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.

Stanford takes Capital position

A much larger, and more demanding, say-so in operating the state-government steering wheel is in the works for state Rep. Derek Stanford. The House Democratic Caucus recently selected Stanford to vice-chair the crucial House Capital Budget Committee. His new responsibilities commence with the Monday morning, Jan. 14, opening gavel of the 2013 legislative session.

"I'm looking forward to helping tackle fresh challenges facing our Capital Budget Committee, as well as other matters awaiting us in Olympia," said Stanford. "This committee manages significant investment-decisions for Washington's several-billion-dollar construction budget. As you can imagine, these decisions go a long way toward shaping job-creation and economic-development policies in our King and Snohomish county communities, and in other cities and towns all across our state."

Stanford, recently re-elected to serve his second term in office, said the Capital Budget Committee looks at money-saving strategies in the construction and repair of public buildings, as well as land-acquisitions and transfers. The committee also keeps a close eye on the state's public, capital-budget dollars that are given or lent to local governments or nonprofit organizations for infrastructure, housing, and cultural and heritage facilities.

He wasn't a member of the Capital Budget Committee in his first term of office. Still, Stanford did win committee-support last year for funding to assist with a substantial construction project in the 1st Legislative District - $800,000  to help pay the bill for building a new Scriber Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Brier. The old Scriber Creek Pedestrian Bridge was damaged in the December 2007 flood. 

According to Nicole Gaudette, city planning with the City of Brier, "rebuilding the Scriber Creek Bridge will protect salmon-bearing waters, critical infrastructure, and pedestrian pathway, and the public health.  The state's partnership in funding the project is crucial to its success."

The governor proposed a new ‘capital budget’ – so what is that?

You’ll hear about three budgets down at the state capitol, and yes, there’s a different between capitol with an “o” and capital with an “a.”

Today, the governor proposed operating, transportation and capital budgets for the next two years.

The operating budget is the biggest one. It’s like your family’s main checking account, how you pay the bills every month. The operating budget pays for ongoing things like health care for kids, state troopers, prisons, parks and public schools.

The transportation budget is just what you think: highways and ferries, buses and trains.

The capital budget is the one that trips people up. So what is it?

 “Capital projects” are construction projects around the state. Here’s an example: You pay the salaries of state troopers and prison guards through the operating budget, but when you need to build a prison – or an elementary school, state park or university lecture hall – it comes out of the capital budget.

One of the ways we’ve tried to maximize the number of jobs and construction projects is to focus on funding things with local and federal matching dollars. So that’s one of the reasons why the capital budget gets complicated. You can read the highlights of the governor’s proposed capital budget here.

Last year, as part of the Jobs Act passed by lawmakers, our state tried to jump-start these construction jobs by front-loading the construction projects. Instead of taking the money we usually spend and spreading the work out over many years, the idea was to create jobs in a hurry by doing all those projects at once. The Jobs Act created an estimated 20,000 jobs around the state.

The governor’s proposed capital budget would also create thousands of jobs – as would the transportation budget – but her proposal is just the first step.

Next, the House and the Senate will make their own proposed budgets, which will have public hearings in the House and the Senate, then votes in committee and on the House and Senate floor.

In the end, though, the result of the capital budget will be folks in hard hats building schools, lecture halls and parks.

Read this story in Spanish here.

Innovation Partnership Zones are in for some new cash

A few days ago, the Department of Commerce, which is charged with enhancing and promoting sustainable community and economic vitality in Washington, announced that there are $13.5 million in the Capital Budget for Innovation Partnership Zones (IPZ) to foster economic growth. 

Anything that fosters economic growth is a good thing, but what are IPZs, anyway?  

The Innovation Partnership Zones program was created in 2007 by the Washington State Legislature to strengthen the connections between research and business, encouraging regions in Washington to fire up their global competitiveness, and create more high-paying jobs.   

