It's all about the flour

All candy is not created equal.

That became painfully obvious during the session's discussions about lifting the sales tax exemption from those sugary treats. Rep. Ross Hunter has a blog post up lamenting the never-ending debate over how to define "candy." It's an important definition because it determines which candy-like items are taxed or not starting June 1.

Hunter alludes to the definition we ultimately adopted, which is the definition established by the Streamlined Sales Tax Board, a national group that works to simplify taxes across state borders. Hunter serves on the board.

Page 124 of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement lays it out. Essentially, it comes down to whether the product contains flour.

“Candy” means a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces. “Candy” shall not include any preparation containing flour and shall require no refrigeration.

So that's why Junior Mints will be taxed, but not Nestle Crunch.

You can check out the full list of what's on the candy list here by clicking on the box next to candy and gum sales tax. (Warning: It's a very complete and thorough list arranged by candy manufacturer. Do not read on an empty stomach.).

New grad requirements and fewer school districts?

Maybe, maybe not. Two notable reports came out this week that could be part of major changes in our state's schools.

High school graduation requirements haven't changed since 1984. But dramatic changes are in the works as the State Board of Education comes close to finalizing CORE 24, a new set of graduation requirements that boosts the number of credits from 19 to 24 with students choosing a track that preps them either for college, college and career, or career. Legislators must ultimately approve the changes and are certainly open to feedback about the Board's proposal.

Also in education, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee released its preliminary report on school district size and cost. There are 295 school districts in the state, and some legislators have been questioning whether we should consolidate some of the districts to save money. Such a move isn't without controversy, however, so JLARC's findings will provide some data to help legislators grapple with that question over the coming months.

Education focus of today's GMAP meeting

The Governor's office is hosting a one-hour Government Management Accountability and Performance forum today with a focus on education.

You can watch it live now online at TVW. The next forum will be June 16 and cover the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Washington was the first state to implement this kind of a management model on a statewide basis. The Governor and state agencies use GMAP to publicly measure how well they're providing services and meeting performance goals.

UPDATE: Niki from TVW's Capitol Record has a great summary here.

K-12 reform discussions this week in Olympia

Ambitious education reform discussions continue today and tomorrow as the Quality Education Council meets to discuss their work plan for 2010.

The QEC, as those who follow education policy know, is the group formed when we passed HB 2261 in 2009. The group successfully passed the first set of reforms this past session and continues moving ahead until HB 2261 is fully implemented.

Of particular note -
Today at 3, the group will also discuss inclusion of early learning as part of basic education, as well as an overview of the recent McCleary lawsuit and its impacts on the QEC's work. Tomorrow morning the group will check in on the status of the Governor's Race to the Top efforts.

You can watch it live online on TVW and take a look at the meeting materials here.

Search for solutions: Jim Jacks says business as usual doesn’t cut it

Today's special - problem-solving

State Rep. Jim Jacks knows that contemporary problem-solving – serving up a tasty entrée out of today’s menu of unsavory problems – will call for a lot more than sprinkling a trendy tomorrowizer on yesterday’s careworn hash of ideas. It will call for just the right dash of teamwork – and yes, you bet it will call for just the right splash of individual spunk.

As a matter of fact, Jacks has been tapped for a national leadership post with a prominent problem-solving outfit called the Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI). According to its Web site, the PCI works toward “collaborative governance, consensus building, and conflict resolution.” The Clark County lawmaker recently accepted a seat on the PCI National Board of Directors. He said the national leadership position affords him a tremendous opportunity both for contributing to and for learning from the countrywide search for lasting, nonpartisan, real-world solutions to troubles that have long vexed our communities, our states, and our nation.

He agrees that “thinking outside the box” is a very over-used expression. But Jacks said the fact is that we simply must be open to solutions that perhaps don’t fit neatly into our old ways of problem-solving. Business as usual doesn’t cut it. He said he’s excited to join forces with folks who firmly believe that thinking outside the box is what we need if we expect to have any shot at overcoming our challenges.

A national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, the PCI is dedicated to assisting state and local leaders in developing and pioneering collaborative solutions to problems they face in their communities. Since 1997, it has served as a catalyst and support for leaders who want to harness the power of collaboration to break through outdated governance structures that often hinder innovation in solving public problems. The PCI Board of Directors is co-chaired by two governors – one Democrat and one Republican – and it includes legislators, mayors, and other leaders from 15 states.

The Policy Consensus Initiative assists leaders in convening their fellow citizens from all sectors of society to develop effective, lasting solutions to public problems that go beyond what any sector could achieve on its own. Its Public Solutions System, a model for collaborative governance, has been used successfully by state and local leaders in Oregon and the rest of the Pacific Northwest region as well as in Salt Lake City, California, Colorado, Maine and Virginia. The Solutions System was recognized by Harvard’s Ash Institute as among the top 50 innovations in government in 2008.

Bon appétit!

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

How is managing government different from managing a business or family?

Is there any other entity that experiences dramatic increases in demand for services during a time of budget cutbacks and national economic decline?

Here's just one example: The Spring 2010 Budget Driver report for our state's higher education institutions shows that, overall, enrollment is 14% higher than what we budgeted for the 2009-10 year.

32,111 additional people are seeking education at our state's colleges and universities - many of them laid-off workers seeking to retool and retrain (note the 121% over-enrollment in retraining programs).

Despite double-digit increase in demand for services, steep declines in state revenue have meant double-digit cuts to our higher education budget. How's that for a frugal business model?