From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, may find himself in the middle of the Middle East peace process.

CBS news is reporting the Washington Democrat is leading a delegation of House Armed Services Committee members to Syria. The report said the delegation was dispatched by the Obama administration and will meet with senior Syrian officials. The U.S. Embassy in Damascus confirmed the delegation was on its way.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is hoping for a thaw in Syrian-U.S. relations after years of all but being ignored by former President Bush. Syria could play a critical role in brokering a Middle East peace treaty as it has links to Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese interests.

Smith is a member of both the House Armed Service Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He also headed the Obama campaign in Washington State.

For security reasons, Smith's office had nothing to say about the trip.

(Photo: seier+seier+seier.)

Want to weigh in on Pierce County’s ranked choice voting system? You’ll have two chances next week.

On Monday the County Council’s Rules Committee will consider an ordinance asking voters to consider repealing ranked choice voting (here’s a copy of the ordinance and an accompanying exhibit). Opponents of ranked choice voting – used for the first time in November – say it costs too much and isn’t needed now that the state has adopted the top two primary system. Supporters say voters should give it another try before deciding whether it’s worth keeping.

The Rules Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Monday in room 1045 of the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. South, Tacoma.

In addition, the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County is sponsoring a public discussion of ranked choice voting next Friday. Auditor Jan Shabro will discuss how the new system worked in November. Proponents and opponents of the system also will state their views. And the public will have a chance to speak.

The forum will be held at 6 p.m. Friday in the Wheelock Student Center Rotunda at the University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma.

You can also sound off here:

The House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee will be holding a hearing next Tuesday at 10 a.m. on Rep. Mark Miloscia's proposal to have Washington law enforcement authorities collect DNA samples from people they arrest on felony charges.

Current law says cops should collect DNA swaps only after conviction of the suspect.

Here is a link to my Dec. 28, 2008 story.

The woman I mentioned in that story, Jayann Sepich of New Mexico, whose daughter was killed, will be testifying in favor of the measure.

Her organization, www.katieslaw.org, uses the case of Anthony Caspar Dias to illustrate the need for DNA testing upon arrest. Dias was convicted of 35 rapes in Pierce and King counties last year. He could have been caught before most of those rapes if his DNA has been on file from an earlier felony arrest, Sepich says.

It's House Bill 1382. The hearing will be in the House Hearing Room E.

Or pretty close to the same. Yesterday, I posted an item that said it looked as if tolls on the Highway 520 bridge would average only $2.92 in 2016, when tolls on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge would be $6.

Turns out, I overlooked a key element of the report: Toll on 520 will be in EACH direction, not in only ONE direction, as is the case on the new Narrows Bridge. So, I have to double the 520 toll for a roundtrip, making it $5.86.

That's close enough to $6.

Rick Olson, spokesman for the Puget Sound Regional Council, brought my error to my attention. Thanks.

Hi Joe.

I caught your post. You pose a good question about comparisons between tolls on the Narrows and the tolls evaluated by the 520 Tolling Implementation Committee and published again in the report the Committee sent to the legislature yesterday.

Here’s an answer:

The tolls the committee evaluated are not the proposed tolls for 520. The Committee was tasked with evaluating different tolling options and their potential impact on traffic around Lake Washington. Studying that required the Committee to use sample toll rates. The Committee received feedback on the sample rates used, and the ways they are likely to impact traffic on other state and local roads. The committee also used the sample toll rates to report on how speeds are likely to change, how many people would opt to take transit, change the time of day they took a trip (because the toll rates were variable by time of day in all but one option the committee evaluated), among other things.
All the sample toll rates in the Committee’s report are in 2007 dollars. The evaluation included an assumption that the rates would increase with inflation from 2007.
Among differences between the tolls contemplated for the 520 and the tolls on the Narrows: tolls are paid one way on the Narrows. All of the sample tolls evaluated for the 520 are paid each direction. It is anticipated that tolls will be paid each direction on the 520.

Rick

(Photo: AP)

The local civil liberties activists who have been fighting the Northwest Detention Center (among other things) have unearthed a Homeland Security document that raises a few questions about the extent to which the government has been monitoring local political protests and events. A spokesman with the ACLU in Seattle said this week they're trying to figure out what approach to take to get at some of the answers.

The document, which they've posted here, is a calendar from 2006 of events by "various civil activists and extremists groups" that have been flagged as having possible intelligence significance.

But the Bill of Rights Defense Committee - Tacoma and the ACLU want to know what information, if any, the government is collecting on citizens who are exercising their right to assemble and voice political opinions.

While the list contains events for white supremacy groups, the vast majority of groups the government was flagging as gatherings of note were anti-war demonstrations.

This local one was a real head-scratcher -- note the source: ICE FIU stands for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's field intelligence unit:

=> Read more!

New Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy and her top deputy, Kevin Phelps, came in this morning for a conversation with the News Tribune's Editorial Board. They touched on many subjects, but the most interesting part of the session was her outrage over the short-changing of Pierce County in the governor's proposed transportation budget.

As our own Joe Turner has revealed, Pierce County projects - including new HOV lanes on I5 and expansion of Highway 167 - have been pushed out for five years or more on the schedule, making it likely that they will never get built. Those are projects promised as part of the voter-approved gas tax increase. In the meantime, it's full-steam-ahead with the massive viaduct replacement and 520 bridge projects in King County.

=> Read more!

I got a few e-mails from folks who thought my story in last Saturday's paper misled readers about the governor's proposal to eliminate the General Assistance Unemployable program and cut off benefits for 16,000 people.

They said it gave readers the impression that all the people with drug and alcohol additions were enrolled in ADATSA (Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Support Act) program, where they get money only if they get drug treatment. Not so, they said.

Thirty-two percent of the folks on GAU have drug or alcohol problems (along with some other problem), and they aren't as sympathetic a group as my story suggested. (My story did say that people with drinking or drug problems could be on GAU, but they also had to have some other physical or mental problem to qualify. If drugs is their ONLY problem, they can't get on GAU.)

Here is a report that examined the caseload in 2003-04. It has a lot of detail about the kinds of folks who get a $339 monthly check and medical coverage from the state.

It also noted that 30 percent of the nearly 23,000 people who were on GAU for part of that biennium had been arrested at least once. Among those with drug problems, 55 percent were arrested at least once over those two years.

By the way, the governor also wants to cut ADATSA and the 6,000 people on that program. Overall, cutting both programs would save $415 million in 2009-11.

(Photo: singing_sky)

That's a direct quote from state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.

I think he is alluding to Gov. Chris Gregoire's remark in her 2nd Inaugural Address about "putting sacred cows out to pasture."

(No one is sure whether she was referring only to getting rid of some 700 boards and commissioner, or wants to go beyond that particular herd and do something more substantive.)

Jake's is the best quote of the session, so far.

By the way, at last count, Jacobsen had sponsored 58 bills this session. His record last year was 99.

(Photo: avlxyz)

You can see it on their faces these past few days.

They were a glum lot at the beginning of this legislative session, considering how badly programs for the poor would be cut in the budget proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

But now, details on the federal stimulus package are leaking out and things don't look so bad. Still bad, mind you. But not that bad.

House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, said one of his freshman members came up to him to ask why people testifying before the budget committees had gone from "woe is me" to "upbeat and smiling."

"Obama Claus," DeBolt explained.

The Pierce County auditor’s office is rolling out five permanent, unmanned ballot drop boxes around the county beginning this week.

Sound like a security risk? Auditor Jan Shabro says it’s not. She compared the boxes to the sturdy unmanned mailboxes you see around town. “They’re not anything people can tamper with,” Shabro said.

The boxes will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The idea is to give voters another convenient option for returning their ballots. Shabro said her office will still deploy temporary ballot drop-off boxes during big elections. Those require paying two people to staff the boxes all day.

The new boxes cost about $1,100 each. The cost was covered by a federal grant. By next week you’ll find them at the following locations:

Pierce County Elections Center (this box is already in pace)
2501 South 35th Street, Tacoma

Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities (TACID)
6315 South 19th Street, Tacoma

Soundview Medical Plaza
3611 South D Street, Tacoma

Gig Harbor Fire Station 5-1
6711 Kimball Drive, Gig Harbor

Parkland/Spanaway Pierce County Library
13718 Pacific Avenue South, Tacoma

After a 10-year hiatus, Margaret Casey is back on the Capitol Campus, lobbying again. (I promised I wouldn't disclose her client until she gets all her ducks in a row.)

Casey, who lobbied for the downtrodden for years, was a "recovering" lobbyist, but apparently has relapsed. (I'm told lobbying is a tough addiction to kick.)

Another case in point: Jim Boldt.

Another tough addiction to kick: lawyering. (In fact, Gov. Chris Gregoire sometimes refers to herself as a "recovering lawyer.")

Anyway, the reason I mention Margaret's return is that she's wearing a button that says simply, "56 percent."

What does that mean?

Jerry Reilly of the Elder Care Alliance is the one who gave her the button. He said of all the voters over the age of 51 who voted in this past election, 56 percent of them voted for Chris Gregoire. The guv got only 48 percent of the 18-50 vote, Reilly said. Republican Dino Rossi won that cohort, he said.

