Public hearing today on the state construction budget

Construction projects mean jobs

As today's Hot Sheet indicates, there will be a public hearing at 1:30 today on the state construction budget, officially known as the capital budget.

Not sure what the capital budget is, exactly?  This previous post explains it pretty well.

The current capital budget is funded through June 30 of this year.  Legislators must come up with a new two-year construction budget for our state - along with new two-year transportation and operating budgets - that go into effect July 1, 2013.

Rep. Hans Dunshee

Because the capital budget funds construction projects all over the state, it also helps create and sustain jobs.  Last year, the supplemental capital budget and Jobs Now Act created 18,000 jobs, and many projects that are in progress right now.

The House Capital Budget committee is chaired by Rep. Hans Dunshee. You can follow the proceedings of today's hearing on TVW.

Read this story in Spanish here.

Schools – and taxpayers – save money with green building

In 2005, Washington made history: it became the first state in the nation to pass a green building law, after a big push by Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish).

That means new schools, and other buildings, funded by state taxpayers are built smart, so taxpayers pay less for electricity every month.

In 2013, the Lake Stevens School District is taking that idea even further – and saving even more money.

The school has an energy specialist, Barb Ossowski, who trains teachers and staff how to cut energy costs.

Read the full KING 5 story here: Energy conservation spares Lake Stevens School District from cuts
 

Rep. Hans Dunshee

Here's the key passage from the story:

Since March 2010, the district has seen a 34 percent energy reduction, which amounts to about $1.5 million in savings. Instead of going towards utility bills, that money is used going back into classrooms. 

"Keeping money in our own pockets for our school and our children and that's what we're in the business for," said Ossowski. 

The effort has funded new textbooks, an AP class and spared teacher and staff positions from being cut. 

"We're also being good stewards of the environment," she said. 

The Lake Stevens School District was recently honored by the Environmental Protection Agency with an "Energy Star Award" for its energy efficiency, one of only four in the state with that distinction. 

For more about the state's efforts on green building, click here.

Read this story in Spanish here.

Town hall meetings -- giving citizens a voice

Reps. Roger Goodman and Larry Springer
taking citizen questions at a town hall
meeting in Kirkland City Hall.

You may have participated in a town hall meeting via telephone.

Town hall meetings with lawmakers now happen in person, over the phone or through the web. People are also using email, Twitter, Facebook and other tools to have a dialogue with their local lawmakers.

This is a new twist on an old idea: bringing citizens together to discuss issues -- or decide things.

Typically, you hear the phrase "New England-style town hall meeting." It's true that small towns in New Hampshire, Vermont and elsewhere holding town hall meetings more than 300 years ago. Every citizen got the chance to talk, debate and vote on issues.

Yet this idea goes back even longer.

It's inspired by the ancient democracy in Athens and the notion that every citizen should have a say. The Swiss towns of Glarus and Appenzell have been Langsgemeinde -- town hall meetings -- for 700 years.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate, from both parties, are embracing modern twists on this old idea. Technology may be improving it. But the notion behind it, that every citizen counts, is as strong as ever.

Rep. Hans Dunshee will be calling constituents in the 44th Legislative District on May 7 at 6PM to host a tele-town hall.

Rep. Tami Green will be hosting her own tele-town hall for the people of the 28th Legislative District on May 9 at 6PM.

Statements from Speaker Chopp, Majority Leader Sullivan and Chair Dunshee

House Speaker Frank Chopp, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, and Capital Budget Chair Hans Dunshee issued the following statements regarding the completion of the 2012 Legislative Session.

Speaker Frank Chopp:

“Our caucus’s two highest goals for this session were:

• A budget that funds education with no cuts and saves the safety net, and

• The Jobs Now package that will put tens of thousands of people back to work.

“We succeeded! And this morning we share that success with school kids heading off to class, with people who rely on the Disability Lifeline to keep a roof over their heads, and with unemployed people all across our state who can look forward to going back   to work.”

Majority Leader Pat Sullivan:
“A strong public education system that supports the academic achievement of all Washington students is not only a key to good jobs, but also to Washington’s thriving future. We fought for education in our budget, and not only will our kids benefit, but so will our economy.”


Chair Hans Dunshee:
“Jobs was our number one priority, and we did it.  People all across the state will now go back to work, and they’ll have the pride and the security of a regular paycheck.”

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.

Jobs Now

 The House moved one step closer to passing a Jobs plan that would put 22,000 people back to work in Washington.

The Jobs Now Package (HB 2168, HB 2792 & HB 2793) passed the Capital Budget Committee today. It now heads to a vote of the full House of Representatives.

The idea is based on American history, where we see two clear examples of how to get out of a deep recession to create jobs and prosperity.

