News & Updates

The pace of budget negotiations in Olympia noticeably quickened yesterday.  When House and Senate fiscal leaders walk frequently together between chambers, experienced observers know that discussions on the budget are getting down to the final last few items.  Yesterday’s persistent rumor was that the capital budget was finished and that the operating budget could be ready by Saturday morning.  That all but assures lawmakers will not be able to finish early, although finishing on time (Sunday April 22 is Sine Die) has a nice ring to it.

Specific details on the spending proposals have not yet been released or even leaked, but higher education folks were buoyed yesterday by the demeanor of House Appropriations chair Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle).  Sommers, who is legendary for her “game face” had a noticeable smile for much of the day as she walked to and from negotiations with the Senate.

When you are on the outside looking into the state budget negotiations, the anticipation of what the final product will look like can be pretty frustrating.  I’ve been gone from legislative staff for more than three years now, and I can truthfully say the only part of the process that I still really miss are the final negotiations on the budget when dozens of seemingly unrelated issues get hyper-linked in a flurry of activity that makes the frozen concentrated orange juice futures trading scene at the end of Trading Places seem like a Sotheby’s art auction.

So, what do expectant budget watchers do to pass the time and keep from going stir crazy?  Here are ten common practices that I’ve noticed (and yes, engaged in) here at the State Capitol.

1.  Stand between the Senate and House chambers trying to look disinterested when a budget negotiator or staffer walks by.  Silently pray that they will come up to talk to you so you can casually ask how things are going.

2.  Ask political reporters what they are hearing (and they will invariably ask you what you have heard).

3.  Walk around Capitol Lake to displace nervous energy.

4.  Write endless rough drafts of “end of session reports,” changing fonts and margins to suit your hourly mood.

5.  Circle fourth floor of Capitol Rotunda in a counter-clockwise motion, pondering why the railings are so low.  Sit in House public gallery until noticed by at least one legislator.  Repeat in clockwise motion sitting in Senate gallery.

6.  Attend bill signing ceremony on legislation sponsored by budget negotiators in hopes their good mood will reveal information on budget negotiations.

7.  Walk around Capitol Lake again to displace nervous energy.

8.  Pretend to be interested in issues being worked on by other lobbyists.

9.  Complain about the lack of new Washington State trivia questions on TVW.

10.  Go home at a reasonable hour; eat dinner with family; sleep.

Like many of you, I was very distracted yesterday watching the television reports of the campus shootings at Virginia Tech University.  It was hard to focus on the comparatively mundane matters of Olympia when faced with a tragedy of such magnitude.

Nevertheless, there were important developments yesterday that are worth mentioning and that will have implications on the resolution of the state budget.  Last evening, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Senate versions of the constitutional rainy day fund bill by a vote of 22-11, despite the objections of the chair, Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle).

Since this had been a major obstacle to budget discussions, most observers expect negotiators to be able to finish their negotiations within the next couple of days.  The full House is expected to act on the bill quickly and legislative leaders have expressed a strong desire to adjourn by Friday or perhaps Saturday at the very latest.

I don’t have much to report on the status of operating budget negotiations.  Members are making progress, but many big issues remain unresolved, including some major higher education spending items.

To insure I won’t be bored or restless, the “legislative gods” have kept me busy over the past 72 hours working on issues related to the State Route 520 bridge replacement project.  Senate Bill 6099 establishes a mediator-driven process to work with all affected parties on the Seattle side of the bridge (including the UW) to help resolve issues that will inevitably arise from various design options.

One issue that has cropped up of late is a concern among some that Sound Transit, DOT, King County Metro and the UW are not working closely together to insure that a new light rail stop at Husky Stadium can accomodate other forms of rapid transit.  Today’s Seattle P-I has a story on this subject.

Language my office has worked on during the past two days which was included in the version of SB 6099 (which passed the House floor early this afternoon), will hopefully insure a fair and balanced process for working on these multi-modal issues as they affect the new light rail station and other parts of the campus.  Without getting into a lot of details, some of the negotiations have been difficult, but then a wise person once told me “Life wouldn’t be any fun if it was easy.”

The House and Senate will work furiously tonight to meet a 5:00 p.m. deadline to pass legislation from the opposite chamber.  Both the House and Senate have scheduled full sessions for tomorrow so it looks like a long weekend ahead.  Sine Die is still Sunday April 22.

This morning Governor Gregoire signed SHB 1398 which expands the UW and WSU’s ability to issue debt backed by locally controlled revenues.  This expanded statutory authority is key to the long-term financing of the UW Tower and future University capital projects.

This evening, the state Senate passed SHB 2164 which would help to curtail unwelcome development projects within the boundaries of the UW Tacoma campus.  The vote was 46-3 and since the bill was not amended in the Senate, it can be delivered directly to the Governor for her action.