"Our argument is, 'We elected you. And we'll elect the next one,'" Reilly said. You get the message, governor?

I also like writing about Casey just because she used to be a nun, must like my 78-year-old aunt. Margaret was with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Never heard of 'em before I met Sister Margaret. As a recovering Catholic, I'm more familiar with the Benedictine nuns and Jesuit priests.

State Rep. Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla, died Jan. 4, just before the legislative session began Jan. 12. His funeral and memorial service were held in his home town, but the weather was atrocious. So, his friends and colleagues on this side of the Cascades put together a celebration over here.

"It will be like the get-together's Bill has in his office, only bigger," one lobbyist told me yesterday.

It will be at 6:30 o'clock tonight, off campus. It's a private thing. If you got an e-mail, you're invited.

Rep. Mark Ericks, D-Bothell, organized the celebration.

"The weather was really bad and not everyone could get over there," Ericks said. "So many people wanted to go and honor his memory couldn't because the passes were closed.

"There were a lot of people who loved Bill and called him friend," he added.

Grant, 71, was the most senior member of the House at the time of his death. He had a rare form of lung cancer. He also was caucus chairman, which made him the No. 3 ranking Democrat in the House.

Hunter George, The News Tribune’s assistant managing editor for local news, just informed the newsroom he’s taking a job as Pierce County’s communications director. He’ll replace Ron Klein, who left to take a similar job at Sound Transit.

George came here in 2001 from the Associated Press’ Olympia bureau. He served as Public Life Team Leader here until October, when he was promoted to assistant managing editor.

Here’s the announcement we got from Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps:

Hunter George will be leaving the newsroom this week to take a job as director of communications for Pierce County. His last day will be tomorrow.

Hunter joined The News Tribune in 2001 as Public Life team leader and has for the past several months been our assistant managing editor for local news. We have not yet determined how we will fill that position.

We wish Hunter all the best in his new endeavor.

KP and Dale

FROM LES BLUMENTHAL IN D.C.

WASHINGTON - With the vote just hours away, Rep. Norm Dicks just called to talk about the $825 billion stimulus bill and what it will mean for school districts in Pierce County and the South Sound.

According to Dicks, the bill would provide $28.6 million to the Tacoma district for construction and other programs, $12 million for Federal Way, $11.7 million for Clover Park and $7.1 million for Puyallup.

Even the smaller districts will receive funding the congressman called "nothing to sneeze at." University Place will receive $1.9 million, Fife $1.25 million and Steilacoom $962,000.

"These are all pretty impressive," Dicks said.

The money is divided into three categories: construction, additional operating money for low-income "title I" programs and additional operating money for special education programs. All together, it amounts to more than $100 million for local districts over the next two years.

Dicks said the recession represented the "most serious moment for this country economically since the Great Depression.

While Dicks said the stimulus bill will add significantly to the federal deficit, without it the congressman said it would be even worse as federal revenues would continue to decline as the economy reels.

Below are the two-year totals for local school districts.

=> Read more!

What jumped out at me from the Tolling Implementation Committee report, which was just submitted to the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire, is that huge difference in the amount of tolls they're talking about.

The highest toll scenario I saw in the report said the range of tolls in 2016 would be between 95 cents on the low end and $5.35 on the high end. The average would be $2.92. (Their tolls will be variable -- higher during peak commute, lower at night.)

But why so low? That's less than half what Narrows Bridge commuters will be paying in 2016. The current schedule says we'll be paying $6 to drive across the Narrows.

UPDATE: I was wrong. Rick Olson, spokesman for the Puget Sound Regional Council, said the tolls collected on the 520 bridge will be collected in EACH direction -- not just ONE direction, as they are on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. That puts the tolls pretty much on par. The $2.92 average toll, times 2, would be almost $6. I've tacked Rick's e-mail to the bottom of this posting, and I'll do a separate one, too.

Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, told me a couple years ago that her goal was to have the same toll on 520 and the Narrows.

The report is 40 pages. I've got more reading ahead of me.

The Legislature has to decide whether to start tolling Highway 520 early, perhaps in 2010, or wait until after most of the work to replace the bridge is done, in 2016 or 2018 or so. They also have to decide whether to toll Interstate 90 bridge, too, to keep motorist from ducking the toll on only one bridge.

=> Read more!

Please note the new number for Initiative 1033. Tim Eyman made a few more changes after the last story I wrote, and got a new number assigned to his measure.

He actually made a few changes after reading that cities and counties thought his initiative was way too rigid because it didn't take into account the growth in population, which is one of the things that drives up local government costs. They have to take care of more people.

So Eyman changed it.

The locals hate it when Eyman suddenly gets reasonable. Now they'll have to change their tactics in trying to defeat the measure, if it does get on the ballot.

He needs 241,153 valid signatures from voters by July 3 to qualify for the November general election ballot.

Here is an actual copy of the petition.

And here is Eyman's short-hand explanation of what his measure would do, after the changes he made:

The Lower Property Taxes Initiative I-1033 substantially reduces property taxes by controlling the growth of government. The Lower Property Taxes Initiative I-1033 says that the growth rate of state, county, and city general fund revenue cannot exceed inflation and population growth, while maintaining the safety valve of voter approval for higher increases. Excess tax revenue collected above the limit will reduce property taxes. That extra revenue will not go toward making government bigger, it'll go toward making your property tax bill smaller. It's a bold, brilliant initiative that substantially lowers our property tax burden by gaining control of government's growth.

=> Read more!

We should have had this story in our paper sooner than this, but better late than never. Sponsors are going to have a news conference today to announce their bills.

UPDATE: Read beyond the "more" to find a news release from today's press conference, held by most of the Legislature's "gay caucus" -- Sens. Ed Murray and Joe McDermott and Reps. Jamie Pedersen, Jim Moeller and Marko Liias.

By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Washington state would offer same-sex couples all the rights and benefits given to heterosexual married couples under a measure that was introduced Tuesday in the Legislature.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who sponsored the state's domestic partnership law in 2007, is sponsoring the expansion bill in the Senate this year; Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, is sponsoring the measure in the House. A news conference to announce the bill was planned Wednesday on the Capitol campus.

"This is everything but marriage," Pedersen said Tuesday night.

=> Read more!

Here's a very good place to get information about the economic stimulus plans floating around Congress, the one that started with President Barack Obama.

The U.S. House version is $825 billion. The U.S. Senate version is $900 billion.

Anyway, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. does a good job of crunching numbers for what's in the American Recovery and Reinvestment packages as they work their way through Congress.

It's a think tank that examines how the national budget and federal policies affect low- and middle-income people, so it probably has a left-leaning bias. But hey, numbers are numbers.

(I know, I know, Jack..."Figures don't lie, but liars figure.")

Here's what CBPP thinks Washington would get from the House version:

Medicaid..................$1.986 billion.
Money for public schools and to offset other budget cuts...$792 million from one pot of money; $527 million from another pot.
K-12 (Title 1, aka poor schools).......$181 million.
K-12 (Special Education).............$262 million.
K-12 (School construction).............$193 million.
Higher education (college construction) $117 million.
TOTAL: .............................$4.058 billion.

That's why Dick Thompson, special assistant in charge of anti-2nd Great Depression Programs (I made up that title) to Gov. Chris Gregoire said yesterday he thinks Washington will get $3.5 billion to $4 billion. (Part of that $1.98 billion for Medicaid is iffy.)

There's also money for unemployment benefits and worker retraining and foods stamps and such, too.

Bookmark that link, and happy reading. They will keep updating info.

I got this e-mail last night from Rich Wood, spokesman for the 82,000-member Washington Education Assocation. And quite frankly, I haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine the bills he refers to, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from sharing the union's concerns with you.

Here's the report (layman's English translation) for House Bill 1410, prime sponsored by Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington. Sen. Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island, is sponsoring the same bill in the Senate, SB 5444.

"It goes way beyond the task force recommendations, especially in the area of school accountability," Wood says.

These are huge bills. They are an outgrowth of work done by an education task force. Peter Callaghan, TNT columnist, has written about some of this stuff.

If you're writing about HB 1410/SB 5444, here's the letter 100 WEA members hand delivered to every legislator today. There's NO MONEY in the bill. Just a lot of promises. It eliminates the Student Achievement Fund for smaller class sizes and levy equalization with no guarantee of replacement money. Meanwhile, we're looking at $850 million or more in cuts to public education in the state budget, and we're already 45th in the nation in per-pupil spending. It's a big distraction at a time we should be focused on real funding solutions.

Let me know if you want more information from us. Classroom educators aren't the only ones who oppose it.

Thanks,
Rich

And here's the letter the WEA delivered:

=> Read more!

At the suggestion of Jim Merritt, a longtime Tacoma architect and recently announced mayoral candidate, Councilman Jake Fey tweaked a couple of words in the the City Council's resolution regarding the planned Sounder rail line through the city's Dome District.

The change leaves the door open -- if slightly -- for the possibility of an elevated post-and-beam-style construction for the entire stretch from East C Street to South C Street.

Merritt and some other members of a Project Advisory Committee wanted the City Council to insist on an all-elevated colonnade for the line, but council members weren't willing to go along with that.

