It’s a big night for TVW – with a jam-packed ‘Impact’ show and the premiere of our special two-part series on education, The Quest for Quality. More on the education series in another blog post coming up.

But first, what’s in store for viewers on tonight’s Impact show:

This week, the state Department of Labor and Industries proposed a 7.6 percent rate increase in workers’ compensation rates for 2010. The state-run insurance program pays benefits to employees who are injured on the job.  Many in the business community say the latest proposed increase is reason enough for lawmakers and the Governor to make changes to the current system.  But the Washington State Labor Council says the state’s workers’ compensation system provides good protection for injured workers at a competitive cost.

Joining us will be Assistant Director for Insurance Services at Labor and Industries, Bob Malooly, and Washington state’s Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, Patrick Connor.

Also on the program – information on how colleges are preparing for any possible outbreaks of the H-1-N-1 virus (also known as the Swine Flu) as students return to campus for the fall semester.  And TVW founders Denny Heck and Stan Marshburn were honored for their work establishing the network. Find out more about the award they received recently in Seattle.

Don’t miss ‘The Impact’, tonight at 7pm on TVW and online: tvw.org

Tags: Business, education, swine flu, The Impact, workers' compensation

You’ll be getting friendly reminders throughout the week on the blog about TVW’s in-depth special report on education. The two-part series airs this Wednesday and Thursday, September 23 and 24 at 8pm on TVW.

The 90-minute special will look back at the history of education funding in Washington state and where the state is heading in regards to school reform. It’s a must-see for anyone interested in education in Washington.  You’ll learn more about how schools are funded and what the leading theories are for paying for public education in the future.

Learn more at questforquality.org and don’t forget to check it out this week:
Wednesday, 8pm
Thursday, 8pm
www.tvw.org

Tags: Basic Education Task Force, education, education funding, school reform, special report

At noon today in Seattle Denny Heck and Stan Marshburn will receive the Washington Coalition for Open Government’s James Madison Award.  Their creation of TVW “brought government into people’s living rooms,” as stated in a Seattle Times editorial.  Here’s a link to that editorial.

Many people don’t realize TVW is a model for the nation, there are only a handful of states with robust state public affairs networks.  Washington has TVW because Denny and Stan flat made it happen.  Because of these two, 3.5+ million Washingtonians have daily TV access to state government deliberations and 61,000 hours of web archives of the same.  It’s a remarkable accomplishment that should be recognized.

At the same event State Auditor Brian Sonntag will receive WACOG’s James Anderson Award for his long-time advocacy for open government.

TVW will tape today’s awards ceremony and televise it Monday at 7 & 10 p.m. — available online before it’s televised.

Tags: Brian Sonntag, Denny Heck, Open Government, Stan Marshburn

That’s how Gov. Gregoire’s Budget Director, Victor Moore, characterized the challenge state lawmakers will face in January when they return to Olympia and have to patch what he predicts will be a budget hole of between $750 million and $1 billion.

“Inside Olympia” host Austin Jenkins interviewed Moore and top budget writers in the House, Reps. Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham) and Gary Alexander (R-Olympia), following this morning’s latest state revenue forecast.   Watch the interviews at 7 & 10 p.m. this evening. Here’s a link to the show’s home page.

How will lawmakers make those cuts?  According to Moore, the Governor’s budget will have to look at wholesale elimination of discretionary programs.  Are new taxes a possibility?  “We are not looking at new taxes right now,” rather he’s working on a cut-based budget.

Linville said lawmakers need to squeeze everything they can out of government reform and efficiencies before shutting down whole programs — she cited the state’s General Assistance Unemployable (GAU) program as an example of a program that should be improved rather than eliminated.  Are new taxes a possibility?  She said the public is the key: Voters will likely have the final say on any tax hike, and unless the public is convinced lawmakers have adequately reformed government, “I don’t think taxes will pass the public interest test.”

Alexander advocated for “smaller government”  and emphasized the need for lawmakers to act early on the budget in order to maximize savings from budget cuts.  He was frustrated by last year’s budget, which he said incorporated no major reforms.  He said lawmakers need to pursue such reforms, including funding the state’s core  responsibilities first — in particular, public schools — eliminating non-core programs like GAU, and privatizing or contracting out state services.

All agreed there’s no need for a special session before January.  Lawmakers convene in Olympia on Monday, January 11th, for a 60-day session.

