Advanced Placement scores and participation rate continue to rise in Washington

According to the College Board’s sixth annual “AP Report to the Nation,” nearly 30 percent of Washington students in the class of 2010 took at least one AP exam. The number of students scoring a three or greater increased by 4.2 percent over the past five years, placing Washington at 10th in the nation.

Click here to view the press release from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

What's happening in the House Wednesday?

The members of the House will be on the floor at 10:00 this morning, but what, if any, bills will be considered is not decided yet. Stay tuned for updates!

There's plenty of action in the committees, though:

8:00 am HHR C Community Development & Housing
Public Hearing:
HB 1661 – Providing cost-saving measures and allocation of vouchers for low-income housing.

8:00 am HHR D Higher Education
Work Session:
Financial Aid Programs.

8:00 am HHR E State Government & Tribal Affair
Public Hearing:
HB 1668 – Concerning signature gathering.

1:30 pm HHR A Agriculture & Natural Resources
Public Hearing:
HB 1610 – Water resource management.

3:30 pm HHR B Transportation
Public Hearing:
HB 1536 – Providing a congestion reduction charge to fund the operational and capital needs of transit agencies.

One lost fishing net, a whole lot of damage

Following up on his legislation to strengthen the Derelict Vessel Removal Program, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon has introduced a bill to go after derelict fishing nets.

Right now a state program asks commercial fishing boats to report fishing nets lost in the water. Since 2003, though, only two nets were reported, and one of those nets picked up by the Northwest Straits Initiative had done considerable damage. Lost in Port Susan Bay, bordered by Camano Island, the group estimated in the 23 weeks it was left in the bay, it killed 1,800 birds, 450 salmon, 11 harbor seals and 16,900 crabs.

Fitzgibbon on the problem:

Commercial fishing is a significant part of our state’s past and future, as is our clean and healthy environment. In the best interest of all parties, we need to reduce the number of nets out there killing fish and wildlife that no one will ever see on their kitchen table.

You can read Fitzgibbon's release on House Bill 1717, and much more at the Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Project.

(Image from www.derelictgear.org)

WA Whiteboard: Seaquist on falling higher-education attainment

Rep. Larry Seaquist, chair of the Higher Education Committee, talks about the need to drastically increase educational attainment in our state.



Tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. the committee will have a public hearing on The Higher Education Opportunity Act, one bill attempting to address the attainment problem, among others.

In the House Tuesday

The House is not on the floor today, but we have plenty of committee excitement!

Tuesday 2/8/11
8:00 am HHR C General Government Appropriations & Oversight
Work Session:
Department of Information Services – Agency budget overview, proposed consolidations, and move into new office building and data center facility.

10:00 am HHR A Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1550 – Regulating the production, distribution, and sale of cannabis.

1:30 pm HHR B Business & Financial Services
Public Hearing:
HB 1733 – Requiring notice of the transfer of information by consumer reporting agencies to third-parties outside the United States.

1:30 pm HHR D Early Learning & Human Services
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1741 – Regarding temporary assistance for needy family’s benefits.
2. HB 1782 -- Regarding constraints of expenditures for WorkFirst and child care programs.

1:30 pm HHR A Education
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1607 – Providing a limited exemption from school day and hour requirements in order to mitigate state funding reductions.
2. HB 1546 – Authorizing creation of innovation schools and innovation zones in school districts.

1:30 pm HHR C Environment
Public Hearing:
HB 1721 – Preventing storm water pollution from coal tar sealants.

A 12-year-old pitches 4 reasons the blue heron should be state bird

Yes, it's a busy year with major budget issues to sort out. But sometimes even our Ways & Means Chair gets pitched an idea that might seem an unimportant matter to most of us but means the world to at least one person.

In this case, that one person is Eva. She's a 12-year-old student from Bellevue who wrote to Rep. Ross Hunter that it's time we pass the title of "State Bird" on to the blue heron. She wrote:

Dear Representative Hunter,
Two years ago in 2009, I made a proposal to change the state bird from the Goldfinch, to the Great Blue Heron, however the deadline for introducing new bills had already occurred. I would like to renew my argument in hopes it will not be too late for the 2011 session:

1. I see the goldfinch on some occasions, but I think the Great Blue Heron is more common.
2. No other state has the Great Blue Heron. Two other states (Iowa and New Jersey) have the goldfinch for their state bird.
3. The Great Blue Heron is found all over Washington, it would be the bird for the entire state, not just part of it.
4. The goldfinch became the state bird in 1951; it is probably time to change it.
   

Please reconsider this proposal,
Eva

Thus, HB 1817 was born, with sponsors from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the state. Hunter says these kinds of bills provide an excellent civics education for students like Eva for only take a few minutes of a legislator's time.

The bill, however, isn't without some controversy. Hunter has heard from lifelong birdwatchers who argue that the Goldfinch is not only an asset to the entire state, it also provides a special "ornithological lesson about supply and demand" because the Goldfinch waits to nest until later in the season than most birds when the seeds they eat are more plentiful.

(Photo: Mike Baird on Flickr)

What's happening today?

The House will be on the floor at 10:00 to run a Suspension Calendar and a couple floor resolutions. There is also lots of committee activity this afternoon.

Monday 2/7/11
1:30 pm HHR B Health Care & Wellness
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1560 – Concerning the health insurance partnership.
2. HB 1740 – Establishing a health benefit exchange.
3. HCR 4404 -- Continuing the Joint Select Committee on health reform implementation.

1:30 pm HHR D Higher Education
Work Session:
Office of Program Research staff presentation: Governor’s proposed budget and tuition setting.

1:30 pm HHR A Judiciary
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1591 – Expanding protections against workplace harassment in anti-harassment protection orders.
2. HB 1626 – Modifying harassment provisions.

1:30 pm HHR E State Government & Tribal Affairs
Public Hearing:
HB 1720 – Re-organizing and streamlining central service functions, powers, and duties of state government.

3:30 pm HHR A Ways & Means
Public Hearing:
1. HB 1083 – Addressing postretirement employment of members of the Washington state retirement systems.