The project was delayed for years after Tacoma objected to the idea of an at-grade crossing of Pacific Avenue. Sound Transit acquiesced on the Pacific Avenue crossing, agreeing to build an overpass for the rail line, and council members are anxious to get the tracks built.

Fey, not a great fan of the project, noted that in Europe and parts of the Eastern United States, "this would already be in place."

"Unfortunately, that didn't happen," Fey said. "We're not going to get a perfect solution. It can't be planned at the best time to do that."

Here's the article I wrote from the council meeting.

Click ahead to see the approved resolution, and the one that council members were considering earlier in the day.

=> Read more!

State Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the tax increase isn't about raising money; it's about health benefits.

The current tax is more than $2 a pack, as I recall. And it would raise maybe more than $200 million. So, it really is about raising money, too. Maybe just a little bit?

I'd have to research the exact numbers.

Proposal to Increase Cigarette Tax by $1/ Pack Key to Smoking Prevention and Protecting Healthcare Access

“Cut Smoking, Not Prevention” campaign established to support cigarette tax increase

OLYMPIA—A coalition of health care and anti-smoking advocates today welcomed introduction of legislation by State Senator Rodney Tom (D-Medina) that will increase the state cigarette tax by $1/ pack. The new revenue will be used to avoid looming cuts to smoking prevention and cessation programs and preserve other health care priorities at risk in the current budget negotiations.

Supporters tout the advantages of funding these programs through a direct revenue stream instead of relying on general fund monies—and underscore that the legislation is really about savings and priorities.

"It's not about revenue, it's about health savings,” said Tom. “The societal cost of a pack of cigarettes is over $15. So we're subsidizing smoking. We just can't go that direction."

=> Read more!

Officials with the federal immigration lockup on the Tacoma Tideflats violated a state environmental covenant by failing to notify the Department of Ecology of new construction, but so far there’s no evidence that lapse exposed the public to contaminated groundwater, officials said Tuesday.

The Geo Group, a Florida-based contractor that runs the Northwest Detention Center, dug through clean soil into previously contaminated groundwater but testing data the company provided showed it was no longer worrisome, said Joyce Mercuri, a site manager with the state’s Toxics Cleanup program. Checks of nearby wells also found no contamination.

The area, which used to house a meat packing plant, was previously cleaned of petroleum-contaminated soils, but restrictions were put in place because the groundwater was still tainted.

The company has entered into the state’s voluntary clean up program and will be working with the state to complete the project to expand the facility from 1,000 to 1,500 beds.

“We’re going to be working with them to make sure everything they’re doing is not causing a release,” Mercuri said.

The facility is not planning on using the groundwater for anything. If the site has to be drained during construction, water will be tested before being dumped into the city’s sewer system, she said.

The notification issue was raised by a local liberties watchdog group, which has challenged the detention center of several fronts.

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee - Tacoma also raised concerns that contaminated runoff from the facility was flowing into nearby sloughs and waterways, but Ecology found that was not the case, Mercuri said.

Rep. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, has introduced a couple bills that stem largely from what former Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland did late last year.

He gave a 30-year state lease to a mining company for a project on Maury Island -- after he lost the election, but before he left office. That really ticked off the locals.

This is after the fact, but.....read on.

Rep. Nelson introduces two new laws to protect the environment

January 27, 2009

OLYMPIA -- The controversy swirling around a local gravel mine has led Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-Maury Island) to write two proposed laws, both aimed at protecting the environment from damage.

House Bill 1708 would establish new protections for the aquifer on Maury Island and require that any large mine cease operations if there is damage to the island’s aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for residents of the island.

=> Read more!

The American Progress Web site offers this cool interactive map, showing how $541 billion of the House Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act would be allocated among the states. Based on their methodology, Washington would get $10 billion of the total – that includes payments to governments and individuals from three dozen various pots of money. The largest line item - more than $3 billion - comes from "Make Work Pay." That's the administration's code for tax cuts for working families.

An itemized list is below:

=> Read more!

Just a month into the new year, Pierce County’s budget is at least $8 million out of whack, and county leaders are scrambling to cut spending.

County Executive Pat McCarthy is proposing cuts of up to 3 percent for some departments, but is trying to shield law enforcement from the worst cuts.

In a memo to county employees last week, McCarthy acknowledged the cuts will be painful.

“I am sorry to bring you this news,” McCarthy wrote.

Talk of cuts comes just two months after the County Council approved an $854 million 2009 budget. The spending includes $289 million for the county general fund, which pays for most traditional services like law enforcement and courts.

But even in November it was apparent the budget’s revenue projections might be too optimistic. At the time, budget director Patrick Kenney warned the budget would likely have to be revisited early this year.

In a memo to elected officials and department directors (here's a PDF copy) last Friday, Kenney broke the bad news: big shortfalls in sales tax and interest revenue – $4 million each – would require sizable spending cuts in various departments.

According to Kenney’s memo:

=> Read more!

We've had views of President Barack Obama's history-making inauguration from Washington, D.C. and Washington state. Pacific Lutheran University student Tricia Johnson sent in this account from Australia, where she is studying now.

People from all over the world gathered together on a scorching Sydney afternoon to witness the United States 44th President, Barack Obama’s inauguration and celebrate his historic move to The White House. The event, held at the Manning Bar on the University of Sydney’s campus, was put on by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. I was lucky enough to attend this “standing room only” event along with four other students and a professor, all currently studying abroad in Australia from Pacific Lutheran University.

The overwhelming amount of concern this group of people displayed toward the United States current economic status as well as Obama’s move to The White House was apparent even though I was in a foreign country. This tremendous amount of support made me wonder why Australians seem so interested in American politics and its current economic standing, while some Americans cannot even manage to find Australia on a map.

=> Read more!

That's a best guess from Dick Thompson, the guy that Gov. Chris Gregoire has put in charge of coordinating and organizing the state's part in any economic stimulus package that comes down the pike from President Barack Obama and Congress.

"I'm guessing between $3.5 billion and $4 billion," Thompson said a few minutes ago, before dashing to a meeting with the governor. Later today, he will be briefing legislative leaders, such as House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, etc.

That's for everything: infrastructure building projects (highways, schools) as well as operating money (Medicaid, special education), he said.

Friday the 13th (Feb. 13) is a red-letter day. That's when Congress is expected to approve the package that is designed to create 3 million jobs and keep the nation from falling deeper into recession.

UPDATE: The U.S. Senate has its version of the $825 billion economic stimulus package andvery detailed list is in a news release from its Appropriation Committee is right here. Lotsa good stuff.

Thompson stressed that it's just a guess. But it's an educated guess.

=> Read more!

Last night I spoke to the nonprofit group Friends of Pierce County, which promotes environmental education and monitors land use and other issues in county government. It was the first of what I hope will be many appearances before local community groups.

I’ve been covering Pierce County government for two years. In that time I’ve covered issues ranging from jail overcrowding and building permit backlogs to animal control and sign code enforcement. I’ve got a pretty good handle on many issues, but I’ve also learned how much I don’t know. So I’m asking folks throughout the county to share their knowledge and tell me what they think I should be writing about.

I’ll be speaking to neighborhood associations, business groups, service clubs – pretty much whoever will have me. Last night the folks at Friends of Pierce County asked me to pay attention to county shoreline regulations and affordable housing issues.

What do you think I should be covering? I’d like to know. If you belong to an organization that would be willing to hear me speak (and listen), please contact me. If you’d like to suggest a story, leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail. Maybe you have expertise you’d be willing to share. Maybe there’s something fishy going on that you think I should look into. Or maybe you just know a fascinating person I should profile.

I’m making no promises. At any given time there are dozens of issues I could be writing about. I can only tackle a few at a time. But by speaking with as many county residents as I can I hope to do a better job of writing about what matters to you.

State Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, is back with a proposal she's had the past couple years. She thinks it's unfair not to allow ex-convicts to vote once they get out of prison until after they pay off all their fines.

That could take forever. She says nearly 170,000 people fall into that category.

Victims rights groups don't like the bill. Some of those "financial obligations" are owed to the ex-convicts' victims.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl Welles, D-Seattle, has a similar bill in the Senate.

UPDATE: Supporters of the proposal wanted to make sure I knew the breadth of their support so they sent me a list of organizations and individuals who are backing the measure.

Darneille reintroduces bill to restore voting rights to former offenders

January 22, 2009

OLYMPIA—Armed with new legislation designed to overcome old controversies, state Rep. Jeannie Darneille is again proposing a law to restore voting rights to ex-offenders who have served their sentences and stayed out of trouble.

Restoring voting rights is a matter of basic fairness, according to Darneille (D-Tacoma).

“Former offenders who have done all their time, including probation and parole, have clearly earned their freedom, but it’s not real freedom if you’re excluded from any say in decisions that govern your life,” Darneille said.

=> Read more!

Last week, the House and Senate said they were taking steps to cut state spending by $105 million between now and June 30.

Now, the House says, "I'll see your $105 million and raise you $500 million."

Curt Woodward of The Associated Press is following this story more closely. We'll have his story, or one from Brad Shannon from our sister paper, The Olympian, on our main home page and probably in Tuesday's paper, too.

