About that lawsuit the state just lost...

Seems quite a few legislators prefer the state not waste its money appealing yesterday's court ruling about the inadequacy of state funding for basic education.

After saying as much yesterday, Rep. Ross Hunter circulated a letter today among his colleagues today formally asking the state not to appeal. He wrote:

Last year, the Legislature passed ESHB 2261 after three years of discussion on what education reform should look like. McCleary v. State is a judicial mandate to ensure the ESHB 2261 does not become an empty promise...

We hope that the savings from not pursuing the appeal process will be applied and focused on efforts to solve our state's education financing problem. McCleary v. State is our opportunity to create a world class education system. Our children deserve no less.

#hdcblueride: Lawmakers to join Law Enforcement on the front lines this weekend

It was an emotional week in the Legislature as we honored the law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty this past year. As the families and colleagues of the slain officers bore witness, lawmakers passed new measures in order to protect them and their families, as well as increase public safety.

In order to show their gratitude another way, several House Democrats will participate in ride-alongs with their local law enforcement and State Patrol this weekend.

Ride-alongs are one of the best ways to fully grasp what those on the frontline of our security deal with day in and day out. Those participating will see the best - and sometimes the worst - of humanity on display. They’ll see and confront firsthand for a few hours what the people behind the badge see and confront 24-7.

Those joining their local law enforcement are:

• Rep. Jim Moeller: Vancouver PD – Saturday, 9am to Noon
• Rep. Marko Liias: WA State Patrol – Saturday, 6pm-10pm
• Rep. John McCoy: Snohomish Co.Sheriff Dept.– Friday, 6pm-8pm (Legislative action permitting)
• Rep. Jeff Morris: Skagit Co. Sheriff Dept. – Saturday, 9am to Noon
  

Here’s Jim Moeller on the impetus behind the idea:

“We talk very often in the Legislature about the importance of public safety. I want to acquire a concrete feeling for what life is like for the people who are willing to put their lives on the line for me every day. Some of us were talking the other morning about the specific, real-world ways that the budget crisis is manifesting itself in the lives of every single citizen. Public safety came up as a very good, and certainly a very concrete example of the money we invest in public programs and services."

Moeller and the other legislators will post regular updates from their ride-alongs. Follow along as the legislators provide updates from their beats via Twitter with the hashtags: #hdcblueride and #waleg

Today's hot list

Short list today. Most of the appropriations committees will continue exec'ing bills out of committee.

8:00 HHR C Finance
Public Hearing: HB 3157 - Concerning the state business and occupation tax. (Nexus bill - a major proposal that could bring in $375 million next biennium. Is also part of HB 3176.)

10:00 House session/caucus

Virtual Town Hall Tonight at 6:30 for Reps. McCoy and Sells

We're liveblogging yet another tele-town hall tonight at 6:30pm with Reps. John McCoy and Mike Sells.

Just like before, take part, listen in, ask questions, post comments, and learn up on the good members from the 38th LD, and see what they have to say about the 2010 state budget and legislative session so far.

What isn't ample, stable or dependable?

Our education funding system, that's what.

The big non-surprise news today is the decision from King County Superior Court in the McCleary case. The plaintiffs in this case - parents, students, school districts, and others - sued the state saying we haven't lived up to our constitutional paramount duty of amply funding basic education.

Judge John Erlick agreed with the plaintiffs. The 103-page ruling lays out a lot of technical detail, but Erlick essentially ruled that the state is not providing ample or dependable funding, and that school districts are having to rely on local levies to cover the costs of basic education. He concedes that last year's HB 2261 is a step in the right direction but doesn't necessarily address the funding issue because it didn't come with funding.

So what does the ruling mean? Judge Erlick ruled that the state must figure out the full cost of basic education and establish how the state will pay for it with stable and dependable state sources. Discussions are in process about whether to appeal.

State Rep. Ross Hunter, who has worked doggedly on school funding issues for years, said in his statement today that the court is right and we shouldn't waste money appealing the decision.

