Gov. Chris Gregoire is mad — and she’s ready to do whatever it takes to get lawmakers to pass a budget. She said as much while answering media questions after her afternoon bill signing. She said the budget released this morning will not get the Legislature out of special session. “Twenty-five, 50 and 1,” she said, referring to the vote count in the Senate, House and her signature needed to end special session.

She said she negotiated with legislators this morning before the press conference and Republicans didn’t bring up some of the budget ideas they presented just an hour later. She called the press conference to unveil the budget “theatrical.”

“They did, under sufficient pressure, move to the Democrats’ position” of no cuts to education, she said. “Yay.” She said this morning she told lawmakers that she would not sign a budget that has more than $80 million in reversions, which she said spends the same dollar three times. She said the budget unveiled this morning has about twice that amount.

She said the budget has “still got the myth of we’re going to skip a payment … you skip a payment in pensions and it costs you about $400 million in the long haul. Last time I checked: gimmick.” She said she’s happy that the budget doesn’t cut K-12 or higher education.

“There has to be trust in the room. This does not advance trust in the room,” she said. She added that budget negotiators are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow. “If they don’t get something done here, I’m going to start trickling out vetoes. Maybe that will get their attention.”

A reporter commented that the Governor appeared mad. “I am mad,” she said, adding that legislators need to stop negotiating in the press, “get your jobs done and then go home,” she said.

“I’m not putting fault on anybody… I’ve been restrained, I have been complimentary, I have negotiated in good faith. Time’s up,” she said. “My frustration level is as high as it gets.” She said “suddenly putting charter schools” in their latest proposal is not helpful. “I promised to veto it… get over it.”

Tags: Budget, Governor, special session

After numerous negotiations on teacher evaluation bills, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a final version into law at noon on the last day of regular session. 

“The new evaluation system will replace one in which teachers and principals were rated as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory,” Gregoire said in a statement. “The old system just didn’t work. It was too broad and didn’t really help anybody.”

The bill sets up a four-tier rating system and requires complete implementation in Washington schools by the 2015-2016 school year. It also requires that student growth data must be used as a significant factor in the evaluations. Many of the people who testified against the legislation in committee did not want student growth data used in this way. For more from the House committee hearing of the bill, click here for our coverage.

The bill is expected to cost about $5.7 million in 2013.

“I’m pleased to sign what I believe will be a model for the country,” Gregoire said in a press release. “This law will help ensure every public school student has the good teacher he or she deserves, and every neighborhood school has the good principal it deserves.”

Tags: education, teacher evaluation

Here’s Jessica Gao’s interview with Gov. Chris Gregoire from this morning. Hear what she has to say about a possible budget deal, special session and more:

Tags: Budget, Governor, special session, The Impact, TVW

Gov. Chris Gregoire said after meeting with all four corners of the legislature, she’s made her priority clear: a budget deal by midnight of Sine Die.

In a press conference Wednesday, Gregoire identified what she views as the two roadblocks to getting a deal cut: Democrats want a deferral of school payments, and Republicans want to skip a pension plan payment.

Though Gregoire said she has “trouble with skipping a pension payment,” she said she isn’t going to rule out any options to get a budget passed at this point.

Gregoire said the disagreement lies in approximately $200 to $250 million. She said if lawmakers can reach an agreement on where this money will come from, “they can solve all the problems in the budget.”

Gregoire said while it isn’t realistic to get the nuts and bolts of a budget completed in time for Sine Die, which is midnight tomorrow, she said she expects lawmakers to come to a budget deal before then. She added that she does not want to call a special session.

“The minute I say special session, they’ll go to sleep,” Gregoire said. “The public expects more.”

Gregoire said lawmakers promised her that they would get to work on a deal, and that she expects them to deliver on that promise.

“They’re going to have to get it done,” she said. “The alternative is not acceptable.”

The alternative being what the Governor can do if the legislature doesn’t come to a consensus on the budget: 10 percent cuts across the board.

Gregoire added that legislators can’t “just turn it over to the budget-writers.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire said at a press conference Tuesday morning there are ongoing discussions about the budget “across the aisle and across the dome,” and she wants to see it resolved without going to special session.

“No question about it, if we don’t have significant movement by the end of the day it will be very difficult to get out by midnight Thursday,” Gregoire said. “I am one of those people who will fight until the end to get out on time.”

Minority Republicans and three conservative Democrats took control of the state Senate late Friday afternoon and pushed through their version of the budget. The budget contains more cuts than the version proposed by Senate Democrats, with reductions to social services programs, K-12 and higher education. It also calls for a delay in payments to state pension funds. By comparison, the Democrats’ version would have postponed $330 million in payments to public schools, which Republicans criticized as an accounting gimmick that leaves the state in the red.

Gregoire said Friday’s events are “over and done.”  She said the focus right now is on the House’s version of the budget that passed, and on what compromises need to be negotiated. She said the three Democrats who aligned with Republicans — Sens. Rodney Tom, Jim Kastama and Tim Sheldon — are going to have to make a “tough decision” about whether or not they’ll vote for the budget.

Gregoire said she is not interested in the pension proposal, and she said she is “confused” by the Republican opposition to delaying school payments — in the past, she said, Senate Republicans have supported the move. “It amounts to one day. We did it last time and we had sufficient reserves and we paid it on time,” Gregoire said. “It is not as if the payment won’t be made. It will be paid immediately after.”