I'll look into details later. But it still might be as little as 1/10th of the $6.1 billion budget problem. I have to read more to see how many of the cuts continue through 2009-11.

I know Jerry Reilly will be pleased with the House Democrats decision not to cut Adult Day Health, as Gov. Chris Gregoire did.

For immediate release

January 26, 2008

House Democrats introduce Early Action Savings bill

Bill adds $640 million to bottom line; will have public hearing Tuesday

OLYMPIA – Responding to the unprecedented budget situation, the House today introduced legislation to immediately cut expenditures, make efficiencies, and maximize federal matching funds. The Early Action Savings Bill (PSHB 1694) will save $640 million before June 30, 2009.

=> Read more!

He also has a name. It's Bob. As in, Bob Cat. I think.

Anyway, we in the press corps never knew its name, even though he's been hanging around the White House (and the Blue House, and the security guard shack next to Newhouse) for a couple years now.

We called him "The Lobbyist" for a while, but nothing really stuck.

Then, Austin Jenkins, the NPR guy, and Rachel La Corte, the AP gal, put a note around his collar and asked the real owner to contact us. He did. That's how we now know his name is Bob.

Turns out, Bob is pretty well heeled. Belongs to a couple doctors in the neighborhood.

Anyway, now you know his name. And he's also started his own blog.

Here's a link to Bob Cat's blog. You can learn more about his, if you like.

The truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth.

That's what state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, wants from state agency folks. Why else would he prime sponsor Senate Bill 5520?

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 44.16 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) All agency employees must answer completely and honestly any
request of the legislature in furtherance of a legislative
investigative or oversight purpose.
(2) As used in this section, "agency" has the meaning in RCW
34.05.010.
--- END ---

Wonder who Jake is mad at? Ya gotta believe that someone gave him some bad info (or at least, he thinks so) so Jake is firing a shot across the bow.

UPDATE: The good senator just called me back. He won't tell me specifically who he's upset with, but he said he's tired of asking questions of state agency workers and getting only the agency's official "talking points" in response. "You don't hear the whole truth," Jacobsen said.

He wants them to be "full and frank" when he calls them, he said.

SB 5520 also would outlaw half truths. That might shut down all communication between lobbyists and legislators, assuming it also applied to legislators.

The bill was assigned to Sen. Darlene Fairley's committee. So, who knows? It might actually get a hearing.

Mark Brown sent me this over the weekend. He's got one of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's staffers coming out to the 26th Legislative District Democrats next week to talk about what's floating around Congress in the way of an economic stimulus package.

For Immediate Press Release,

The 26 LD Democrats proudly announce their upcoming meeting Tuesday February 3rd. Senator Cantwell’s staff leader Chris Endressen will speak on the upcoming legislation on the Economic Budget Stimulus Package. The date is Tuesday Feb. 3rd; 6 PM for dinner and 7 PM for the meeting. The location is Givens Community Center, Kitsap Room, 1026 Sidney Ave. Port Orchard WA. 98366. Those in attendance after the presentation will break into groups based on President Obama’s Economic Stimulus package. The meeting is free and the general public is welcome. For more information call Chairman Mark Brown at 360-895-6033.

Submitted respectfully by,
Mark Brown
26th LD Democratic Chair

I wrote a story, which appeared in Saturday's paper, about Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to cut about 22,000 people off state assistance by eliminating the GAU and ADATSA programs. (See story below to have acronyms spelled out.)

There should have been a comment from House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, inserted into that story. I interviewed him after I turned in my story, but apparently his remarks never caught up with my story.

So, here they are: "I care about those folks," Chopp told reporters last Thursday. "We're looking to make some changes (to GAU) in a logical way . . . otherwise some people could die."

Chopp has spent a big chunk of his life working for the poor. He used to be executive director of the Fremont Public Association in Seattle. The group changed its name to Solid Ground, but still lists Frank as a "senior advisor.".

Anyway, it's one of those non-profits that gets state and other social service contracts to help the poor. So Frank has come in contact with a lot of GAU folks, and continues to in his role as Speaker. He said a group came in to see him last week.

Safety net could be snipped
LAST RESORT OF STATE'S POOREST THREATENED. State aid of $339 a month to unemployable people would be cut under the governor's budget. Advocates question eliminating a lifeline to 22,000 of our neediest residents.

By Joseph Turner; Joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Cameron Hartwell, a former mill worker who lives in Lacey, is one of 36,000 people in Washington who get a government check and free medical coverage because they have a physical, mental or drug-related condition that makes them unfit for work.

The check is for $339 a month.

It isn't much. Certainly not enough to live on. But the state program that serves Hartwell is pretty much the last rung on the ladder. General Assistance Unemployable, commonly known by its acronym, GAU, is mostly for single people with no children.

=> Read more!

Where's the love for state Sen. Pam Roach, (R-Auburn)?

UPDATE: Silly me. Sound Politics explains the lack of love in its posting over the weekend. Gee, I didn't know her Senate colleagues were actually waging a campaign to get her elected in King County and out of the Legislature.

The long-time senator ain't getting any from the King County Republican Party. The county GOP is trying to get out the vote for favorite son, David Irons.

There will be no primary in this special election for the county's first ELECTED elections director. The Feb. 3 vote is for all the marbles. It's a 6-way race: Irons, Roach, Sherril Huff, Julie Kempf, Bill Anderson, Christopher Clifford.

The election is a week from tomorrow.

KCGOP SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

January 24, 2009
Special Election: February 3rd, 2009

DAVID IRONS NEEDS YOUR HELP IN THE RACE FOR DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS!
Make calls for David Irons!
With the election on February 3rd, 2009 we have just over ONE week left to help our KCGOP endorsed candidate. Visit your local phone bank to encourage voters to mark their ballots for David Irons. Bring your friends and family - Please RSVP!

=> Read more!

At least that's what Rep. Deb Eddy and a couple of her colleague think. That's why they've offered up House Bill 1630. The bill would make school workers turn out the lights when the party's over, or when they leave the building. Yes, force them to turn out the lights under penalty of...God knows what. I didn't read that far in the bill.

One wonders what sort of event inspired such a bill. Perhaps it was a night time drive past a school building that had the lights on.

This particular bill was brought to my attention by a semi-retired lobbyist whose only remark was "Daaaaaa!" (I think that's a variant spelling for "Duh!")

Here's the full text of the bill.

Our Washington, D.C. correspondent, Les Blumenthal, reported this past week that Washington is in line to get $2 billion in additional Medicaid money from Congress -- at least, under the U.S. House of Representatives' plan.

Jerry Reilly, who is one of the advocates for the poor and elderly (sometimes they are the same people) down here in Olympia, passed on some numbers that were crunched by the American Association of Retired Persons.

Here is a state by state estimate.
The totals are estimated to be $68-82 billion nationwide.

That the first block of type is from Jerry. The second one is from AARP.

Gov. Chris Gregoire assumed the state would get $780 million from President Barack Obama and Congress, in additional Medicaid, when she proposed her 2009-11 budget in mid-December. Now it appears Washington could be more -- between $1.34 billion and $.98 billion -- and could therefore restore some of the other cuts she was proposing to make.

Among those cuts was $415 million to eliminate General Assistance Unemployable and ADATSA, a similar program (with drug treatment) for homeless, and about $42 million for the Adult Day Health program. Of course, that would be up to the Legislature, assuming Congress gives them the leeway.

It also appears some fed funds would be retroactive to October 2008, the beginning of the federal fiscal year.

Reports out of D.C. say Obama expects Congress to pass the economic stimulus package in mid-February.

Here's Jerry's e-mail:

FYI- Please review the new Federal Medicaid funding estimates obtained by AARP as reported in letter below.

There are clearly sufficient funds (more that $500 million) coming in increased federal medicaid dollars under the stimulus package to fully restore the Adult Day Health program and many of the other devastating reductions to poor peoples' health care programs that were proposed by the Governor before she knew the full impact of increased federal support.

=> Read more!

Most gubernatorial appointees are confirmed as a matter of course, but the appropriate Senate committees do hold meet-the-nominee meetings. They're not really confirmation hearings, not like you see in Congress.

Michael Amos has been serving for several months already. The law says appointees can serve without being confirmed, as long as they aren't flat-out rejected by the state Senate.

Chances are, Amos will be confirmed by the Senate during one of those just-killing-time periods later in session, while other senators are trying to negotiate last-minute deals on other bills.

Confirmation Hearing Held for Michael L. Amos

In September 2008, Governor Gregoire appointed Mike Amos as Gambling Commissioner. He attended his first Gambling Commission meeting in October 2008. On January 15, 2009, the Senate Labor, Commerce, and Consumer Protection Committee recommended that Mike Amos be confirmed by the full senate, after his confirmation hearing.

Commissioner Amos was born in Yakima, Washington. After 37 years of duty with the Yakima Police Department, Commissioner Amos retired as patrol sergeant. He is Vice-President of the Eastern Washington State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, a position he has held for the past five years.

Commissioner Amos was the President of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs from 2000-2007. This group represents 5000 law enforcement officers. He also served on the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission after his appointment by then-Governor Gary Locke in 2000. He was reappointed by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2004 and retired as President in 2007.