It’s been five years and, so far so good, as we have 14 of them!  This session with a measure sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney, we strengthened them by requiring that they must be part of an industry cluster, which will encourage the creation of more zones that will prompt current and future economic development.  

The projects that will receive funding include: 

Tri-Cities Research District - $5 million for a new research and education facility in the heart of the area’s wine country, allowing Washington State to continue to solidify its position as the second leading wine producer in the nation.  

Walla Walla Valley IPZ - $3.67 million for human capital, addressing a shortage in energy technicians in the region who are responsible for maintaining the area’s 5,000 wind turbines.  

Tacoma: Urban Clean Water Technology Zone - $3.6 million for three new labs:

• Clean Water Innovation Development & Technology Transfer Laboratory.
• Shared use lab at the Center for Urban Waters to develop new clean water technologies. 
• Clean Water Technology Aquatic Toxicology Lab to study the effects of pollution and diseases on fish, aquatic insects and bivalves. 

Grays Harbor IPZ - $750,000 to equip the Coastal Innovation Zone R&D Business Incubator Facility to help businesses develop, test and commercialize new products with a heavy focus on reuse of industry byproducts and wastes. 

Bothell Biomedical Manufacturing IPZ - $500,000 for a new incubator space to house companies that design, develop and manufacture biomedical devices.  

For more information on these projects go here.

To read this story in Spanish, please click here.

The Good News, the Bad News, and the Good News

The good news?  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington ranks 8th in the nation in worker pay.  The average salary/wage earned by a working Washingtonian is $50,280.  That’s great; it’s money that supports families, keeps local businesses profitable, and helps to make Washington state, even during an economic slowdown, one of the best places on earth to live.

The bad news is, Washington’s terrific average pay is cold comfort for the 288,000 unemployed people in our state.  True, employment is on the rise, and true, respected economists are saying that Washington is poised to lead the nation’s recovery from this recession.  But you can’t feed a family with statistics.  That requires a job.

Back to the good news:  While the drama in Olympia was playing out around negotiations on an operating budget, Democrats managed to craft and pass bipartisan transportation and capital budgets that will, among other things, create and sustain tens of thousands of good jobs for out-of-work men and women, particularly in Washington’s hard-hit construction industry.

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.

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.

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.

Rep. Tharinger joins WWRC board

The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition board announced the appointment of six new members in a press release yesterday.  Among the new appointees is state Rep. Steve Tharinger.

Rep. Tharinger, who served on the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board from 2002 to 2010 and chairs the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council, is a longtime advocate for Washington's natural resources and agricultural lands.

He is also a member of the House Capital Budget Committee, which allocates grant funding for the protection of wildlife habitat, natural resource recreation areas, and working farms through the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP).  WWRC administers the WWRP grants.

In 2007, the WWRC gave former state representative and then- House Capital Budget chair Bill Fromhold its "Award for Outstanding Legislative Leadership."  Fromhold passed away in 2010 from leukemia.

"I didn't have the privilege of working with Bill Fromhold in the House, but his legacy is one of protecting our natural areas for the benefit of future generations," Tharinger said.  "Like Bill, I believe our state's economy and environment are closely intertwined, and both can thrive simultaneously."

Legislators help inaugurate new Peninsula College building today

If you happen to be near Port Angeles this afternoon, you may want to head over to Peninsula College and join in the Grand Opening Celebration of Maier Hall, which begins at 2:00 p.m. today.

Maier Hall is a new 62,950 square foot Business and Humanities building that includes writing, math, computer and foreign language labs, music classrooms and practice rooms, and a 131-seat performing arts space for music, film, and the spoken word.

The building's sustainable features, which include geothermal energy, daylight harvesting, natural ventilation, wetland restoration, and an innovative moss roof, will promote lower energy costs and a smaller footprint. 

Maier Hall was built with funding from the state's building construction account, part of the Capital Budget. The funds were allocated in 2009, although funding for the design phase of the project was awarded in 2007.