During the Great Depression, FDR knew we couldn’t cut our way back to prosperity. Instead, he put everybody to work building a better America, building the parks, dams, bridges, and colleges we still use today. The other effort happened here in Washington state in the 1970s. Gov. Dan Evans, a Republican, saw how jobless people were hurting. He put people to work, in every corner of Washington, on projects that will help our economy for decades. His plan was called Jobs Now, Washington’s Future.

The idea behind the package that just passed out of committee is we can speed up construction work already approved and in the pipeline. Instead of doing it years from now, create jobs in a hurry by doing as many as possible right now.

The $1.3 billion in state funds will bring an additional $800 million in leveraged or matching dollars. Hundreds of projects will get built in every corner of the state.

Jobs Now also builds infrastructure at our schools and universities, since we know winning the best jobs requires having the best-educated workers.

But economic development isn’t always hi-tech buildings and university labs. Sometimes a simple repair of a sewer or water line is what a town needs to attract commercial development. Or repairing a hatchery to increase fish production gives a small town, like the ones along the Skykomish River, a huge economic boost.

No taxes will be raised. Jobs Now would be financed the same way we pay for highways projects, with revenue bonds.

Businesses and unions are united on this issue. They’re cooperating with each other because we need jobs right now. They want a proven job creator – fast and efficient that will bring jobs everywhere from Aberdeen to Zillah.

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.

Statement by Rep. Hans Dunshee on Jobs Now

I appreciate how everyone is working together – business and labor, the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats – to create jobs.

It’s an urgent need, with 30 percent of construction workers unemployed on the west side and 60 percent east of the mountains. There rightly is a sense of urgency.

I’m releasing proposed lists of construction projects in the House version of Jobs Now so that people can see what this would look like and where jobs would be created.

The House and Senate lists of construction projects are a little bit different, but those differences will be easy to bridge. We stand united behind the goal of helping our state’s construction workers, veterans and small businesses get back on their feet, doing good work that will benefit our state for decades to come.

-Hans

Click here for a link to the documents about proposed projects around Washington state.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Taking the bounce out of borrowing

Because of a provision in the state constitution, the downturn in state revenues in the Great Recession also has severely crimped the legal ability of the state to borrow money – money that might be used for stimulus projects at a time when the economy could use a boost. But last week, a state commission recommended changing the constitution so the borrowing limitation isn’t tied quite so tightly to recent revenue fluctuations.

The current rule sets the state’s debt limit at a percentage of the annual average of general revenues in the previous three years.  The commission, whose membership includes Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish, would calculate the average based on the previous six years, reducing the impact of busts (and booms) and making for a smoother ride from highs to lows. The commission recommended some other changes, too, designed to improve management of the state debt.

The Crosscut web site has written about the issue and the commission posted its report online.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

Workers want $2 billion construction bonds to create jobs

A blog post by Jordan Schrader of The News Tribune says the State Labor Council is supporting $2 billion in bonds to create construction jobs across Washington state.

You can read the piece here:

Unions want $2 billion in construction bonds

A key passage from the story:

The State Labor Council also is pushing for a bond measure to stimulate the job market through construction on state, college and public-school buildings, on storm-water pollution control projects and more, all across the state.

Rep. Hans Dunshee has been working with stakeholders, including workers, businesses and schools, on such a similar idea to create jobs.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please click here.

Feds pick Washington for $80M in biofuel grants

Finding ways to move our state off of fossil-fuels from abroad has been a priority for House Democrats for years. In the 2006 legislation written by Rep. Hans Dunshee, the reasons for investing in biofuels are made clear. Here are a couple selected paragraphs from the beginning of the bill (read the whole bill here):

• Washington's dependence on energy supplied from outside the state and volatile global energy markets makes its economy and citizens vulnerable to unpredictable and high energy prices.
• Washington's dependence on petroleum-based fuels increases energy costs for citizens and businesses.
• Washington has abundant supplies of organic wastes from farms that can be used for energy production and abundant farmland where crops could be grown to supplement or supplant petroleum-based fuels.
• The bioenergy industry is a new and developing industry that is, in part, limited by the availability of capital for the construction of facilities for converting farm and forest products into energy and fuels.
• The energy freedom program is meant to lead Washington state towards energy independence.

These goals got a shot in the arm earlier this week when the United States Department of Agriculture announced that $80 million in grants for biofuel research will be coming here. The University of Washington will receive $40 million to pursue "sustainably grown woody energy crops to produce biogasoline and renewable aviation fuel," while Washington State University will lead up research in how to "convert closed timber mills into bioenergy development centers."

Grants went to other research efforts in other states, but the fact that $80 million of the overall $136 million is going to Washington is a testament to our research universities and the state's commitment to biofuels.