He is a part owner in Yakima 911 Driving School that provides drivers training for teens and first time drivers. Commissioner Amos and his wife Linda have been married for 38 years and have two adult children and two grandsons.

=> Read more!

Marty Brown, legislative liaison for Gov. Chris Gregoire, said earlier this month that the governor might bring up her proposal to allow law officers to set up road blocks to check for drunks.

Brown made the remark at the Associated Press legislative preview on Jan. 6 when I asked him if the governor had any non-budget policy proposals to bring to the 2009 Legislature.

Anyway, even if Gregoire does bring it forward, it probably won't fare any better than it did last year.

Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, is one of the House members who led the charge to kill that proposal in the 2008 session. And now, Pedersen is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which is where such a bill most likely would be assigned.

"There are some ideas that are really bad," Pedersen said a few minutes ago. "I would strongly oppose it."

He said he might, out of respect for the governor, schedule a hearing on such a proposal, but probably wouldn't let it advance beyond his committee.

Here's the story I wrote last year when that same committee killed it by not even letting it come up for a vote. Last year, then-Rep. Pat Lantz of Gig Harbor was chairwoman of the committee, and she was in favor of the bill, but killed it after her committee members let her know it would fail if it came up for a vote.

=> Read more!

I seriously expected to read news accounts of legislators and state officials being trampled to death by each other in the stampede to appear before the state Salary Commission and beg them "Please, don't give us a raise!"

The announcements were coming in such quick succession that I couldn't keep up....the governor, Republican lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers, new state treasurer Jim McIntire. House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, rather than risk reinjuring her aching neck, avoided the fray. She wrote a letter.

And then, of course, I saw what Randy Dorn had to say. (If anyone can figure out what he was saying, would you please tell me?)

It sounded as if he really, really, really wanted to get paid more but couldn't come right out and say that because everyone else was being so, well, self-sacrificing. So instead, he started building a case for a humongous raise in 2011 and 2012. (See, if you're a state employee, your retirement is based on your highest two years of pay in your final five years of work.)

There's still time, Randy. All you have to do is hang on for two years, get a pay raise for the final two years of your term after the economy improves, and you can accomplish through legitimate work what you couldn't do through special legislation.

Here's what Brad Shannon wrote in his story about the salary commission vote. And here's what Brad wrote about Dorn's appearance.

There will be public hearings through May, then a final decision by the commission.

And here's the story I wrote last year about Dorn trying to boost his pension by about $90,000 a year.

Questions on candidate pension
A candidate for state schools superintendent tried for two years to get lawmakers to boost his pension. He says costs cited by the state were exaggerated.

=> Read more!

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks bundled up and ventured out Tuesday to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama from the steps of the Capitol. But the staff took advantage of the Belfair Democrat's choice Rayburn House Office Building assignment and watched from the windows.

And apparently so did a lot of others who realized that it was better to be up close and warm than way in the back and freezing.

"We had many people in town who didn’t get tickets, so we told them we have a great view of the show – three large windows facing the Capitol," wrote Dicks' top aide George Behan.

The staff served coffee and food and offered binoculars and TVs – sort of like a luxury suite at the ballpark.

"As it turned out, we had some constituents who called us from cell phones while they were in lines that obviously were not moving," Behan wrote. "We told them to come on in and they were much better off than colleagues who were in a line while Barack was taking the oath."

Behan guesses that 150 people passed through the office during the day.

Dicks was near the aisle, next to U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Both were close enough to shake Obama's hand, as this photo – taken by Michael Meehan – shows.

=> Read more!

Members of the state Economic Review and Revenue Forecast Council are looking at the pros and cons of moving up the date of the revenue forecast by a full month.

Right now, it's set for March 19. That's when the Legislature will get an up-to-date prediction on how much money the state can expect to collect in taxes over the next 28 to 30 months. That will be the basis for their budget writing. Main question: Do we have a $7 billion hole in a $32 billion two-year budget?

Circle Feb. 18 on your calendar.

Moving up the date would give lawmakers an extra month to get serious about writing a budget. (The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 26.)

On the other hand, we may not know exactly how much money we're gonna get from the feds, the forecast council won't get as much feedback from the governor's economic council and budget staff in the Legislature. And waiting until March probably would give a clearer picture of what Washington can expect for the 24 months in the 2009-11 biennium. (It actually might be better than a February look.)

UPDATE: Here's the letter that Sens. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver; Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, and Reps. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, and Ross Hunter, D-Medina, wrote to forecast council executive director Arun Raha. (Although it is dated Jan. 21, it actually was sent only today, so Raha might not have it yet.)

Just when you thought the proposal was dead (considering the state's budget woes) it gets resurrected.

Refresher: This is the program that would give you $250 a week for up to five weeks to take care of a child, spouse, domestic partner or parent. Or yourself.

Of course, if that funding source of 2 cents an hour, paid for by employees, stays in the proposal, it would have to go on the ballot in November and win approval from voters.

If the money was going to come from the state treasury, it probably would be dead on arrival.

Aaron Keating, communications director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, will be prime sponsors for the measures in their respective chambers.

Keating's e-mail is below.

=> Read more!

Josh Feit at Horsesass reports rumors that the King County Executive has accepted a job in the Obama Adminstration at HUD. It was well known that Ron Sims wanted a new job, even though he was making noises about seeking a fourth term as executive.

Not much in the way of sourcing in this but it is first. So far no confirmation or denial.

Port of Tacoma Commission names Petrich 2009 president, elects other officers
The Port of Tacoma Commission today named Clare Petrich as president and elected other officers for 2009.

Positions among commissioners rotate yearly, based on procedures approved by the Port Commission in 1999. Petrich replaces Port Commissioner Dick Marzano as president. Marzano will serve as assistant secretary in 2009.

Port of Tacoma commissioners serve four-year terms. The five-member Commission is the governing body of the Port, setting policy and authorizing major expenditures. Port Commission meetings and study sessions, which are open to the public, are held at The Fabulich Center (formerly Port Business Center), 3600 Port of Tacoma Road. Visit www.portoftacoma.com for meeting schedules and agendas.

=> Read more!

This is timely.

House Speaker Frank Chopp just had his first meeting with reporters for the 2009 legislative session and he was asked what he thought about Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to boost weekly unemployment benefit checks by $45 a week and to lower contribution rates for businesses.

Then, I get back to the office and the Association of Washington Business has sent out an e-mail news release in reaction to talk about tapping the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

By the way, each of Gregoire's proposal would cost about $200 million. That's a total of $400 million.

Chopp said he doesn't want to tinker with business tax rates this year. But he's game for giving more money to unemployed workers. However, he said, he'd prefer to see lower-paid workers get a bigger boost than higher paid workers.

The governor's plan was $45 a week more for everybody.

Business community doesn't like either plan. Read on:

Higher jobless rate makes tapping unemployment insurance fund risky

AWB urges state to protect UI fund in light of rising unemployment

OLYMPIA— With the state experiencing its biggest one-month jump in unemployment in 30 years, Association of Washington Business President Don Brunell is urging Gov. Gregoire and lawmakers to protect the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund.

=> Read more!

Gov. Gregoire attends birthday celebration for Gov. Rosellini

Former Washington governor turns 99 years old

EVENT DATE: Friday, Jan. 23

SEATTLE – Gov. Chris Gregoire will attend the 99th birthday celebration for former Washington Governor Al Rosellini. All seven living governors will attend this private lunch at Il Terrazzo Carmine, one of Gov. Rosellini’s favorite Italian restaurants in Seattle.

12 noon Gov. Chris Gregoire attends Gov. Rosellini’s 99th birthday celebration

Il Terrazzo Carmine

411 First Ave. S.

Seattle

What Gov. Chris Gregoire is proposing to do actually is to raid other state bank accounts and put that money into the General Fund to help close that $6 billion budget gap that everyone is talking about.

Overall, she puts $376 million that otherwise would be spent on building projects -- like grade schools, water treatment plants and cleaning up toxic waste around the state -- and puts it in the operating budget. All those projects will still get done, but to do so she has to borrow $376 million.

Tom Saelid, Gregoire's capital budget guy, said all the moves are "one-time transfers" (not permanent) and they allow the governor to keep building projects to produce more jobs, plus help out the shortfall in the operating budget.

The money is coming from the state lottery proceeds ($204 million), the Model Toxics Fund ($88 million), the Water Quality Account ($24 million) and the Savings Incentive Account ($60 million).

The governor also wants to consolidate some funds and raise the limit on how much the state can borrow and some other moves that basically will allow her to borrow $630 million more over the 2009-11 budget than she otherwise could. ($2.22 billion instead of $1.59 billion)

The bottom line: Gregoire's total capital budget would have $3.8 billion in new spending and $2.7 billion in reappropriations for projects that are under way but not done yet, for a grand total of $6.5 billion over the next two years.

I have to give credit to Associated Press report Curt Woodward for spotting this bit of budget news. (And a certain legislative staffer who wishes to remain anonymous.)

Curt sat through a presentation on Gov. Chris Gregoire's capital budget earlier this week and found out just how much the guv is moving money around in her budget. (Hey, I can't be everywhere, but Curt can.)