The 2011-2013 state Capital Budget included money for Peninsula College to renovate former military barracks at Fort Worden State Park into classroom space, which will enable the college to expand higher education access to residents of neighboring Jefferson County.

Today's celebration will include remarks by state Representatives Steve Tharinger and Kevin Van De Wege, whose district includes Port Angeles. The public is invited to join the celebration and tour the new building.

Photo:  Maier Hall, Peninsula College - Doug Scott 

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

Are the costs of our transportation and capital projects about to go up?

Maybe. That's the word from State Treasurer Jim McIntire who sent a letter this week to Washington's congressional delegation asking them to move swiftly on a solution on raising the national debt limit to avoid a major default.

Why is our state treasurer worrying about the national debt talks?

"...our state's access to capital and our credit rating may soon be threatened by federal gridlock on the debt ceiling. Turmoil in the U.S. Treasury market will surely move investors in municipal credits to the sidelines if there is uncertainty about the impact of federal paralysis on each state's credits. And it will not be possible to finance major construction projects or execute refundings to save taxpayer dollars without an adjustment in the federal debt ceiling.

Essentially, if the federal government fails to strike a deal on the debt ceiling, it could make it harder and more costly for state and local governments to finance projects.

State and local governments use various financing tools to pay for things like new schools, bridges, and major freeway projects. Bonds are one of the most essential tools for state and local governments. The Pew Center on the States points out that state and local governments issued $433 million in long-term municipal bonds just in 2010. The Center also describes how some of the targeted spending cuts could adversely impact state- and municipal -run programs related to housing, higher education, homeland security and more.

Congress has one week left to reach an agreement.

What are those folks in hard hats doing?

It’s natural to see a construction project and wonder what’s happening.

Now there’s an easy way for citizens to find out exactly what state-funded projects are happening in their neighborhood, their county, their entire legislative district – or the entire state of Washington.

There’s a new state map with links to every project in the state’s transportation budget and capital budget.

In the old days, you had to dig through the actual text of the law and find the line item, or look through pages and pages of district project lists that were hard to decipher.

This map – which you can find here – is simple and clear. You can select any county or district number to see all the projects and related information.

Sine die update - done deals

Things have been moving quickly the past few days and just when we think we have a handle on the bills, they change. So here's a short roundup of the major late-breaking agreements that you’ve been hearing about in the news. We'll have additional updates in the coming days.

Workers comp – One of the most heated debates this year was over proposed reforms to the state’s workers comp system. The final agreement, which has already passed both chambers and been delivered to the Governor, includes provisions to help workers return to work more quickly, provides an optional structured settlement for workers 55 and older, establishes a Rainy Day Fund to minimize spikes in the premiums paid by employees and workers, and more. You can read House Speaker Frank Chopp’s statement here.

Operating budget – The 2011-13 operating budget passed the House yesterday and, as we type, awaits a vote in the Senate. It closes a $5.1 billion budget gap with $4.5 billion in cuts and some fund transfers. You can check out an easy-to-read summary here.

Capital budget and debt limit bill – The capital budget provides funding for infrastructure projects such as parks, wastewater treatment plants, community centers and school construction. The projects are funded by bonds and every year a portion of the state’s operating budget goes towards “debt service” or payment on those bonds. The constitutional debt limit is currently 9 percent. Some members, concerned that the limit is too high, sought to lower the limit but a very lively conversation ensued about details of the prophttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifosal and whether it would hinder the state’s ability to fund projects that create thousands of jobs. Yesterday, House and Senate leaders reached an agreement and this morning the House approved a 2011-13 capital budget as well as the debt limit bill which phases down the limit to 7.75 percent. The capital budget awaits a vote in the Senate.

With just hours left in the special session, legislators are moving quickly to finish remaining bills.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

A flurry of committee activity this morning, then back to the floor

The House will resume floor action today at 1:00 pm, and is expected to continue late into the evening. But we start the day with some (hopefully) final committee meetings.

