The long-awaited revenue conference report will be signed and presented today at 1:30 pm in the Senate Rules room. Revenue Committee chair Ross Hunter, vice-chair Bob Hasegawa, and ranking minority member Ed Orcutt were appointed to the conference committee from the House. The Senate also appointed three members.
We will post details of the report here as soon as possible.
The House will convene at 2:00 pm for the final few days of the 2010 session. We'll keep you posted as we progress.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
We're getting closer
Leaders in both the House and Senate this afternoon are meeting with their respective members about a new revenue proposal. It does not include a sales tax increase. Details of the new package are not available quite yet but at least everyone is looking at the same piece of paper.
Legislators won't be back on the floor until Friday but if there appears to be agreement after today's discussions, legislators will be able to wrap up votes on the package and budgets this weekend.
We'll keep you posted!
Legislators won't be back on the floor until Friday but if there appears to be agreement after today's discussions, legislators will be able to wrap up votes on the package and budgets this weekend.
We'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Progress made toward final revenue agreement
As reported here yesterday afternoon, the Senate released a new revenue plan Monday. The House revenue team met twice during the day, and Finance Chair Ross Hunter announced the House has a slightly-tweaked counter-proposal that he was going to present to House members last evening.
It looks like the House and Senate will meet together this afternoon. Stay tuned!!
It looks like the House and Senate will meet together this afternoon. Stay tuned!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Senate offers up new revenue proposal
Read all about it here.
Most House members have not yet seen the proposal and still need to be briefed before anyone can claim an agreement has been reached. We'll keep you posted as things unfold.
Most House members have not yet seen the proposal and still need to be briefed before anyone can claim an agreement has been reached. We'll keep you posted as things unfold.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Telling stories with numbers
Every one of us spends some amount of time each day looking at statistics or numbers or charts. Whether it's stats on your favorite sports team, competing polls relaying American's opinions on health care reform, or the little electricity-use chart on your utility statement, we absorb a lot of data throughout the day.
And every one of us, including organizations and businesses, uses data and numbers selectively to tell stories. It's exciting to tell your spouse you just found an amazing designer jacket marked down 75 percent (!) but not so exciting when your spouse sees it still cost $350. An oil company will tout that it spends $600 million a year on researching renewable energy (!) but not tout that only makes up 1 percent of their profits.
When it comes to budgets and taxes, the stories you can tell with numbers are almost endless. Depending on how you splice and dice the data, you can probably make a case for any story you want to tell.
Rep. Ross Hunter points this out on his blog where he briefly describes why tax rankings can vary so much, even when those rankings come from the same organization.
You see this selective use of numbers in our current budget debate, too.
When you look at the entire 2009-11 biennium budget, you see that we'll be making about $4 billion in cuts with $800 million or so in new revenue. That's about $4.40 in cuts for every $1 in new revenue.
Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, however, like to tell a different story. They argue we're proposing only about 1 percent, or $653 million, in cuts while raising $800 million in revenue.
Well, if you're looking at just the 2010 supplemental budget, this is true, but misleading. You don't hand out medals to relay runners based on their individual times, but on their cumulative time. It's the same thing with our budget - the only numbers that really matter are the totals at the end.
Which, hopefully, we'll get to soon. We'll keep you posted.
And every one of us, including organizations and businesses, uses data and numbers selectively to tell stories. It's exciting to tell your spouse you just found an amazing designer jacket marked down 75 percent (!) but not so exciting when your spouse sees it still cost $350. An oil company will tout that it spends $600 million a year on researching renewable energy (!) but not tout that only makes up 1 percent of their profits.
When it comes to budgets and taxes, the stories you can tell with numbers are almost endless. Depending on how you splice and dice the data, you can probably make a case for any story you want to tell.
Rep. Ross Hunter points this out on his blog where he briefly describes why tax rankings can vary so much, even when those rankings come from the same organization.
You see this selective use of numbers in our current budget debate, too.
When you look at the entire 2009-11 biennium budget, you see that we'll be making about $4 billion in cuts with $800 million or so in new revenue. That's about $4.40 in cuts for every $1 in new revenue.
Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, however, like to tell a different story. They argue we're proposing only about 1 percent, or $653 million, in cuts while raising $800 million in revenue.
Well, if you're looking at just the 2010 supplemental budget, this is true, but misleading. You don't hand out medals to relay runners based on their individual times, but on their cumulative time. It's the same thing with our budget - the only numbers that really matter are the totals at the end.
Which, hopefully, we'll get to soon. We'll keep you posted.
House will resume floor action this morning at 10:00
The Washington State House will be on the floor today to consider several bills necessary to implement the 2010 supplemental operating budget. We will also look at Senate bill 6846 -enhanced 911 communications sysytems.
Revenue and budget discussions are still ongoing, including a three-corners meeting last evening. As of this hour there is no breakthrough to report but talks will continue throughout the weekend.
More news as the day progresses.......
Revenue and budget discussions are still ongoing, including a three-corners meeting last evening. As of this hour there is no breakthrough to report but talks will continue throughout the weekend.
More news as the day progresses.......
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Bullying a persistent problem in schools
The heartbreaking story of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince is shining a bright light on the destructive consequences of bullying in schools.
Though relatively few cases end as tragically as Phoebe's, the experience of being bullied can have devastating and long-lasting impacts on a child, including lower test scores and a range of social and emotional problems.
According to the national PTA:
Unfortunately, a study in 2008 showed these laws were not reducing bullying and harassment in Washington schools. According to the Office of Washington's Education Ombudsman, more than 30 percent of 6th graders report being bullied in the past 30 days, 27 percent of 8th graders, 23 percent of 10th graders and almost 16 percent of 12th graders.
That's why Rep. Marko Liias authored a bill this year directing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to revise and update its anti-harassment policies and procedures, changes that school districts must incorporate into their own policies and procedures.
For more information about anti-harassment policies in our schools, or to find out how you can help a student you fear is being bullied, take a look at the resources available at the Washington State School Safety Center.
Though relatively few cases end as tragically as Phoebe's, the experience of being bullied can have devastating and long-lasting impacts on a child, including lower test scores and a range of social and emotional problems.
According to the national PTA:
Victims of bullying suffer psychological and sometimes physical scars that last a lifetime. Victims report greater fear and anxiety, feel less accepted, suffer from more health problems, and score lower on measures of academic achievement and self-esteem than students who are not bullied. Victims often turn their anger inward, which may lead to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.Fortunately, Washington has more protections in place for students than most states. We first passed an anti-bullying law in 2002, updating it in 2007 to include electronic forms of bullying (texts, e-mails).
Unfortunately, a study in 2008 showed these laws were not reducing bullying and harassment in Washington schools. According to the Office of Washington's Education Ombudsman, more than 30 percent of 6th graders report being bullied in the past 30 days, 27 percent of 8th graders, 23 percent of 10th graders and almost 16 percent of 12th graders.
That's why Rep. Marko Liias authored a bill this year directing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to revise and update its anti-harassment policies and procedures, changes that school districts must incorporate into their own policies and procedures.
For more information about anti-harassment policies in our schools, or to find out how you can help a student you fear is being bullied, take a look at the resources available at the Washington State School Safety Center.
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