State Rep. Pat Sullivan sponsored HB 2261 and is currently sponsor of HB 2776, a bill that lays out the second step of establishing new funding formulas and a timeline for fully paying for them. He also released a statement today saying the lawsuit is a "reminder that we cannot delay in fulfilling our constitutional obligation to the one million children in Washington's schools."

Other than requiring "real and measurable progress" towards the tasks of calculating the costs of basic education and coming up a way to pay for it, the court set no timeline for accomplishing those tasks. And regardless of whether this lawsuit goes into appeals or not, much of this work is already being looked at by the Quality Education Council, the group in charge of implementing HB 2261 and committed to having a new funding system in place by 2018.

UPDATE: Rep. Kathy Haigh, chair of the Education Appropriations Committee, also released a statement.

Today's hot list

Today's a busy day for the House appropriations committees. They all have long lists of bills to pass before tomorrow's cutoff.

Among the bills to be heard in the Education Appropriations Committee is the proposal on math and science graduation requirements and a vote on the Opportunity Express worker retraining grant program.

The General Government Appropriations Committee will take up bills to charge lobbyists for e-filing, restructure and streamline certain government operations, and keep tabs on sex offenders.

The Health & Human Services Appropriations Committee wants to crack-down on meth (pardon the pun), improve the way our criminal justice system handles people with mental illness or traumatic brain injuries, and keep young 'uns out of tanning beds.

Not a good day for tax lawyers

How do you raise over $200 million without raising taxes? By making common sense fixes to the tax code.

Like closing a loophole that allows certain businesses to form an LLC for the purposes of avoiding paying taxes. Savvy tax lawyers like this loophole, but the $54 million their clients avoid paying in 2011-2013 could pay for a lot of student need grants.

Or closing the loophole that lets banks off the hook for paying the real estate excise tax regular homeowners have to pay on foreclosure sales. Big banks might not be fond of closing this loophole, but the $13.4 million in restored revenue next biennium would go a long way to preserving all-day kindergarten in schools around the state.

Or updating the $125 licensing fee set in 1949 for people who buy an airplane - even if that airplane is a million-dollar luxury plane. Boat owners pay .5% of the value of their boat meaning a boat owner would pay $50,000 on a million-dollar boat. We should treat planes like boats. And use the $12 million we'll see next biennium to preserve health care for 60,000 Washingtonians.

Or the recent Supreme Court ruling that expands a B&O exemption intended for folks who sell stuff like Amway or Mary Kay from home to any out-of-state business with a direct seller in Washington. So an out-of-state business can hire one door-to-door salesperson and get out of paying $95 million in B&O taxes? That's what the courts say, but that's not what legislators intended.

It just so happens that the changes proposed in the House plan require changes to I-960, Eyman's initiative requiring a 2/3 vote of the Legislature for any bill that would increase state revenue. The Senate introduced its bill to do just that today.

And you can read more about the House proposal, rolled out today by Rep. Ross Hunter who chairs the House Finance Committee. In total, it raises and protects $363 million in revenue.

House takes action in wake of police shootings

With family members and police officers looking on, the House of Representatives today passed the first five bills in a package crafted in response to the tragic law enforcement officer killings late last year.

More bills will follow in the coming days. For information about the legislation passed today, please go to House passes law enforcement bills.

It’s not sold at your state liquor store…

Olympia is all about insider baseball with its acronyms, legislative jargon, and terms unknown outside of small circles.

Try "black liquor," for instance. It’s a part of a hot issue in Olympia, but what does it mean?
a) Material used in transportation projects
b) Renewable bio-fuel product
c) Liquor not sold through official stores
d) Pollution buildup caused by storm water

We asked Rep. John McCoy for a little help. Click the video below to find out what it is.

22nd District e-survey respondents get their two cents in

No, it’s not unusual for lawmakers to poll their constituents. Yes, you bet the elected folks who take the votes want to hear from real-world folks who by rights call the shots. Legislators naturally want to keep abreast of what’s eating Joe Meatball and Sally Housecoat (a shout-out there, if you will, to the Simpsons’ Mr. Burns).

