federal deficit this year.

Seeing as how we've reported here before about the state's tax burden shrinking to 1980s levels, let's connect some dots... From the Seattle PI:

Washington state is pretty good at growing millionaires, if you believe a study from the Deloitte Center for Financial Services.

There were 226,000 millionaires in the state in 2010, putting Washington at 14th in the country if we’re counting them all up.

From The Puget Sound Business Journal:

In 2010, there were 226,000 millionaires in Washington state, a larger amount than other states in the Pacific Northwest region. That number will almost double by 2020, according to results of a Deloitte Center for Financial Services study, released today.

We can only hope similar news is in store for the rest of us Washingtonians still suffering the effects of the economic downturn.

More on Washington's business climate here and here and here and here and here, oh and here.
And here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

Good call

Youth sports referees and umpires, many wearing their stripes, huddled around the Governor's conference table this morning as she signed House Bill 1636 into law. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dave Upthegrove, clarifies that the small, nonprofit associations that refer amateur sports officials to schools and community sports events are not considered "employers" for unemployment insurance purposes.

This clarification of law is crucial to keeping youth sports affordable.

At today's bill signing, Governor Gregoire told the referees and umpires in attendance, "My daughters are better today because they were involved in youth sports."

Rep. Upthegrove, who is a youth basketball referee in his non-legislative life, explains in this video clip why being an amateur sports official is more difficult than being a state representative.

You can read more about the bill here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

We’re number one!

Washington today became the first state in the nation to ban coal-tar pavement sealants, which are laced with toxins that poison rivers, lakes, fish and other aquatic life—and that are suspected to increase cancer risks in people.

You can thank House Democrat David Frockt and the Washington Environmental Council for leading the way.

Check out today’s story on MSNBC!

Coal tar sealants are the toxic stuff that caused last July’s Boone Fish Kill in North Carolina, wiping out all aquatic life along a mile and a half stretch of Hodges Creek

The US Geological Survey has identified these sealants as the leading cause of rising levels of toxic PAHs (short for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in streams and lakes across the United States—including Lake Washington and Lake Ballinger in the state we love best.

Why would anyone use this risky substance? Good question. It’s marketed as a sealcoat to protect and prettify asphalt, but anyone can buy asphalt-based sealants that do the same job.

In fact, the USGS found that the coal-tar products have PAH concentrations that are 1,000 times higher than their asphalt-based rivals.

Responsible retailers like Home Depot and Lowes have already voluntarily yanked coal tar sealants from their shelves in Washington, because of the toxic threats. The Washington Department of Transportation stopped using it for the same reason (WSDOT replaced it with the safer asphalt alternative).

Kudos also go to Washington’s Department of Ecology and Department of Natural Resources for their powerful testimony in favor of the ban, as well as to Rep. Dave Upthegrove and Sen. Phil Rockefeller, who worked with Rep. Frockt to shepherd House Bill 1721 into law.

As Rep. Frockt puts it, Washington is the first state, but won’t be the last, to ban this toxic threat—because we’re once again leading the nation in the right direction for the health of our people and environment.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

Training for tomorrow's embalmers gets boost from Kirby legislation today

Do you have a calling for embalming? Folks possessed of such a career yen here in the Evergreen State have only Lake Washington Technical College’s nationally accredited program as their in-state choice for training. Unfortunately for Lake Washington’s program, and for its students and would-be students, pre-2011 state law prevented the school from acquiring the human remains needed for men and women undertaking the training.

Enter state Rep. Steve Kirby, who stepped in this year with a solution in the form of his House Bill 1691. Having unanimously cleared both legislative chambers, Kirby’s measure is now all queued up in the governor’s office awaiting only that gubernatorial ink to become Washington state law.

“Most mortuary programs in other states have access to human remains. That access gives these other programs an edge because they can provide an extraordinary educational opportunity for their students,” Kirby said. “Embalmers-in-training need to perform 10 of these procedures to earn their accreditation. This legislation provides our Washington students appropriate educational access to human remains that they need to earn the professional training that they require.”

The 39 Washington counties are required by state law to take care of the disposition of the remains of any indigent person whose body is unclaimed by their relatives or a religious organization. King County's indigent-burial program is facing financial difficulties. Kirby’s bill provides welcome help for the proper disposition of indigent remains in King County. Lake Washington Technical College’s program will save tax dollars because fees paid by its embalming-students will cover cremation costs.

House Ways and Means Committee meeting today, but not in-house

The House Ways and Means committee is meeting in temporary digs over in Senate territory today, Hearing Room 4 of the Cherberg Building. The House office building (JLOB) has been turned over to contractors who are retrofitting it for earthquake safety.

Nevertheless, the committee will work through an extensive agenda today.

Public Hearing:
1. HB 2048 - Concerning low-income and homeless housing assistance surcharges.
2. HB 2080 - Modifying tax refund and interest provisions.
3. HB 2082 - Making changes to the disability lifeline program.
4. E2SSB 5182 - Establishing the office of student financial assistance and the council for higher education by eliminating the higher education coordinating board and transferring its functions to various entities. (If measure is referred to committee.)
5. ESSB 5921 - Revising social services programs.
6. ESSB 5927 - Limiting payments for health care services provided to low-income enrollees in state purchased health care programs. (If measure is referred to committee.)
7. SB 5941 - Concerning judicial branch funding. (If measure is referred to committee.)

Possible Executive Session:
1. HB 1131 - Regarding student achievement fund allocations.
2. SHB 1132 - Reducing compensation for educational and academic employees.
3. HB 1250 - Transferring funds from the budget stabilization account to the general fund.
4. HB 2065 - Regarding the allocation of funding for students enrolled in alternative learning experiences.
5. HB 2074 - Changing functions of the higher education coordinating board.
6. E2SSB 5182 - Establishing the office of student financial assistance and the council for higher education by eliminating the higher education coordinating board and transferring its functions to various entities. (If measure is referred to committee.)
7. ESSB 5927 - Limiting payments for health care services provided to low-income enrollees in state purchased health care programs. (If measure is referred to committee.)
8. SB 5941 - Concerning judicial branch funding. (If measure is referred to committee.)

For information on these or any other bills, please see here.

Better comply with the feds if you want federal bucks

Commercial drivers, the State Patrol and small contractors can breathe a little easier now that Governor Chris Gregoire has signed a couple of Rep. Luis Moscoso’s bills into law to make sure Washington meets some very specific federal requirements.

All 50 states have been warned they have until 2012 to comply with new rules for driver’s certifications, or else… But never fear, Moscoso’s House Bill 1229 ensures we don’t lose much-needed federal dollars for not walking the line.

If the Mountlake Terrace lawmaker hadn’t sponsored it and the governor hadn’t signed it, there’d be consequences:
• Our commercial drivers would not be allowed to operate in interstate commerce.
• Our state could lose up to $17 million of federal highway funds for the first year of noncompliance, and up to $34 million for subsequent years.
• Our State Patrol would not be able to apply for an $8 million grant for its commercial-vehicle division because it has to certify that Washington is in compliance with the new certification rules as part of its grant application.

Also to comply with new federal rules, Moscoso sponsored House Bill 1384, which will help small contractors on transportation projects get their payments more quickly, as required by the Federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise regulations.

“The federal rule says prime contractors must pay subcontractors no later than 30 days after the work is satisfactorily completed,” Moscoso said. “In our current economy, this is great news for Washington’s small contractors that need relief because they don’t have as much of a buffer as larger companies.”

For more information on these bills, go here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.