News and Updates

While lawmakers don’t kick off the 2009 session until January 12, next week will see plenty of action as legislative offices reopen and legislative leaders lay out their session agendas at the annual AP Legislative Forum.

This week, House Republicans announced their committee assignments. On the Higher Education Committee, Rep. Glenn Anderson of Fall City returns as the ranking member, joined by two members new to the committee — Rep. Joe Schmick of Colfax (9th District) and newly-elected Rep. Jan Angel of the 26th District (Kitsap and Pierce Counties).

The Ways and Means Committee (formerly Appropriations) sees returning Ranking Member Rep. Gary Alexander and Assistant Ranking Member Rep. Barbara Bailey of Oak Harbor joined by Assistant Ranking Member Rep. Bruce Dammeier of Puyallup, Rep. Bruce Chandler of Granger, Rep. Bill Hinkle of Cle Elum, Rep. Skip Priest of Federal Way, Rep. Charles Ross of Naches, and Rep. Joe Schmick of Colfax.

The Capital Budget Committee has a new Ranking Member, Rep. Judy Warnick of Moses Lake who replaces the retired Rep. Joyce McDonald.  She will be joined by Rep. Kirk Pearson of Monroe, new Rep. Mike Hope of Everett, Rep. Jim McCune of Graham and Rep. Norma Smith of Coupeville.

You can find a complete list of House Republican committee assignments here.

Also, earlier this week Joe Turner had a story in The News Tribune about the possibility lawmakers might approve tuition increases above those included in the Governor’s budget as a way to offset some of the effects of proposed budget cuts.  The House Democratic Caucus featured the story on their blog, along with comments from Rep. Deb Wallace who chairs the Higher Education Committee, and Rep. Kathy Haigh who chairs the Education Committee.  As we have mentioned before (and no doubt will many times again) writing the budget will be a long and complex process, but it is interesting to see some of the perspectives of key lawmakers as the session begins.

As committee assignments are announced in advance of the 2009 session, there are a number of changes on the Higher Education committees in both houses.

In the Senate, the committee has been renamed the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, its scope expanded and its membership increased.  Sen. Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor will take over the Chair, with Sen. Fred Jarrett of Mercer Island as the Vice Chair.  Newly elected 2nd District Sen. Randi Becker will be the Ranking Republican member; she represents rural Pierce and Thurston Counties and defeated incumbent Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen in November.  Sen. Paull Shin remains on the committee but all of the other members are new including Senate Republican Leader Sen. Mike Hewitt (Walla Walla), Sen. Ken Jacobsen (Seattle), Sen Jim Kastama (Puyallup), Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe (Seattle), Sen. Cheryl Pflug (Maple Valley), and Sen. Val Stevens (Arlington).

In the House, the Higher Education committee will see three new members.  Joining the committee will be new Reps. Reuven Carlyle (Seattle), Scott White (Seattle), and John Driscoll (Spokane).  They will join returning Chair Rep. Deb Wallace (Vancouver), Vice Chair Rep. Mike Sells (Everett), Ranking Republican member Rep. Glenn Anderson (Fall City), and Rep. Bob Hasegawa (Seattle).  House Republicans have not yet announced the balance of their committee members.

Another change, this time in the executive branch, sees DSHS Director Robin Arnold-Williams moving over to run the Governor’s Executive Policy staff, replacing Laurie Dolan who is retiring. No announcement yet on a new DSHS head.

Reaction to the Governor’s budget proposal is widespread.  The Seattle Times has a story which lays out major spending reductions, plus some analysis of how the budget gets built.  The Seattle PI has a story focusing more on education cuts.
Political leaders and interest groups also have begun to weigh in on the proposal.  Here is a sampling of initial reactions.

I can’t (just) say ‘I don’t love it,'” Gregoire said of her budget proposal. “I hate it.”

Statement from Speaker Frank Chopp on Governor Gregoire’s budget proposal: “The reductions in the Governor’s budget bring home just how serious our national economic situation really is. Cuts in health care for children and services to the elderly, people who can’t work due to disabilities, and the mentally ill will be devastating to them and will cost us more in the long run. I also agree with Senator Brown’s concern that this budget counts federal money we don’t have yet. But this is just step one. The final budget must reflect the basic values of Washington’s people – educating our children, protecting our vulnerable, and building our economy.”

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the governor’s budget is glaringly flawed by the assumption that Washington will get almost $1 billion from President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. With that assumption, Gregoire is making the budget-writing look easier that it actually will be, Brown said. Brown said she also hopes for federal help, “but the President-elect Obama has not been sworn in and has gotten nothing through Congress yet.”

Statement from newly selected House Appropriations Chair Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham:”The governor obviously made some very hard choices in her budget, and I can appreciate how difficult that is. But, as she said, this is just the starting point – there are many more steps in this process. We will carefully consider this proposal as we move forward, but many things could change between today and April 22nd. We have another revenue forecast coming in March that could change the picture considerably. The Governor’s budget proposal makes it clear, if it wasn’t all ready, just how dire our economic situation really is.”

Greg Devereux, director of the 40,000-member Washington Federation of State Employees, said the governor let workers down by reneging on recently negotiated two-year contracts that would have given most state workers 2 percent raises in each of the next two years. “She has to come back to the bargaining table with us,” Devereux said. Meanwhile, union officials will work with legislators to devise a plan to close tax loopholes and raise money so final budget cuts won’t be as deep as those proposed by Gregoire.

“I worry about the impact a cut of this magnitude could have on food banks, hospital emergency rooms, homeless shelters and other social service agencies,” said Robin Zukoski, an attorney for Columbia Legal Services, which advocates for the poor.

Republican legislative leaders, who are in the minority, embraced the overall size and philosophy of Gregoire’s budget. “This is 2003,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, referring to the no-new-taxes budget offered that year by then-Gov. Gary Locke. “We like the size of the box. She’s given the Legislature some good direction. “She showed the political courage she should have showed two years ago,” he added.

Sen. Joseph Zarelli, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee and member of the Economic Revenue and Forecast Council, issued this statement regarding the operating budgets proposed today by Gov. Christine Gregoire:  “The governor has put the budget process on the proper course with her proposal for the 2009-11 biennium. It doesn’t quite align spending with anticipated revenue but does spend less than the current budget. And she did what she promised by balancing that budget without tax increases. Those are positive steps. There is some room for discussion about whether the priorities reflected in her budget are the real, core priorities of government. But overall it’s a move in the right direction.

Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, released the following statement today regarding Gov. Christine Gregoire’s budget: “The governor’s budget says, ‘We cannot afford to do many of the things we’d like to.’ This is basically what House Republicans have been saying for the last four years, and we’re glad to see she’s come to that realization.