This morning, I ran into Arun Raha, the state's still relatively new chief economist, and he reminded me of the lag time in collecting sales taxes.

Basically, the Christmas holiday sales tax collections will be reflected in the February report (probably Feb. 10), not in the Jan. 10 report, as I incorrectly reported in previous post.

State sales tax collections were $134 million lower than expected for the Nov. 11 though Jan. 10 collection period, which I WRONGLY said pretty much encompassed the Christmas holiday shopping season.

The lag means holiday shopping taxes will show up in the February report. They're still expected to be pretty bad.

But Raha said things might pick up just a bit in the following monthly report, in March.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate announced today they will take targeted steps to reduce state spending in the final six months of the state budget cycle, but won't produce a more thorough budget until after mid-March.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said her Senate colleagues could pass as early as next week measures to:

--freeze state hiring.
--prohibit state agencies from signing any personal service contracts, except for emergencies.
--stop state equipment purchases that cost more than $1,000.
--ban state-paid travel or training except for direct client services and emergencies.

Those steps are expected to save $105 million between now and June 30.

Brown said she was trying to strike a balance between being deliberative and acting quickly.

Sen. Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield, top Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, called me back. See below.

UPDATE 1: Zarelli said he signed onto the $105 million in early cuts even though it was a "meager attempt at moving us foreward" because at least it was moving the state in the right direction.

But it's not nearly enough, he said. State spending has to slim down, he said.

"We moved from a 52-inch waist to a 51-inch waist and we desperately need to get down to a 32-inch waist," Zarelli said. "If we wait until well after March, we lose of a lot of the savings from making serious cuts."

UPDATE 2: From Rep. Gary Alexander, top Republican on the House budget committee: "I heard Rep. (Lynn) Kessler comment that she wished Republicans were in charge so that we would have to solve this mess by ourselves. To that, I would say: 'Rep. Kessler, had Republicans been in charge four years ago, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.'"

=> Read more!

From Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON - A massive economic stimulus package winding its way through the House contains nearly $850 million in infrastructure funding for Washington state, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said Thursday.

The money would be used for highway, road, bridge, public transit and waste water treatment projects, said Larsen, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The committee held a hearing on the $825 billion stimulus bill that could come to the House floor next week.

About two-thirds of the money to modernize roads, highways and bridges will go to the states and the rest to local governments.

"Our state unemployment rate took the largest jump in 30 years last month and more of my constituents are having a hard time finding family-wage jobs," Larsen said. "Now is the time to invest in job creation and long term economic recovery."

The bill does not include earmarks, or funding set aside for specific projects.

Under the House bill, Washington state would receive nearly $530 million for highway, road and bridge construction, $216.5 million to construct and maintain public transit and almost $101 million for wastewater treatment projects, Larsen said.

UPDATE FROM OLYMPIA: Gov Chris Gregoire's budget office said the $850 million for infrastructure on highways, transit and sewage treatment project in Washington most likely is just a subset of an overall amount the state eventually will get.

That's only 1 percent of the total $825 billion nationwise and Washington can reasonably expect to get twice the amount announced so far. A U.S. Senate plan has money for public school and college construction, too.

Tacoma architect Jim Merritt formally announced his run for Tacoma mayor this morning, though the news was already out.

Merritt is the first to formally announce a run for the seat that will be vacated by Bill Baarsma, who is barred by the city's term limit from running again.

His campaign Web site calls Merritt a "key figure for the Tacoma renaissance" and notes his work on Tacoma's Union Station and Federal Courthouse.

Merritt cites increased transparency and accountability in city government as top priorities. Job creation, roads, the city's library system and improving civic pride are also mentioned.

"I feel that Tacoma needs a fellow citizen and business owner from the private sector with a
clear new workable vision for today and for the future," Merritt said in a release. "I have the knowledge and experience to achieve the results needed to make that vision turn into our reality."

Click ahead to read the full press release.

=> Read more!

Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, has introduced a bill that says the Department of Corrections doesn't have to supervise low-risk or moderate-risk violent offenders after they get out of prison or jail.

It's a money-saving move. It also goes beyond what Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed in her budget. That is, even fewer ex-cons would be supervised.

Hargrove is chairman of the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee.

UPDATE: Hargrove's staff said SB 5288 will save the state at least $15 million in lower supervision costs in the 2009-11 budget cycle and another $2-3 million this budget cycle if it gets enacted by March.

An anonymous community corrections officer brought Senate Bill 5288 to my attention. He said he was worried about community safety and all the jobs DOC would be getting rid of, about 400.

Here a bill report. It's a layman's explanation of what the bill says. The bill says who will still be supervised, but you have to know who is supervised now to really figure out what the change it. I have to do some more research.

Prosecutors and cops testified in favor of the bill, and it's not because they want less supervision of bad guys. They just figure the supervision cutbacks are more truthful of what actually is already happening in the community.

I wrote a story about most of this on Jan. 5.

From education reporter Kris Sherman

Memories are still coming in from Tacomans who witnessed Barack Obama's inauguration Tuesday.

Turns out not all of those Mason Middle School kids in D.C. For the event lasted until the bitter-cold end. But they're still wrapping themselves in the warm memories.

I got this missive and photo in my inbox today from one of the parent-chaperons.

The photo below shows (l to r) Kassidi Reaugh, Allison Hakanson, Grace Groneck, Megan Gezelius at the Nurses Memorial with one of the stars and decorated evergreen trees they left behind to memorialize their visit.

But don't think they were littering. All the trinkets they left at various memorials get picked up and archived, social studies teacher and tour leader Marilyn O'Malley-Hicks said.

=> Read more!

New state schools chief Randy Dorn said he was trying to avoid creating names for the new tests that could become a pronounceable acronym.

That's partly because the WASL – short for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning – has became a bad word for many. Dorn said the only less-flattering term in state history was WPPSS for the Washington Public Power Supply System. That's the public agency that defaulted on bonds sold to build nuclear power plants in the 1980s.

But he also dislikes education acronyms because he thinks they make it hard for parents to understand what is going in in schools.

"I'd rather we use the words," he said Wednesday.

Dorn may underestimate the ability and the desire of Americans to make words out of acronyms, however.

So have at it. The new grade school and middle school test will be called the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP or MOSP).

The new high school test will be the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).

And the overall program will be called the Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP or perhaps WaCAP).

There were lots of newsies crowded into a conference room next to Randy Dorn's office today. In fact there was better attendance than often shows up for governor's press conferences.

So it must be a big announcement, right?

Well, depending on what you were expecting. As the room filled up, it seemed many of those who made the drive from Seattle thought Dorn was going to kill the WASL, as in ending the requirement that students pass the test to graduate from high school.

The infamous "single, high-stakes test" would be gone.

Except that it won't be. Dorn, just two weeks in office, announced that he was replacing the old single, high-stakes test with a different single, high-stakes test. It can't even be called a new test because many of the same questions that appear on the WASL will appear on the test that comes next.

It will be different though. And Dorn thinks it will be better – shorter, cheaper, easier to administer and grade, less time-consuming.

But he stressed it would still be one of several graduation requirements in Washington state.

WASL opponents might be disappointed. And newsies looking for a much-bigger announcement may feel the same way. But supporters of school reform were relieved.

We just heard this annnounced on CNBC, and it was confirmed by a receptionist at the Washington State Investment Board. (Peter Callaghan and I have the TV on in the background.)

Joe Dear is the top guy for Washington's pension plans, overseeing about $70 billion in investments. CalPERS is California's huge pension plan.

Dear will be chief investment officer for CalPERS, overseeing an investment portfolio worth $178 billion. He takes his new job in March.

I've got a call into Joe Dear.

He was hired away from what is now Russell Investments in Tacoma in late 2002. His salary with our state investment board was $152,800 back then. I suspect it might be just a tad higher today.

Before then, he was chief of staff for former Gov. Gary Locke. He also was assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, and director of the Washington Department of Labor and Industries.

I found a story about Joseph Dear at Reuters site.

Last time I talked to Dear was to find out how much money Washington has lost due to the demise of Lehman Brothers brokerage house. (I'd tell you, but I don't have access to my library files at the moment.)

From Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON – So let’s review – Tuesday’s inauguration was incredible, breathtaking, unimaginable, historic, electric, unbelievable, electric, historic, unprecedented, unique and one of a kind. Does anyone have an unused adjective, adverb or whatever? Yes.

“All the people I saw out there who helped to make this change inspired me,” said Sarah Bulley of Puyallup, who just returned from a Peace Corps assignment in Mozambique where she actually voted for Obama from overseas.

Bulley was one of the several hundred or so state residents who attended the congressional delegation’s constituent coffee this morning.

Army Spc. Jay Navas, who served at Fort Lewis in the 1-23 Infantry, Bravo Company, has fought in Iraq and is about to deploy to Afghanistan, said it was a “phenomenal day for all Americans. It felt good to be part of that.”

Retired teachers Scott and Pamela Woodward of Richland joked they were among the few Democrats who lived east of the Cascades but in the spirit of bipartisanship got tickets for the inauguration from Republican Rep. Doc Hastings. Scott Woodward said he helped man an Obama phone bank in the Tri-Cites and some of the people he called were down right nasty.