Tags: cuts, Inside Olympia, state budget, taxes

Those are the words of the state’s chief economic forecaster Dr. Arun Raha. Dr. Raha made the comment this morning during his quarterly revenue report. He was referring to how he feels about the state’s economy today, compared to his last forecast report in June.

Raha’s report said the state expects to take in $231 million less over the next two years than was forecast back in June. Bottom line: lawmakers will need to cut between $500 million and $1 billion from the supplemental budget when they return to Olympia in January.

Watch the entire revenue forecast:

Tags: Economic and Revenue Forecast, economy, Revenue forecast

Time for another reminder that TVW will be broadcasting The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding, next Wednesday and Thursday, September 23 and September 24 at 8 p.m.

This is a not-to-be-missed in-depth report, chronicling the history of education funding in Washington state and exploring options for reform. Host and Producer Jennifer Huntley and Photographer/Editor Will Mader traveled the state in July and August, interviewing those engaged in the education debate. They include lawmakers, educators, school principals, school board members, interest groups, administrators, parents and students.

Learn more and watch a preview at www.questforquality.org.

Again, the 90-minute two-part series airs next Wednesday and Thursday, September 23 and 24 at 8 p.m, only on TVW.

TVW will broadcast Washington’s quarterly revenue forecast live today at 10 a.m. This is the quarterly update for lawmakers and the governor on how much the state expects to receive in tax collections over the next few months. At his last quarterly forecast in June, the state’s chief economist, Dr. Arun Raha, said the economy was no longer in a freefall but state tax collections were still below target.

Dr. Raha’s economic revenue preview in early September indicated the recession was over, but consumers were still clinging pretty closely to their wallets.   Find out what he reports today live at 10 a.m. on TVW.

For more insight into the forecast, don’t miss Inside Olympia, tonight at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Host Austin Jenkins will be joined by State Representatives Kelli Linville and Gary Alexander and Governor Gregoire’s Budget Director Victor Moore.

Tags: economy, Inside Olympia, Revenue forecast

The Impact tonight is full of previews - a preview of the state’s September revenue forecast, a preview of possible reform efforts in the natural resources area of government, and a special sneak preview of TVW’s upcoming education series.

We start off with the quarterly Economic Revenue Forecast, due out Thursday, September 17.  Joining us is State Representative Ross Hunter, Chair of the House Finance Committee and Governor Gregoire’s Legislative Director Marty Brown. The governor’s supplemental budget is due out in December and the legislature will likely have to deal with a budget shortfall when it returns to Olympia in January.  Both Hunter and Brown offer their insights into the impact of this week’s revenue forecast on the budget and how soon Washington’s economy might recover.

Governor Gregoire spoke about it in her Inaugural address this past January – three scientists from three different agencies doing the same work in the same stream. This week a natural resources group working with the Governor’s office released its list of 26 different ideas to reform the natural resources area of state government. It includes streamlining the state’s permitting process and consolidating the work of many agencies to just two or three.  Now it’s your turn to weigh in on the ideas. Public comment runs through October 28. Joining us is the Governor’s Natural Resources Policy Advisor John Mankowski.

Finally, we’ll show you a sneak peak of TVW’s upcoming education series -  The Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform & Funding.  The special will air in two parts next Wednesday, September 23 at 8pm and Thursday, September 24 at 8pm.

Don’t miss The Impact, airing tonight at 7pm & 10pm on TVW and online: tvw.org.

Tags: Budget, education, natural resources, Reform, Revenue forecast

The state’s Employment Security Department released its latest unemployment numbers today for the month of August.  The rate increased to 9.2 percent from July’s revised rate of 8.9 percent.

Washington lost an estimated 8,000 non-agricultural jobs in August. Industries with the largest declines were in professional and business services (2,500 jobs), retail trade (2,400 jobs), and education and health services (1,800 jobs).  More than 319,000 Washington residents were unemployed and looking for work in July.

Employment Security Department Commissioner Karen Lee used today’s announcement to issue a call to the federal government to extend unemployment benefits. “The recession may be coming to an end, but thousands of our unemployed workers will run out of unemployment benefits before the job market begins to recover,” said Lee.  “We need Congress to authorize another extension for unemployment benefits.”

Tags: economy, unemployment, unemployment benefits