Gregoire said if the Legislature must go to special session, it should only be for “clean-up” — not more negotiations. “If we have to come back for a day, let’s come back for paperwork,” Gregoire said.

Video of the full 25-minute press conference is available here.

Last night, the House passed the teacher evaluation bill, 82 to 16. It now heads to Gov. Chris Gregoire for her signature.

Read about the debate here. Or watch the full debate right here:

Tags: teacher evaluation

The 2012 Legislative session kicked off on Monday, and we covered lots of ground here on the blog and on Legislative Review, our 10-minute wrap-up of the day’s events that airs nightly at 6:30 p.m. on TVW. Here’s a quick look back at what happened this week.

Monday: Opening ceremonies got underway with speeches from Reps. Frank Chopp and Richard DeBolt. TVW aired a two-hour opening day special of “The Impact” with interviews from the Governor and dozens of lawmakers, who touched on everything from the budget to gay marriage and medical marijuana.

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review here.

Tuesday:  Gov. Chris Gregoire gave her final state of the state address, calling for a $3.6 billion transportation package that would include a $1.50 fee per barrel on oil produced in Washington. Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, delivered the Republican response. That was followed by a news conference where several Republicans said they were concerned that the Governor’s proposed oil fee would cause prices to rise at the gas pump.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review here.

Wednesday: After three years of delivering gloomy economic forecasts, the state’s chief economist Arun Raha announced he was resigning to take a new job in Cleveland — but not without cracking a few of his signature “Arun-ism” jokes first. We kept an eye on two environmental bills — one would ban plastic grocery bags in Washington state, and the other would ban petroleum-based plastic bottles. And, the Senate took a look at a proposal that would consolidate the healthcare benefits of K-12 public school employees under one insurance plan.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review here.

Thursday: A bipartisan group of lawmakers held a press conference to announce their plans for education reform, including a bill that would authorize charter schools in Washington state. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, held a press conference to promote his version of a bill that would ban plastic bags. The employment department and chief economist Arun Raha gave an update on how the state’s economy is doing.

Watch Thursday’s Leglative Review here.

Friday: The Sandusky scandal prompted the Senate to hear a bill that would hold certain higher education employees responsible for reporting suspected child abuse. Also, the Senate honored Sen. Scott White, who died in October of a heart attack. Friday’s edition of Legislative Review airs at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Arun Raha, Environment, gay marriage, Gov. Gregoire, Legislative Review, Schools

Gov. Chris Gregoire is delivering her final state of the state speech now to a joint session of the House and Senate. They’re also joined by the Supreme Court and other elected officials. Watch live on TVW, and refresh this post for updates throughout the speech. (After this, we’ll be covering the Republican response.)

“While our challenges are unprecedented, so, too, are our opportunities,” she said, adding that Washington knows how to turn challenge into opportunity. “Many believe that government is the whole problem, and many believe that it’s the whole solution. But that’s not our Washington,” she said, adding that here, people understand that safe communities and good schools are critical, but that government can’t do it all.

She said Washington needs to “win in the turns,” meaning hit the accelerator while others are breaking. “It’s now up to us. This is our time. Our time to win in the turn, our time to build a better future for our children and grandchildren,” she said. To that end, she’s asking for four things: 1. That the Legislature quickly passes a budget. 2. Ask voters this spring to approve a temporary half cent sales tax. 3. Pass school reforms. 4. Pass a major transportation and jobs package.

“First, let’s solve the budget problems,” she said. She said since the Recession began, the Legislature has “cut and cut and cut.” She said some states are talking about reforms, but Washington has made big changes. “We’ve made our pension system one of the five most sustainable in the United States,” she said, as one example. “One of the fastest growing, biggest and most complicated drivers of our budget is healthcare,” she said, adding that reforms passed already have helped contain costs.

“While we must cut and reform again, we must also realize that this problem demands a courageous solution. We must look for new revenue for the state of Washington,” she said.

“I ask you to send to voters a temporary, three-year, half-cent sales tax” to save “vital services,” she said. “We are about to shred very core services. It is time for all of us here in this chamber to stand up for Washingtonians.” She said she knows the sales tax is regressive, but making further cuts to the safety net will be even more regressive. (more…)

Tags: Governor, state of the state

Gov. Chris Gregoire will be delivering her State of the State address at 10:15 a.m. in a joint session, immediately followed by the Republican response. TVW will be live with both speeches — and live blogging here, too.

We’ll also be following the 1:30 p.m. education hearing in the House, where they’ll be discussing the recent Supreme Court decision that said that the state isn’t doing its duty to fully fund education. They’ll also be looking at innovation in schools. Catch the full recap of today’s events on tonight’s edition of Legislative Review at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

At 3:30, we’re watching the House Transportation Committee. They’re scheduled to hold a work session on the governor’s supplemental transportation budget.

Tags: education, Gov. Gregoire, supreme court, WA House

In case you missed today’s special opening day edition of “The Impact,” here’s the 20-minute interview with Gov. Gregoire in which she discusses the half-cent sales tax proposal, gay marriage, medical marijuana and education reform.

TVW interviewed nearly two dozen lawmakers as part of the 2-hour special, which will be rebroadcast tonight at 7 p.m. on TVW. You can also watch all of the clips from the special on the web.

Tags: Gov. Gregoire, TVW