Even so, Woodward said “we needed to be here to feel the moment. It was almost spiritual.”

Last month, the rate was 6.4 percent. This doesn't bode well for the state's current $6 billion budget shortfall. People out of work don't pay much in taxes.

There were nearly 55,000 fewer people working in December 2008 compared to December 2007.

Washington’s unemployment rate jumped in December

OLYMPIA – Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 7.1 percent in December 2008, up from November’s rate of 6.4 percent, according to the state Employment Security Department.

The state lost an estimated 22,200 non-agricultural jobs, seasonally adjusted. Industries with the most job growth included information, with 300 new jobs, aerospace, which added 400, and education and health services, up 300. The largest declines were in manufacturing, which cut 3,500 jobs, professional and business services, down 7,900, administrative and support services, down 5,600, construction, down 4,200, and transportation, trade and utilities, which lost 3,300 jobs.

=> Read more!

Jim Merritt sent an e-mail letter to a small group of supporters yesterday informing them that he will run for Tacoma mayor.

Merritt, who has been involved in numerous downtown redevelopment projects, told the TNT's Pat O'Callahan last month that he was seriously considering the move, but needed to figure out what he would do with his architecture practice and a couple other commitments.

Morgan Alexander, apparently one of the folks Merritt met with to explore the idea, was among those who received the e-mail. Alexander posted it to his blog, Morgan's Brain, yesterday afternoon.

Merritt began working as an architect in Tacoma in 1975. He was named a Tacoma Home Town Hero in 2003 for his work on hundreds of community and development projects, including the University of Washington Tacoma campus, the Foss Waterway master plan, the Tacoma Convention and Trade Center and Union Station.

To view his 18-page resume, click here.

Click ahead to read the e-mail Merritt sent to supporters:

=> Read more!

As expected, new state schools superintendent Randy Dorn unveiled a plan to get rid of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in favor of a computerized test.

UPDATE
Here's an early version of the AP story:

Washington’s new superintendent of public instruction wants to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning with two separate tests, and use a computerized testing system.

Superintendent Randy Dorn said Wednesday that he wants to start using the new tests next year. One test would cover grades 3-8, and the second would cover high school.

Dorn says a computerized testing system will result in faster test results and lower costs.

Dorn was elected in November after campaigning against the WASL. His plans still have to be approved by the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

More details below in the press release:

=> Read more!

Here's the ACLU agenda:

Here are the ACLU of Washington's legislative priorities as the 2009 session begins. Attached is the more extensive agenda posted on our website - which will be regularly updated as bills progress and new measures emerge.

Our lobbyist in Olympia this year is Shankar Narayan. As a basic media ress contact, you can always reach me at the ACLU office at 206-624-2184. I can reach Shankar as needed.

Doug Honig
Communications Director

VOTING RIGHTS
Voting Rights Restoration
Support
Over 160,000 Washingtonians cannot vote because of prior convictions. Support has been growing for ACLU-backed legislation to automatically restore the right to vote to individuals who have come out of the criminal justice system. For these citizens, voting is an important way to reconnect with the community. One study shows that former offenders who vote are 50% less likely to reoffend than those who don’t vote.

=> Read more!

Tacoma attorney Lara Herrmann e-mailed Peter Callaghan with some photos of her and her sister, Katie Herrmann, enjoying the festivities. (Laura is in the black cap).

Those are some impressive seats. But even more impressive is who was sitting nearby.

=> Read more!

Puyallup resident Angie Tjoelker of and her roommate Jessica got caught in a huge crush of people trying to leave the National Mall today, and Tjoelker was nearly sick by the time she made it back to Jessica's aunt's house.

People were crammed inside a mall waiting to board D.C.'s Metro at the L'Enfant Plaza stop, and many were overheating, Tjoelker reported this evening. People who had been standing outside in the cold for hours were suddenly shedding layers of clothing.

"It was seriously ridiculous," Tjoelker said. "People were fainting ... I'm on the verge of getting sick right now."

Tjoelker and her roommate eventually bailed out a side exit and made their way to another Metro stop.

Despite the ordeal, Tjoelker is happy she made the trip to Washington, D.C.

She and her roommate watched from a point on the National Mall near the Washington Monument. A nearby Jumbotron provided a view of the action. Her roommate wasn't tall enough to see it well, but she improvised by holding up her cell phone and watching the Jumbotron through the phone's camera.

"The most exciting part was just how excited everyone was throughout the day," she said. "Everybody was just in a great mood the whole day. There was an electricity in the air."

Tjoelker is heading home to Puyallup tomorrow. She's optimistic about the future, but realistic about quickly President Obama will be able to change things.

"It's not going to get done tomorrow," she said.

I love the PolitiFact Web site, which takes a fun and graphically innovative approach to political reporting. During the campaign and afterwards, they brought out the "Truth-O-Meter," which fact checks various politicans' claims for accuracy.

Now they are taking on Barack Obama's long, long list of promises. They counted up all the promises he made during the campaign - more than 500. Now, they will track which ones he keeps and which ones he breaks. So far, he's kept only two, stalled on one, made progress on another 12 and taken no action on 495. But hey, let's at least give him a week.

Yusuf Word, president of University of Puget Sound’s student association, rose when many college students are normally hitting the hay in order to attend Obama’s speech in D.C.

“We left the house at 4 a.m. and were downtown around 4:30,” said the 22-year-old senior, who is majoring in communications studies. "They let us in at 8 a.m. and we were there until about 1.”

Word said he was struck by the diversity of the crowd, in terms of both race and age.

“It was great feeling all that positive energy,” he said.

It was Obama who inspired Word to run for student government and Word
is also the first African American elected to his post.

While he was able to see Obama on a big screen nearby, people in his part of the throng had to huddle around a portable radio someone had brought.

“People ask, ‘Is he really going to be able to bring people together?’ “ Word said. “I think it’s obvious today, when you see all those people waiting 7-8 hours just to see him for a second.”

Right after Barack Obama was sworn in as president, Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma turned around and exchanged a high-five with none other than Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

Baarsma, who was seated near Smith in the "orange section" -- directly in front of the podium but a fair ways back -- said the high moment from today's inaugural ceremony was the swearing in, though he said Obama's speech also was significant because it marked the end of the Reagan-Bush era.

It means, Baarsma said, that "the government is no longer your enemy," and that the Constitution's safeguards are protected.

"It struck a chord of optimism," Baarsma said. "We're in a difficult situation, but we can prevail like the pioneers prevailed. It was exciting."

Baarsma was seated in front of Smith, and beside George Galland, a senior partner in the Chicago law firm where Obama once worked. Baarsma struck up a conversation Galland and discovered that Galland's wife is friends with someone who served on the board of trustees of the University of Puget Sound, where Baarsma was a professor.

UPDATE: Correction just after the jump to note that it was not Galland's son who was a former student, but the son of a friend who was a university trustee.

=> Read more!

Blogger/copy editor Kelly Davenport shared a scene from this morning:

At Satellite Coffee in Tacoma's Stadium District, customers gathered around a laptop on the counter streaming a live video feed from CNN.com. From desktop speakers that usually blast Motown and soul hits boomed the voice of the new president giving his inaugural address.

Barista Magdalena Ramos timed her espresso shots – punctuated by the loud crunch of the coffee grinder and the blast of the steam wand – to lulls in the broadcast so as not to interrupt. On screen, Obama thanked President George W. Bush for his service, and the D.C. audience applauded – though it seemed subdued.

"Golf clap! Golf clap!" joked shop co-owner Pat Brown.

More familiar faces in the crowd from Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON – There were more than just politicians at the inauguration.

Take Les Purce, president of The Evergreen State College. The great-great grandson of a Virginia slave, Purce was 40 yards away when Barack Obama was sworn in.

"It was electric," Purce said. "I could not help but think about my great great-grandfather and his family. All these people had such great hope. We made a great leap today. I'm searching for words."

Others also struggled to put it in perspective.

"For me it was overwhelming," said Leslie Braxton, a senior pastor at a Renton church who grew up in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood and as a 9-year-old was bused to a virtually all-white school five miles from his home. "I got a little teary eyed."

Braxton said his grandfather always said electing an African-American president would never happen, but his grandmother would scold him and tell him it was up to God.

"Things change," Braxton said. "It may be slow, but it is happening."

Tacoma resident Kurt Heineman is in D.C. on business and got a taste of the event. Here is his account and photos.

I awoke this morning at 4:15 am to catch the metro as early in order to get the closest to the Capitol building as I possibly could without having an inauguration ticket. Although many people, including myself, were very tired, you could feel the energy and excitement in the air.

Many of us brought cardboard or newspapers to sit and lay on while we waited for the event to take place. In this time, I met people from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Dakota, and various other states. The conversations I had with the people I met exemplified exactly what Barack Obama has and will continue to do for this great country, which is to bring together people from all racial, religious, and geographical backgrounds and motivate each citizen to be an active participant in renewing the greatness of the United States of America.

=> Read more!

Kindergartners and first-graders at Tacoma's Wainwright Elementary sat quietly this morning, watching Barack Obama take the oath of office as President of the United States.

