Former state Sen. Jeannette Hayner died on Friday at an assisted living facility. She was 91.

Hayner was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1972. In 1976, she was elected to the Senate and was the Senate Republican leader within three years. She remained at that post until she retired from the legislature in 1993.

She also is a crucial part of TVW’s history: She was the founding chairwoman of TVW and was on the board when TVW went on the air in 1995.

For more about Jeannette Hayner’s long public service career, go here.

Arun Raha, the state’s top economist and the man responsible for the quarterly, just delivered the message: “These are difficult times … things will eventually get better,” he said. “That’s the best I have at this time.”

His forecast can be seen here.

After the presentation, Marty Brown, Director of OFM, said $1.2 billion has now vanished in a year. “I don’t think I’ve ever voted no on a forecast … but I’d like to at least discuss the possibility of splitting the supplemental forecast” from the next biennial forecast.

Raha said his concerns were understandable. “What we did essentially, if you look at the forecast from June to September, the decline was basically because the economic recovery fizzled out over the summer,” he said.

Next, Rep. Ross Hunter said the Legislature uses revenue forecasts to write budgets. “The question is … when will we know if we have, in fact, been overly pessimistic as (Marty) Brown suggested, or that you’ve been wildly optimistic?”

Raha said the economy is a moving target. “The economy might shift, even if you’re on target with the revenues.” He said the monthly revenue collection report could be used in a couple of different ways to determine that.

“We’re going to be talking about Basic Health — soon. We’re going to be talking about Disability Lifeline — soon… school districts are going to get nailed,” Brown said. “We’re in a major struggle. If we did this across-the-board, it’s 10.9 percent… and we can’t get all the money from higher education, we can’t get money from K-12 because the school years have already started.”

The council approved the forecast.

Update: Gov. Chris Gregoire releasedd the following statement:

“For the past two years we have been squarely focused on navigating the effects of the great recession. Our revenues have been closely tracking to the September forecast which is why today’s news comes as such a great surprise. Further across the board cuts, which would add 4.6 percent to the 6.3 percent reductions I ordered last month, are not feasible.

“I have been working with legislative leadership in both parties to collect ideas on how to address our current shortfall. This forecast has added even more urgency to those discussions and I’ve asked them to provide their options to me by November 29. Quite frankly we can’t cut any deeper without ending significant programs. Extremely difficult choices must be made and given this sharp revenue decline, they must be made now.

“As Governor I have limited tools in how to deal with these shortfalls. With the 6.3 percent across the board cuts currently being implemented, I have already pushed that option to the limit. The Legislature will need to act quickly – delay will only deepen the problem and limit the options.”

Tags: Revenue forecast

On The Impact tonight, you can learn about the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s budget proposal, which actually includes a possible increase in funding.  We ask the HECB executive director about the plan, which provides more money for the state’s neediest students.

Then we go down to Clark County for a different kind of holiday season.  Right now, they’re celebrating a fee holiday.  It’s a gift for developers:  build in a designated area of Clark County and all county permitting fees will be waived.  There’s a lot of talk about incentivizing job growth, so we went to see how it’s being done at the local level.  Coincidentally, not long after we taped that segment, we learned about the governor’s executive order to halt all new rulemaking processes by state agencies.  It’s also meant to reduce regulatory hurdles that hinder job growth.  You can learn more about her efforts here.

And finally, I’m getting social.  Please request  to be my friend on my Impact Facebook page.  My email address is jessicag@tvw.org.  You can follow what I’m working on, and I may even ask for your help tracking down story leads.

Don’t miss The Impact Wednesday nights at 7pm & 10pm on TVW.  You can also catch us on our PBS partner stations.

Tags: facebook, fee holiday, Higher Education, The Impact

Today is the Economic Review — the report that comes before the Economic and Revenue Forecast. Arun Raha, the state’s chief economist, started out by saying the state’s economy was like Seattle’s sports scene: “It mostly sucks but there are some bright spots and we all hope things will get better.”*

He also said we’re “in a deep hole and coming out slowly.”