For information on these or any other House bills, click here.

8:00 am Senate Hearing Room 1: Ways and Means
Public Hearing:
1. ESSB 5581 - Concerning nursing homes.
2. SSB 5935 - Addressing adoption support payments for hard to place children.

Possible Executive Session:
1. HB 2088 - Creating the opportunity scholarship board to assist middle-income students and invest in high employer demand programs.
2. ESSB 5581 - Concerning nursing homes.
3. SSB 5935 - Addressing adoption support payments for hard to place children

11:00 am Senate Hearing Room 3: Business and Financial Services
Public Hearing:
SB 5956 - Concerning the prohibited practices of collection agencies.

Possible Executive Session:
SB 5956 - Concerning the prohibited practices of collection agencies.

12:00 pm Senate Hearing Room 2: Capital Budget
Possible Executive Session:
SSJR 8215 - Concerning the debt reduction act of 2011.

In the House today

We will convene on the floor at 10:00 this morning to consider the last few items on the concurrence calendar.

It’s possible we may run the Capital Budget later in the day. Stay tuned!

It's cut-off day!

Yes, it’s the final big bill cut-off of the session. No bill may be started on the floor after 5:00 pm. Which doesn’t mean we will be done right at 5:00, but it does make it likely we’ll finish before dinner time. The list of bills for the day will be decided as we go, and you can follow the action here.

We also have a few things on the committee calendar:

8:00 am HHR D Capital Budget
Possible Executive Session:
1. HB 2040 - Providing for assistance for financing infrastructure and economic development.
2. HB 1348 - Concerning state general obligation bonds and related accounts.
3. HB 1497 - Adopting a 2011-2013 capital budget.

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.

In the House Tuesday

Today is cut-off for House Appropriations committees; Friday is cut-off for Capital, Ways and Means, and Transportation committees. The House is not on the floor today but we do have:

Possible Executive Session:
1. SB 5367 - Authorizing the economic development finance authority to continue issuing bonds.
2. E2SSB 5769 - Regarding coal-fired electric generation facilities.
3. 2SSB 5662 - Concerning preferences for in-state contractors.
4. ESSB 5485 - Maximizing the use of our state's natural resources.
5. SSB 5300 - Enhancing the use of Washington natural resources in public buildings.
6. ESB 5647 - Modifying the Columbia river basin management program.

House Democrats: Creating and keeping jobs in Washington

Our greatest challenge this legislative session was to adjust our budget according to the economic forecast while at the same time helping our citizens survive and bounce back stronger from this recession. While it will be a slow recovery for our nation, every major business and economic publication indicates Washington State will help lead the U.S. out of this downturn.

This is due in large part to the smart investments in and stewardship of our state and its resources. The House Democrats know real leadership means making tough choices sometimes. Choices that will, in the long run, provide the support our citizens need, and foster the entrepreneurial spirit that’s always been high here in Washington.

With that in mind, House Democrats set out to spur economic growth here in Washington by helping build the next generation of economic drivers – everything from schools, to roads, to high-tech centers and aluminum smelters.

We know that small, local businesses are the key to our economic recovery. So we took steps this session to protect those companies, even as it became necessary to increase revenues. You’ve heard a lot, for example, about the coming increase in the tax on beer. But that increase will only apply to the giant, out-of-state breweries, not our small, local ones. In fact:

• We raised the B&O tax credit for many small businesses, helping them create new jobs.
• We closed loopholes in the tax code that benefit out-of-state companies, helping to level the playing field for our home-grown businesses.
• We extended the rural county sales tax deferral program until 2020 to spur manufacturing and high-tech investment all over Washington.

Check out the document below for more information about the legislation House Democrats passed this session to create an estimated 54,000+ jobs, as well as the investments in Washington’s people, businesses, and clean future that will prove those publications right.

The HDC 2010 Jobs Package