Not much new news today on the budget negotiations.  Conferees continue to trade offers and it appears that at least conceptual agreement has been reached on the overall spending levels in the operating budget and the size of the ending reserve.  Still no word of a formal agreement on the rainy day fund proposal.  Capital budget negotiators have indicated that they are getting close to a working agreement.

Lobbyists for the Seattle Supersonics new facility continued to work both chambers today as a new, and somewhat smaller public financing proposal is being worked on.  The Senate Ways and Means Committee has announced a Friday committee meeting to discuss and take action on the new proposal.

1.  The other three Walla Walla towns are in Australia.

2.  Kurt Russell.

3.  Boone “Boom Boom” Kirkman.

4.  Columbia Basin Community College in Pasco.

5.  The Ventures.

While we sit and wait for more conference action on the state budget, let’s have some fun with a little Washington State trivia.  In my spare time, in addition to co-hosting a local radio show with my friend Steve McLellan, we also write trivia questions for TVW — the state’s public affairs channel.  They run the trivia questions during breaks between broadcasts of floor and committee action and by the end of session, most everyone in town knows a little bit more about Washington State popular culture, and are sick to death of seeing the same 100 or so questions being repeated throughout the day.

So, to help breakup the monotony, here are five new questions to ponder.  I’ll provide the answers tomorrow.  (P.S., make it a bit harder on yourself and try to avoid using the internet.)

1.  Of the four cities in the world named Walla Walla, where are the other three outside Washington State located?

2.  This popular Hollywood movie actor was only 12 years old when he kicked Elvis Presley in the shin outside the Space Needle in the 1963 flick It Happened at the World’s Fair.

3.  Renton may be the new home of the Seahawks (and maybe the Supersonics) but what famous heavyweight boxer from that city fought both George Foreman and Ken Norton in the early seventies?

4.  When Indira Gandhi visited Washington State in 1962, at what college did she lecture?

5.  What Tacoma group was honored in 2005 by the Washington State Legislature and is the largest selling instrumental rock band in music history?

Since it has been more than 10 years since Olympia has seen a real operating budget conference committee, there is very little that can be visually observed during the waning days of session to give outsiders much sense of how things are really progressing.  All of the negotiations are done behind closed doors and in an age of email and spreadsheets, there are few face-to-face neogiations.  Offers are sent, received and responded to without legislators having to actually meet much and discuss much.  Quick, painless but a little antiseptic. 

Intelligence on budget matters is gathered by popping in to visit with staffers, pigeon-holing members as they pass in and out of their chambers and of course, the ever popular lobbyist rumor mill which too often has all the credibility of the latest Wikipedia entry.

David Postman, the Seattle Times chief political reporter noted in his blog today that the Governor this week informed House and Senate budget negotiators of her most important priorities and not surprisingly, the constitutional Rainy Day Fund has emerged as the biggest roadblock to a timely budget resolution.  As Postman reports, both the Governor, the Senate and a majority of members in the House favor passage of a constitutional amendment to establish a Rainy Day Fund reserve which would annually set aside 1% of general state revenues.

Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle), chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, however, remains opposed to the measure and did not include the proposal in her budget which was released several weeks ago.  House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam) has all but promised the House will deliver a Rainy Day Fund bill, but so far, there has been no official annoucement that an agreement has been reached with the House Appropriations Committee chair.

Sources on both sides have indicated that until the logjam is broken on the Rainy Day Fund, negotiations will continue to proceed at their current slow and deliberate pace.

The long-awaited floor action on the Governor’s Washington Learns bill for higher education came to a successful conclusion this morning with the overwhelming passage of SB 5806.  Since the bill was not amended in the House, it can be delivered directly to the Governor for her signature.

The bill contains several provisions of importance to the University including:

• A cap on tuition increases for resident undergraduates of no more than 7% per year.
• Establishment of the Global Challenge States as the official benchmark for comparing per student funding for higher education institutions in the state.
• Setting a goal of bringing per student funding for all higher education institutions to at least the 60th percentile of peer schools in the Global Challenge States.
• A requirement that tuition statements for public colleges clearly display the state taxpayer subsidy along with other relevant costs.

Rep. Maralyn Chase was the lone House member to vote against the measure.

The Governor’s Washington Learns higher education legislation (SB 5806) was pulled from the House Rules Committee last evening for possible consideration on the House Floor today.  The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) caps resident undergradaute tuition rates at no more than 7 percent, but also establishes the Global Challenge States (GCS) and the peer institution funding comparisons for higher education institutions and requires funding of higher education schools in the state at the 60th percentile of GCS schools within at least 10 years.

In other Olympia news, capital budget negotiators met briefly yesterday at noon to talk about their respective spending differences.  Operating budget negotiations are beginning more slowly but sources indicate that conversations are beginning, initially focused on the size of the ending reserve and whether the House will accept the Governor and Senate proposals for a constitutional rainy day fund.