But what’s a little different in this wired century is that more and more legislators are turning to the Internet and e-mail to see what folks have to say about the issues of the day. It’s significantly less expensive for the public treasury, and much more convenient for the public itself, to send out electronic questionnaires instead of mailing them, according to state Rep. Sam Hunt. These Jetsons e-surveys obviously don’t entail the production, printing and postage costs, not to mention the ink stains, that go into the Flintstones paper surveys. (Although the older technology, if nothing else of course, did manage to keep a lot of No. 2 pencil companies in business.)

Hunt recently sent out more than 17,000 electronic surveys to as many of his Thurston County neighbors as for whom he could round up e-mail addresses. So far he’s received several hundred responses to the budget and revenue questions on his survey. Some of the questions are very specific in terms of digging up detailed public opinion, such as this one: “Please tell me how you’d divide the budget.” And some of the questions are more open-ended, such as this one: “What would you like to add in your response to this survey?”

Hunt and his legislative colleagues kicked off this year’s session on Jan. 11. So now they’re just about within shouting distance of the halfway mark in the two-month 2010 meeting. And that means Olympia’s marching toward showtime in terms of the supplemental-budget debate. Input from citizens will no doubt be invaluable in deciding how best to carry out this year’s budget whittling.

Today's hot list

8:00 HHR C Finance
Public Hearing:
HB 3027 – Regarding the governance and financing of the Washington state convention and trade center.
HB 2970 - Addressing tax avoidance. (This bill would close a loophole that would restore as much as $54 million in 2011-2013).

10:00 House session/caucus - Honoring the officers killed in the line of duty late last year, voting on a package of bills designed to protect first responders and their families.

House votes Wednesday on law enforcement officer bills

Family members will be present in the House Chamber for a resolution honoring six law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty within two months of one another late last year.
Following the resolution, the House of Representatives will take action on a package of bills designed to protect first responders and their families.

WHAT: Votes on a package of law enforcement officer bills
• HB 2519 Death benefits for the families of fallen police officers and firefighters
• HB 1679 Catastrophic benefits
• HB 2625 Ending the practice of booking bail
• HB 1203 Toughening penalties for the crime of rendering criminal assistance
• HB 2422 Giving victims notice when criminally insane escape from a state institution

WHEN: 11 a.m. Wednesday, February 3

WHERE: Floor of the House of Representatives

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
November 29, 2010 -- Four Lakewood police officers were executed in a coffee shop by Maurice Clemmons, pardoned from a life sentence by ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Never in our state's history have so many police officers fallen on the same day, or at the hands of the same attacker.

October 31, 2010 -- Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he sat in his patrol car with a trainee he was instructing.

December 21, 2010 -- Pierce County sheriff Sgt. Nick Hausner and Deputy Kent Mundell are shot responding to a domestic violence call. Hausner survived his wounds; Mundell did not.

September 17, 2010 – Criminally-insane killer Paul Phillip escapes from custody during a field trip to the Spokane County Fair. He was later caught with a weapon in his backpack in Goldendale by sheriff’s deputies – one of whom Phillip had seriously injured during a previous arrest years earlier.

Join in Rep. Timm Ormsby's Virtual Town Hall tonight

We're liveblogging Rep. Ormsby's tele-town hall tonight at 6:30pm. Take part, listen in, ask questions, pose comments, and learn up on the good member from the 3rd LD, and what he has to say about the 2010 state budget and legislative session.

Today's hot list

Profiling bikers? New filing fees for lobbyists? Dueling fish protection bills? These issues and more in today's committee lineup.

8:00 HHR B Health & Human Services Appropriations
Public Hearing: HB 2197 – Abolishing the department of social and health services and creating new departments to take over its functions.

8:00 HHR C General Government Appropriations
Public Hearing:
HB 2436 - Concerning vehicle license fraud (Moeller's bill to reduce people from purchasing out-of-state licenses to evade paying state fees and taxes)
HB 2442 – Restructuring three growth management hearing boards into one board (a governor-request bill related to natural resources reform)
HB 3020 – Eliminating the public printer and transferring print functions to the department of information services.

8:00 HHR A Education Appropriations
Public Hearing: SHB 2630 - Creating the opportunity express program.

