Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the $1 billion capital budget today at a ceremony at Tacoma Community College, which is receiving $39 million as part of the deal to build a new training center for health-related careers like nurses and radiology techs.

Dozens of other construction projects ranging from sewer improvements to roof repairs are included in the capital budget, which is backed in part by bonds.

Gregoire vetoed parts of the bill, including a $2 million “concession and event facility” at Lake Sammamish. She also vetoed a provision that would have created a loan consolidation board to look at state lending programs — including student loans –  which Gregoire said was not appropriate to mix with infrastructure loans.

The capital budget is expected to create 18,000 construction jobs across the state, and Gregoire said at the ceremony that it will also drive long-term economic development. “If you want a business here, you’ve got to show them you have infrastructure,” she said.

Gregoire cited a number of projects that she says will help spur growth — including one that she described as her “personal favorite” on the list: $5 million to build a wine research facility in Richland.

Tags: capital budget, Gregoire

Gov. Chris Gregoire is signing the capital budget, or “jobs act,” this afternoon at Tacoma Community College, one of the sites set to receive a chunk of money from the $1 billion supplemental capital budget. About half the spending in the capital budget is funded by bonds, and it’s expected to create 18,000 jobs across the state.

It authorizes new spending on dozens of construction projects such as storm water and sewer improvements, building renovations, and state park maintenance. Higher education facilities are slated to get $320 million in funds, including nearly $40 million for the health careers center at Tacoma Community College. The full list of projects is here.

Also today, the WorkFirst Oversight Task Force is holding a meeting at 2 p.m. to get an update on policy and budget changes to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANIF) program. WorkFirst is the state’s temporary cash assistance program for low-income families. TVW will air the meeting live.

Tags: capital budget

Here’s my interview with Rep. Hans Dunshee:

And here’s Sen. Janea Holmquist Newbry:

Tags: Budget, capital budget, Dunshee, Holmquist Newbry, House, Senate, workers' comp

Here’s the third interview. You can watch these live on TVW.org and taped throughout the day.

Tags: capital budget, Kilmer

Senate Democratic and Republican leaders will unveil a Capital Budget today at 3:15. You can watch the action live on TVW.

Tags: capital budget, Senate

The House Capital Budget committee is holding a work session and public hearing this morning on SSJR 8215, which would seek to amend the constitution to reduce the state’s debt limit from 9 percent to 7 percent.

Here is a post on the proposal’s first public hearing, earlier this year.

Pages 24 to 28 of this presentation compare the current debt limit to the proposal.

“The proposal shifts the state’s bond model from a three-year average, to a ten-year average,” said Sen. Derek Kilmer, sponsor of the measure. He said that the first the bill that this  state pays is the payment of debt service, not one for its paramount duties, like education.

“This doesn’t pull the plug on future investment,” Kilmer said. “Will we spend less on this proposal? Yes.” But, he said, it will also force the legislature to be more strategic when planning the capital budget. “I believe in capital investment…but I also believe in the value of jobs of educators who are facing reductions in force this year,” he said. “I also want to preserve the state’s other obligations as well.”

“Regardless of who is in charge, we generally max out the credit card,” said Kilmer. “I don’t take this discussion lightly.”

Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, a co-sponsor of the bill, said earlier this year she had to go back and look at all the bonds she voted for and realized that no legislature can keep themselves for spending money. She said she also received an email about a project that wanted funding which said that there is no connection between the Operating Budget and Capital Budget. But there is, she said.

“Times like this, when it cost less to build things…this is when we want to have money available,” said Evans Parlette. As it is now, she said, times when things are more expensive we spend more. That is not right, she said. “I think we owe it to our children and our grandchildren to get this under control,” she said. “Universities should like this…because they can plan for the future…this is an opportunity to think long term and do something responsible.”

“As we live in these desperate times, our unemployment rate at 9 percent in general doesn’t compare to what we are experiencing the construction industry,” said David Johnson, of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades. He said that their unemployment rates are between 30 to 60 percent. He said changing the debt limit would mean cutting infrastructure jobs by a third in the coming years.

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center said he hopes the legislature will approve the bill and send it onto the voters so people can have a healthy discussion about the topic. “This is not the end of this debate,” he said. “This is a very thoughtful proposal.”

(more…)

Tags: capital budget, State debt limit

The House Capital Budget committee is holing a public hearing this morning for its proposed Capital Budget, which was released Monday.

“Thank you for including the Village Green Foundation on the capital list,” said Bobbie Moore with the foundation.

“Central Washington University supports the budget, said Steve Dupont, a representative of the school. The proposed budget includes money to bulk up the university’s science department.

Paul Purcell with Beacon Development said that the $60 million fund in the bill will become a $300 million investment in the construction of low-income housing. “Public investments in housing,” he said, creates savings in other services like health care and policing.