Raha won’t give out a revenue forecast number today — that will happen at the Nov. 18 meeting.

Raha also said gold is facing a bubble. He showed two graphs that indicate that the price of gold has shadowed other economic indicators in previous recessions. If that trend holds, the “gold bubble” could burst anytime between now and two or more years.

Raha made a joke about the Mayan calendar and the end of the world in 2012, to which Sen. Craig Pridemore later alluded. “So it sounds like at the next meeting, you’re going to tell us something that would make us wish for the end of the world.”

*Thanks to Chris Mulick for assistance on this quote.

Tags: economic review

Sorry for not posting this earlier — I was out sick yesterday. But: Here’s your latest election news.

- Brad Shannon has an update on legislative races here. The gist: If current results hold, House Democrats will have a 56 seat majority and Senate Democrats will hold a 27 seat majority. But there are some very close races. Stay tuned for an update this afternoon.

- Jim Camden has a report on the voter turnout. Sam Reed had said he expected two-thirds of registered voters to turn out, but the figure could be closer to 70 percent. Read all about it here.

Tags: elections

Lars Peterson, who is stationed at the Republican election night party, and I, stationed at the Democrat’s event, just finished interviewing the state party chairs. The interviews will air in the 8 o’clock hour — yep, minutes from now.

Esser, the state Republican party chair, told Peterson that he’s optimistic that Dino Rossi to beat U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. He also said he thinks Republicans will take more seats in the state House. Right now at the Republican event, they’re rotating between music and Fox News election results.

Pelz told me that he does not expect Washington to be part of any “Republican tide.” He also said he’s seen no “enthusiasm gap,” — he said Democratic turnout has been high in this state and he is confident U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will be reelected. He told me he’s known all along that Democrats would lose a few seats at the state level, but he has high hopes for that Senate race. As for the scene here, Democrats are playing music and switching between Rachel Maddow and CNN election results.

You’ll have to tune into TVW in just a few short minutes — from 8 to midnight — to watch the full interviews and much, much more.

In about an hour, polls will close around Washington and we’ll be LIVE on TVW with election results, analysis and interviews. Don’t miss it.

Right now, I’m at the state Democratic party’s election night event, where the media have been set up for hours and guests are starting to file in. I’ll be reporting live from here throughout the night and Lars Peterson will be doing the same at the Republican party’s event. Jennifer Huntley will be on set interviewing winners and analysts. Greg Lane will provide on-set updates for Legislative races. And Jessica Gao will be working behind the scenes to make sure this all goes smoothly. Altogether, we’ll provide four hours of comprehensive, live elections coverage focused on Washington state.

See you there.

Tags: elections

If you haven’t voted yet, you have a little less than 8 hours to do so. Make sure your ballot is either in an official drop box or postmarked — not just dropped in the mailbox — today.

Then, go home and turn on TVW: We’ll have the most comprehensive results, interviews and analysis — all live. The show starts at 8 p.m. and continues until midnight. We’ll also have two reporters (myself included) stationed at the Republican and Democratic party headquarters to get additional interviews.

Don’t miss it!

Tags: elections, TVW, vote

1. Vote! If you haven’t done it already, tomorrow is the deadline.

2. Tune in to TVW tomorrow night at 8 p.m. and stay with us for four hours of comprehensive, live election coverage — that includes up-to-the-minute results, live interviews with winners, and live analysis. Did I mention it’s all live?

TVW’s Jennifer Huntley will be hosting the show, with in-studio guests providing news and analysis on state and U.S. races and initiatives — and what it all means for you. And: Lars Peterson and I will be providing dispatches from the Republican and Democratic party headquarters, respectively.

So: If you’re looking for the most complete, comprehensive coverage of Washington’s election available, you know where to find us. (And if you don’t know where to find us, check here.)

Tags: Decision 2010, elections