TVW’s Jessica Gao and Christina Salerno were at the capitol all day today interviewing lawmakers. While the Senate and House are on break, catch up on all the news right here.
Senate floor
Legislators and lobbyists converse on Sine Die
People mill about the hallways while the legislature is on break
Tags: Photo Gallery, sine die
A new budget proposal, if passed by both chambers today, could get the legislature out of Olympia without a special session. A summary of the proposal is posted here. It’s an amendment to replace the details of the Senate Republican budget, which was passed last week when three Democrats crossed party lines to support the GOP plan. I”m still reviewing the plan before heading up to the Capitol Rotunda for our daylong live coverage of sine die, but the proposal includes the controversial deferral of payments to school districts worth $340 million, down from the House Democrats’ original proposal to shift more than $400 million. It’s something Senate Republicans have opposed, calling it an accounting “gimmick.” If the House inserts this proposal into the Senate Republican budget today and pass it off their floor, the bill goes back to the Senate and that chamber can give it an up or down vote – the Senate would not be able to amend it.
The Impact’s special coverage of sine die begins at 8:45am with a press panel analysis of the legislative session. We’re planning to be live with the governor at 9am – stay tuned for her comments on this latest budget proposal.
On The Impact set this morning, I interviewed two key figures in the Republican takeover of the Senate budget — Sens. Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield) and Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup). Before the taped interview started, we talked about the negotiations process. While the governor said she’d be pushing until midnight yesterday to hammer out a go-home deal, Zarelli said his last discussion with the governor was at 6 p.m., and he had yet to get a response to engage in formal negotiations with House Democrats, whose version of the budget was voted out of that chamber a week ago. Kastama said during the interview that he wants the Senate Republican budget to be negotiated with the House Democrats’ budget — regardless of whether his priority reform measures are passed.
The entire episode of The Impact will air on TVW tonight at 7 p.m., unless it’s preempted by live floor action. We’ll also be based in the Capitol Rotunda tomorrow for a full day of live and taped interviews.
Tomorrow at 10 a.m., the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to consider a handful of bills — including one to repeal Initiative 728.
Initiative 728, approved by voters in 2000, was aimed at reducing class sizes and increasing student achievement. But it hasn’t been funded in recent years due to the budget crunch. This bill would repeal the initiative altogether, which will save money in the out years.
Watch the hearing on TVW tomorrow at 10.
This week’s Inside Olympia is ready to view right now. Enjoy:
Here’s the first part of the budget debate:
And here’s the second part:
Monday: A bill we’ve covered before aimed at reducing Medicaid fraud by rewarding whistleblowers was heard in the House Ways and Means committee. The bill would create a civil liability for defrauding Medicaid and would protect whistleblowers. In addition, the bill would create an account to fund fraud protection services. A bill that passed on the Senate floor would create a committee to serve as a liaison between the state supreme court and the legislature. This joint legislative committee would make sure efforts to fund education are in line with the supreme court’s McCleary decision earlier this year. You can watch our coverage of these stories on Monday’s edition of Legislative Review.
Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.
Tuesday: Senate Democrats released their proposed supplemental budget. Their approach cuts fewer programs than the House budget, but also leaves less money in the state reserve fund. Like the House Democrats proposed supplemental budget, it would delay some school payments into the next budget cycle. The House passed a bill that would raise the price of the Discover Pass and would make other adjustments including allowing the passes to be purchased at wholesale by grocers and other retailers. The House also debated amendments to their supplemental operating budget. The Senate heard their proposed supplemental budget in a committee meeting Tuesday night.
Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.
Wednesday: Labor statistics came out on Wednesday, reporting that the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent, down from December’s 8.6 percent. Freshmen lawmakers in the House held a press conference to introduce several proposals aimed at reforming the state’s tax code. Proposals included ending the sales-tax exemption for out-of-state residents who shop in Washington state and a five percent capital gains tax. Wednesday night, the House passed their supplemental budget as well as the teacher evaluation bill.
Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.
Thursday: The Senate passed the affordable care act bill on Thursday. This bill aligns the state with federal healthcare reform legislation and would create a healthcare marketplace in Washington. On our show, we covered a bill that would reduce the bonuses the state awards teachers for attaining national board certification. Also on Legislative Review — coverage of Senate floor debate, including a bill that would give local governments the power to exempt low-income housing from impact fees.
Watch Thursday’s Legislative Review.
Friday: U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks said he’s “changing gears” and announced his retirement on Friday. Check out Friday’s edition of Legislative Review for more of the week’s top news.
Friday’s edition of Legislative Review is a half-hour wrap up of the week’s top headlines. It airs at 6:30 and 11 p.m.
The House is debating the bill to make some changes to the Discover Pass. One change would make the pass transferable among a household’s vehicles.
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege said the bill will set the price of the Discover Pass at $30, set up a mechanism where parks can sell the passes at wholesale to grocers and other retailers, and make other changes that “really bothered people.” For example: Now the Discover Pass will allow users to activate it — meaning if you purchase it in advance as a gift, the recipient can activate it later without losing time. He said it also raises revenue for parks, “which they desperately need.”
But Rep. Cathy Dahlquist (R-Enumclaw) said she’s opposed to the bill because it raises the price of a pass. “They have made a mess of this bill,” she said, adding that with her no vote, she’s “standing up for the 99 percenters.”
The House passed the bill 54 to 44.
Tags: Discover Pass
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich made a quick stop by the Washington state capitol today to talk with Republican lawmakers and the press before heading out to a rally in Federal Way.
Energy policy was a major component of Gingrich’s statements, who cited high gas prices as evidence that President Barack Obama “has no interest in lowering gas prices.”
He said America needs a plan that will make the country energy independent and called Obama’s speech on energy policy yesterday “one of his more absurd speeches.” Gingrich said his goal is to get gas prices down to $2.50 a gallon.
When asked about the issue of same-sex marriage in Washington, Gingrich said that while he wouldn’t vote in favor of the legislation, the state is heading in the right direction by taking the issue to voters.
Gingrich said he’s had successful rallies in Washington so far, and said the presidential race this year has had some unexpected twists and turns.
“This is different from any previous campaign I’m aware of,” Gingrich said. “This is a much more complicated marathon than anyone could have guessed.”
Gingrich stressed his experience in politics, and said that under his lead, “we could turn the economy around pretty fast.”
Some changes in government he’d like to make include changing unemployment compensation to include a training program component and rethinking various environmental agencies, including the US Forest Service, which he said “does a really bad job.”
He said these changes would be “more than acceptable to more social conservatives.”
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