You can read the whole press release and quotes from many public and private-sector officials on the USDA website.

For even more coverage, you can go to The Seattle Times and CBS News.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

Dunshee releases capital budget proposal

Following today's operating budget rollout, Rep. Hans Dunshee, chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, released a $3.1 billion construction budget proposal that focuses on job creation and fully funds $390 million in statewide K-12 construction needs.

Dunshee says the budget employs 51,780 people throughout the state and also supports economic activity and jobs related to hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing, with 60,250 jobs related to those industries.

You can read more about the capital budget proposal here or see a map of projects throughout the state.

At long last - Sine Die 2010

The first bill passed by the House this session was also one of the last. The JOBS Act of 2010, which will go to the voters in November, will create at least 30,000 jobs for the hard-hit construction industry while making schools safer and more energy-efficient. The Senate also approved the measure this evening.

“While the economy and the resulting budget situation dominate the headlines, we also focused on the longer-term needs of our state,” said House Speaker Frank Chopp. “We spent last summer and fall building an agenda to address issues families talk about around their kitchen tables – decent-paying jobs, good schools, safe communities. We made real progress on all those fronts while continuing to find ways to trim the budget and reform the way government works.”

“We tried to meet the real needs of real people,” said Majority Leader Lynn Kessler. “Naturally, we concentrated on the budget, but we also wanted to make sure our businesses – and our people – are well-positioned to take advantage of the new jobs that will be available as we come out of this Great Recession.”

Key bills approved during the 2010 session include:

Balancing the budget

• Reduced agency spending.
• Suspended performance bonuses and salary increases for many state employees.
• Extended the ban on hiring, travel, contracting, and purchases.

Putting Washington back to work

• JOBS Act of 2010 will, if approved by voters, create at least 38,000 jobs around the state while making our public schools safer, healthier, and more energy efficient.
• Washington Works Housing Act will put an additional 10,000 construction workers back to work building affordable housing so people like nurses, police officers, and teachers can live closer to their jobs.
• Continued to provide incentives for industries to locate and grow in Washington, from an extension of the rural tax credit for creating jobs in areas hardest hit by unemployment to a new exemption for high-tech companies who build the next generation of data centers in our state.
  

Educating our kids

• We took next step in reforming K-12 funding by setting in motion the first recommendations from the Quality Education Council, the group tasked with implementing HB 2261.
• Restored, protected, and enhanced local levy funding by allowing school districts to calculate their levies to funding levels that existed prior to 2009 when the legislature was forced to cut education budgets.
• Approved new strategies for turning around low-performing schools and a new evaluation system for teachers and principals designed to position Washington schools to succeed in the federal Race to the Top.
• Provided help for thousands of low-income students to pay for college with some of the most generous financial aid programs in the nation, making Washington a leader in student access and affordability.
• Gave assistance to community and technical colleges to help thousands of unemployed workers seeking to retrain and retool for jobs in emerging industries.
  

Community safety

• Gave voters the opportunity to amend the state constitution so that judges may consider withholding bail on anyone charged with a crime punishable by the possibility of life in prison, thereby restricting release on the toughest, most dangerous criminals.
• Required that a bail may only be granted by a judge for a person arrested and detained for a felony offense, and does away with the “booking bail” schedule.
• Exempted the photographs and birth date information in personnel files of criminal justice employees from disclosure under the Public Records Act, except for media requests. This protects law enforcement officers and their families from threats by inmates.
  

Reforming government

• Transformed the way we fund our public schools, simplifying the current complicated budgeting process and increasing transparency.
• Reformed the way safety net services are delivered with the Disability Lifeline, which stresses quicker transitions to self-sufficiency and better utilizations of state and federal dollars.
• Redesigned the delivery of temporary assistance to needy families with services that will help recipients getting back on their feet more quickly.
• Eliminated, consolidated and/or streamlined numerous boards, commissions, and agency functions.
• Improved Washington State Ferries operations by eliminating inefficiencies and changing the way labor contracts are negotiated.
  

More jobs: House Capital Budget passes

“More bang for the buck” is the theme of the House Capital Budget, which passed today on a vote of 59-36.

The budget, which funds construction of public buildings, is about 35% smaller than the one passed during the 2007-2009 biennium, but it maximizes the return on the state’s investment.

For example, $50 million invested for affordable housing projects would become $250 million in projects, a 4-to-1 return on investment.

$150 million invested for energy efficiency work in public schools would become $600 million in projects, a 3-to-1 return on investment.

How is such a great return on investment possible, especially in today’s economy? Because of local and federal matches, that’s how.