10:00 HHR E Education
Public Hearing: HJM 4002 – Requesting reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act to include health and fitness.

10:00 HHR A Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness
Public Hearing: HB 2511 - Addressing motorcycle profiling.

1:30 HHR B Agriculture & Natural Resources
Public Hearing: (Regarding regulatory program used to protect fish)
HB 2597 - Streamlining state environmental permitting through the elimination of the hydraulics project approval process. (would eliminate the program)
HB 3037 - Concerning permitting of hydraulic projects. (would keep program but shift cost from general fund to user fees)

1:30 HHR D State Government & Tribal Affairs
Public Hearing:
HB 1738 – Providing public funding for supreme court campaigns.
HB 2878 – Collecting fees to accommodate electronic filing and disclosure of campaign and lobbying reports, and personal financial affairs statements.

1:30 HHR C Finance
Public Hearing:
HB 2537 – Concerning incentives for solar energy systems
HB 3014 – Modifying the sales and use tax deferral program for investment projects in rural counties.
HB 3053 – Extending expiring tax incentives for certain clean alternative fuel vehicles, producers of certain biofuels, and federal aviation regulation part 145 certificated repair stations.

This week's hot list

This is cutoff week for policy committees. We're a bit light on interesting public hearings because committees are so focused on exec'ing (voting) bills out. This also means it's last call for any bills not related to the budget - members will be spending a lot of time this week twisting arms and trying to get their bills out of committee before the Tuesday deadline.

Monday 2/1
10:00 House Session/Caucus

1:30 HHR B Technology, Energy & Communications
HB 2432 - Recognizing hydroelectric generation as a renewable energy resource.
HJR 4215 - Amending the state Constitution to require that hydroelectric generation be recognized as a renewable resource.

3:30 HHR B Transportation
Public Hearing: HB 2230 – Renaming the Washington state ferries the Washington state marine highway system.


Tuesday 2/2
8:00 HHR B Health & Human Services Appropriations
Public Hearing: HB 2197 – Abolishing the department of social and health services and creating new departments to take over its functions.

8:00 HHR C General Government Appropriations
Public Hearing:
HB 2442 – Restructuring three growth management hearing boards into one board (a governor-request bill related to natural resources reform)
HB 3020 – Eliminating the public printer and transferring print functions to the department of information services.

8:00 HHR A Education Appropriations
Public Hearing: HB 2960 – Establishing a portal for public access to the prototypical school funding model.

1:30 HHR B Agriculture & Natural Resources
Public Hearing: (Regarding regulatory program used to protect fish)
HB 2597 - Streamlining state environmental permitting through the elimination of the hydraulics project approval process. (would eliminate the program)
HB 3037 - Concerning permitting of hydraulic projects. (would keep program but shift cost from general fund to user fees)

1:30 HHR D State Government & Tribal Affairs
Public Hearing:
HB 1738 – Providing public funding for supreme court campaigns.
HB 2878 – Collecting fees to accommodate electronic filing and disclosure of campaign and lobbying reports, and personal financial affairs statements.

1:30 HHR C Finance
Public Hearing:
HB 2537 – Concerning incentives for solar energy systems
HB 3014 – Modifying the sales and use tax deferral program for investment projects in rural counties.
HB 3053 – Extending expiring tax incentives for certain clean alternative fuel vehicles, producers of certain biofuels, and federal aviation regulation part 145 certificated repair stations.

1:30 HHR A Education
Public Hearing: HJM 4002 – Requesting reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act to include health and fitness.
Possible Executive Session:
HB 3025 – Establishing an alternative route to a high school diploma.
HB 3035 – Regarding educator performance and innovation (a bill related to Race to the Top).


Wednesday 2/3
8:00 HHR C Finance
Public Hearing: HB 3027 – Regarding the governance and financing of the Washington state convention and trade center.

10:00 House session/caucus


Thursday 2/4
TBD


Friday 2/5 (Policy committee cutoff)
8:00 HHR C Ecology & Parks
Work Session: Off-road vehicle park regulations

10:00 House session/caucus