“All the projects mentioned will create immediate construction jobs for the state,” said Charlie Earl with the Washington State Board for community and technical colleges. He thanked the committee for the proposed capital budget.

The Second Harvest Food Bank also thanked the committee for including them in the budget as well. Their organization provides 1.5 million pounds of donated food each month to several hundred food banks.

Included in the House capital budget measure is money for Seattle Children’s Hospital to help expand their new emergency department. Hugh Ewart, a spokesperson for the hospital, said the emergency room there is often at full capacity. With the money, he said, they will be able to extend the number of kids they serve each year from about 40,000 to 60,000 patients.

“We are grateful for the inclusion of $60 million for the housing trust fund,” said Josephine Tamayo Murray of Catholic Community Services. (more…)

Tags: capital budget, House

The Senate Ways and Means committee is considering the bill to limit the state’s capital budget to 7 percent in good times and 9 percent in bad times.

The bill (really a constitutional amendment) would allow for job creation when times are tough — and would save a bit of cash when the state is doing well, sponsors say.

It would also do one more thing: Reduce the amount of money, over time, that the state is paying on its debt service. That money comes out of the General Fund. “If you do nothing, you’re going to end up spending 6.8 to 7 percent of near general fund on debt service payment,” according to the staff report.

They’re explaining another bill right now, but we’ll update the blog when the hearing begins. Plus, you can watch live on TVW.

Tags: capital budget

In this week’s show, which you can watch at 6:30 on TVW, we covered a dozen or so of the week’s biggest topics in the Legislature. If you need more information once you’ve watched the show, look no further.

Budget: Once again, the budget is our top story. The House passed its version last week and sent it to the Senate. Instead of passing that bill, a bipartisan group in the Senate drafted their own version and, by today, passed that off the floor. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director had previously said she needed a budget on her desk by today in order for maximum savings to go into effect.

Unemployment rate decrease: This bill would reduce employers’ unemployment insurance rate – saving businesses $300 million this year. But in order for that savings to go into effect, the bill has to make it to the governor’s desk by Tuesday. This proposal also allows the federal government to continue paying extended unemployment benefits. Though it passed the Senate, it had a snag earlier in the week.

Fraud: Lawmakers are looking at reducing fraud to boost the bottom line. One bill would go specifically after Medicaid. Another bill, which had its first hearing today, would include all government fraud and give cash awards to whistleblowers.

Heart attacks: Police officers and firefighters told lawmakers this week that the adrenaline they experience on a daily basis increases their risk for heart attack and stroke. For that reason, they’re asking for those conditions to be considered work-related illnesses – in some cases.

Capital budget: The Great Recession isn’t just affecting the operating budget – with reduced bonding capacity, the capital budget is also smaller. This week, schools, ports and others told lawmakers what will happen if they don’t get funding.

Red light cameras: Cities and towns like red light cameras because they make people think twice about breaking the law – and they bring in some money. But lawmakers in the House looked at regulating cameras via several bills this week. One would outlaw the cameras, while others would give voters more say. Here’s one bill, and another, and another. And this one.

Department of Corrections: After an officer was strangled last weekend, the Department of Corrections is reviewing its policies. We have the story about the governor’s response, and you can read more about the department’s next steps here.

Dorn reshuffle: Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to restructure the way education is administered – starting with the state schools chief position. Her proposal, which Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn opposes, got a hearing this week.

Social emotional learning: Some education advocates say if students learned more about their emotions, they’d do better in school. But in a hearing on the bill this week, some parents worried that the curriculum may not match up with their own values, or that it would take time away from more critical lesson plans.

Online university: Sen. Jim Kastama wants to establish a public online university. The proposal had a hearing this week and we’ve got the details.

Tags: Budget, capital budget, department of corrections, Dorn, education, fraud, online university, OSPI, police, red light cameras, unemployment

The House Capital Budget Committee is holding a public hearing on the 2011-2013 capital budget proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

So far, one school testified that they’re putting a 20-year bond on the ballot this month and they think they have a good chance of getting it through. Under their plan, the local voters would pay $40 million and the state would kick in an additional $20. The problem? The budget may not have room for them, since the state’s bonding capacity is down. The superintendent said that without state matching money, his district wouldn’t have enough cash to build the school — and if they wait to build up reserves, they won’t be able to afford it.

Sean Eagan with the Port of Tacoma says they’re thankful the Governor’s proposal keeps some money in the toxics account, but he said more projects need to be funded. One waterfront site is so toxic, you have to wear a Haz-mat suit to visit it. He said the site can’t be cleaned up if there’s no money in the toxics account.

Tags: capital budget, ports, Schools