If that wasn’t enough good news, the budget would also create thousands of jobs across the state – 7500 good-paying construction jobs, to be exact. And with almost 30% of the construction industry currently out of work, these jobs couldn’t come at a better time.

The House and Senate still need to work out a compromise budget, but House Capital Budget Chair Rep. Hans Dunshee is determined that the final budget will be one that creates new jobs.

House is back on the floor today -- focus is on jobs

The House returns to floor action this morning, and at the top of the agenda is repassing a list of bills that were returned to us when the regular session ended last Thursday night.

We will start with the first bill passed in January -- the JOBS Act of 2010 -- followed by the Washington Works housing act and Opportunity Express.

The JOBS Act and Washington Works housing act are predicted to create over 45,000 construction jobs, as well as thousands of support and service jobs, over the next few years. Both passed the House earlier this year but did not receive a vote in the Senate. We are hoping for better things this time!

Now presenting the 2010 capital budget proposal

Rep. Hans Dunshee says the 2010 capital budget includes a mini-Jobs Act of $200 million and an extra $100 million for the Housing Trust Fund that – when leveraged with local matching and other funds – will create 19,500 jobs.

“The energy work in schools is a three-to-one match,” Dunshee said, “so you get $800 million in total projects. The housing money gets you an even better match of four-to-one, so there’s $500 million in projects for a total of $1.3 billion. A very conservative estimate is 15 jobs per million in projects of this kind, and that gets you to 19,500 jobs.”

That’s not including the rest of the capital budget.

Dunshee’s proposal includes more than $200 million in savings due to lower construction costs and projects not being built. Otherwise, the local projects from the 2009-10 budget are funded.

“But if we don’t get new revenue for the operating budget, the capital budget gets cut $800 million,” Dunshee said. “If that happens, we go around the state stopping construction projects.”

As Valentine’s Day approaches, legislators are thinking green

House Democrats were on a roll this evening as they successfully passed more bills to boost the state’s green jobs sector.

Earlier this session, the House passed the Jobs Act, sponsored by Rep. Hans Dunshee, which funds energy-efficiency projects in schools and other public buildings and would create 38,000 jobs all over the state.

Tonight, an additional four jobs bills were given the go-ahead, all related to the renewable energy field.

HB 2420 recognizes the forest products industry as a “green” one, and expands the definition of “clean energy” to include energy derived from forest products, such as woody biomass. Sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Kenney, it is meant to ensure that Washington’s working forests and related timber jobs will continue to have a vital role to play as the economy transitions to more and more green jobs.

HB 2481, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, authorizes the state Department of Natural Resources to enter into long-term contracts with private companies to create biomass energy from state timber lands. These long-term contracts will give companies the confidence to invest in Washington, and create more stable timber-industry jobs while producing home-grown energy to lessen our reliance on imported sources of fuel.

HB 2676 and HB 2677, both sponsored by Rep. Maralyn Chase, permit utilities to loan customers money to pay for energy or water conservation projects. The savings on the customer’s utility bill can then be used to make payments on the loan. This provides an incentive for people to undertake these projects in their homes, meaning more work for the contractors who do them.

House passes first bill this session, the Jobs Act of 2010

The first vote cast by the House of Representatives in this young 2010 session represented the top prioirity of their constituents back home: jobs!

By a 57-41 vote, legislators approved the JOBS Act of 2010, a measure designed to create 38,000 construction jobs all over the state while repairing public schools and universities and making them more energy-efficient.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish, said that it not only creates jobs, but saves taxpayers $190 million a year in energy costs and gives the state's children safer, healthier schools.

For more information, please see our earlier post on the JOBS Act of 2010.

Dunshee's JOBS Act = 38,000 jobs

At a hearing today, the Jobs Act got support from former Republican Secretary of State Ralph Munro, the state Labor Council, the state teachers union, community colleges, private businesses, public universities, the superintendent of public schools and others.

Rep. Hans Dunshee said he intends the bill to be in the spirit of the jobs created by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and Republican Gov. Dan Evans during the recession in the early 1970s, when Evans passed a similar package of bond bills to create construction jobs.

Dunshee said 38,000 jobs would be created by the bill, which is funded partly by bonds and partly by the energy savings created by the projects to make public schools, public universities and other public buildings more energy efficient.

Munro worked as an aide to Evans back then, and he testified in the Capital Budget Committee that he searched the state archives before testifying. “I saw piles and piles of letters from people who were out of work and got a job through these programs, and how happy they were to be back at work. … We were a Republican administration that had the strong support of labor and business on our proposal, and I hope you have the same, because the benefits and jobs are really great.”

Lucinda Young of the Washington Education Association said, “This will put people back to work … and help our K-12 system and our higher education system.”