Little girls, some with corn rows in their hair, others with blond pony tails, sat side by side. There were boys with the frizzy hair that marked their heritage as African American, others with the barber-shop style short brush cuts typical of Caucasian boys. Children with black faces, white faces, Asian features watched together as Obama told America, "We are shaped by every language and culture..."

They soaked in the moment as he spoke of "tolerance and curiosity."
They seemed the children of whom the new president spoke as he said, "We carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Some 60 students from Darlene Wiggins' and Ann Balerud's first-grade classes and Jennifer Guild and Amy Maarsingh's kindergartens watched the swearing-in and speeches amazingly fidget-free.

=> Read more!

Washington service members deployed to Iraq watch Obama's inaugurationin a much more subdued atmosphere. Check out the story on our military blog, FOB Tacoma.

Macon Phillips, director of new media for the White House, wrote one of the first posts for the official White House blog that went live today.

One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

The initial new media efforts will concentrate on communication, transparency and participation, Phillips says.

The post includes a link to a form where visitors can leave their suggestions for what they want to see from WhiteHouse.gov.

Any ideas?

Angie Tjoelker, the Puyallup woman who went to D.C. with her roommate to watch the inauguration, wrote earlier today that being in Washington D.C. for the inauguration was "flippin sweet."

She has a different take on what it was like to leave the National Mall. She compared it something from a disaster movie.

Angie writes:

2:16pm. I feel like I'm in a disaster movie. Getting out of the National Mall was INSANE! We were in the biggest crush of people and took a half hour to go 30 feet.

Most streets are closed and are literally filled wall to wall with people. It is absolutely surreal to be walking on 4 lane road in a group of thousands of people and pass under an overpass with more people going a different way.

Jess and I ducked into a building to wait for a few hours. We are currently sitting in a hallway with about 50 other people with the same idea.

This is CRAZY! If I didn't know better I would think that some catastrophic event just occurred.

But, it is still fun. The stories we can now tell...

So who pops up in a Chicago Tribune scene-setter on the wire this morning but Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma. They even spelled his name right.

Standing in a blocks-long line awaiting entrance to the West Lawn, Bill
Baarsma, 66, the Democratic mayor of Tacoma, Wash., noted the symmetry of
the two inaugurations he has attended.

The first was Lyndon Johnson’s in 1965, thought to have drawn the largest
inaugural crowd, a record Baarsma believes was broken Tuesday.

“It wasn’t anything like this, trust me,” Baarsma said. “I don’t remember
standing in line like this.”

There’s another, more profound link between that inauguration and this one, Baarsma observed. Johnson used much of the political capital of his presidency to push for passage of civil rights legislation that accelerated political participation by blacks.

“It set the table for Obama,” Baarsma said.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Norm Dicks has an uncanny ability to puts things into perspective. Tomorrow the House Appropriations Committee will mark up a more than $800 billion stimulus bill. But today he was as wowed as everyone else.

“It was the most amazing view, all you could see was people,” said Dicks.

Dicks shook hands with Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, and got a good look at the kids, Mailia and Sasha.

The congressman said Obama’s speech was “solid” and spelled out the “hard realities” the nation faces.

“Now the hard part begins,” Dicks said, adding Obama commands “real political power because he commands real respect.”

Dicks isn’t going to the Western states ball tonight, but he made it to Al Gore’s Green Ball last night. He and Gore are long-time colleagues and friends.

Here are some open-to-the-public inaugural events tonight. Let us know if you know of others.

• The Tacoma Colored Women's Club, 2331 S. Yakima Ave., will be hosting a celebration from 6 to 10 p.m. featuring a big screen television, music and food.

• 2nd District Democrats will meet up at Amici Italian Eatery, 9807 224th St. E in Graham from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for a no-host dinner and drinks.

• Pierce County Democrats and People for Peace, Justice and Healing are organizing a party at the Swiss Tavern, 1904 S. Jefferson Ave., Tacoma. The free, 21-and-over event features live music by The Disclaimers and a big screen with feed from D.C.

A couple more dispatches from Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON – As with most politicians, check that – as with most people who were there – Gov. Chris Gregoire was just trying to comprehend what she had just seen when she called after the inauguration.

“I’ve never seen anything this historic in my life. I can’t think of anything that comes close,” Gregoire said. “As far as you could see there was nothing but people. Oh my word.”

The governor said Obama became president at a most challenging time. “But look at the hope, look at the optimism,” she said

---------------------
WASHINGTON – Sen. Maria Cantwell just called and said the view from the podium where she was sitting was unbelievable.

The exact quote: “You walk out there and see all those people down the mall – it was breathtaking. If you sit still and just absorb what is happening, every inaugural is pretty historic but this was against the backdrop of hard economic times.”

Cantwell said she liked Obama’s speech.

“He was forceful in saying we will meet our challenges,” she said. “When generations from now look back, they will realize we succeeded.”

Also on the podium was Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash.

“I will never see a day like this again,” Baird said. “It was amazing, this incredible sea of humanity.”

Here's one from Joe Turner in Olympia.

This was a particularly special day for Washington state Sen. Rosa
Franklin, D-Tacoma, who is starting her 20th year in the Legislature.
She is President pro tempore of the Senate.

Franklin, 81, is black. She began her legislative career after working
many years as a nurse.

She watched the inaugural with other state senators and staffers on a
big screen TV in the majority caucus room.

"It is a day of renewing the spirit of what our country is all about –
about our country being for everyone," she told me afterward. "Anyone
can be a leader."

=> Read more!

A crowd at the Oasis of Hope Center on Tacoma’s Hilltop cheered when Barack Obama finished the oath of office.

Ella Haynie, 80, raised her arms and said, “Thank you Jesus.”
“This is a great day,” she said.

She said she never thought she would see a black person become president in her lifetime. Obama is “a man for all people – every race,” she said.

“Things are going to get better,” said Haynie, of Tacoma. “The change has come.”

Kecia Betts joined about 100 people to watch the inauguration on a 16-by-16 foot screen at the center. She took a day off from her job as a school teacher to watch the events for what she called the biggest day in African American history. Others also said they took time off work so they wouldn’t miss the inauguration.

Betts said Obama’s election marked the first time she felt part of the “American fabric.”

When she saw Obama take his place for the inauguration, Betts cheered and yelled, “Yeah, baby!”

“This is a long time coming,” said Betts, of Tacoma. “Look at how many barriers this man has broken.”

At the center, part of Greater Christ Temple Church, people sat around tables, sipped coffee, and watched the events on CNN. They listened intently and broke into applause and cheering often.

=> Read more!

Angie Tjoelker of Puyallup made it to a location close to the Washington Monument to witness this morning's inauguration. She updated her blog, "Don't Choke," a little after 9 a.m. East Coast time.

In a post entitled "day 4: Inauguration!" she wrote:

9:11am. We are here! It is impossible to describe the mood and feeling here. Everyone chanting in the subways. Singing together in the crowd. It is incredible!

Jess is eating leftover kabob right now and it is grossing me out.

No guarantees about being able to post anymore due to spotty cell reception.

In case people are looking for us, we are close to the washington monument facing the capitol.

This is flippin sweet!

Here was the scene at The Spar this morning, sent in by reader Patricia Shuman. Feel free to email your photos and write ups and I'll post them here.

Kati Irons, one of the locals we're following in Washington D.C., made it to the base of the Washington Monument earlier this morning.

I gleaned that from her Twitter update.

I also gather that it's quite cold.

Here's one of her "tweets":

Ready to head down to DC.Wearing about 12 layers of clothes. Want to be only person in 1st Aid tent for heat exhaustion. about 7 hours ago from web

Her last report came about three hours ago, and it made another reference to the cold. Haven't seen any digital evidence of her since then, so hopefully she's not being treated for heat exhaustion -- or frost bite.

Another dispatch from Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON – Some in the crowd at the inauguration were disappointed, not by President Obama but because they never made it to the ceremony.

Just talked with Daniel Roy of Belfair, who along with his wife, Ann, founded Grandparents for Obama. They had tickets but waited outside a security checkpoint for more than three hours before giving up and heading back to their hotel to watch. Luckily, their hotel had a view of Pennsylvania Avenue, and they were able to see the limo holding Obama and then-President Bush headed from the White House to the Capitol.

“We decided if we couldn’t see it live, we would see it on television,” Roy said. “Sure I’m disappointed, but I feel I have been very fortunate. It’s still been exciting.”

You may have heard the applause up in Tacoma (OK, maybe not). There are a handful of Washington state senators, sergeants at arms, staffers and others gathered on the floor of the state Senate to watch our new President be sworn in.

Others are gathered in the gallery. There are probably 50 of us in or overlooking the chamber. But there are televisions on all over the state Capitol Campus with other small gatherings of spectators.

More later. Obama is speaking, so I'll shut up.

UPDATE: Wow. That was short and sweet. It got a standing applause down here.

I wandered around the wings of the Senate and went over the House chamber. They also had President Barack Obama on the big screens. (There's a lot of 'em in Olympia. You'd think this was a sports bar.)

Sens. Jim Kastama, Karen Fraser, Ed Murray, Linda Parlette, Brian Hatfield, Janea Holmquist, Phil Rockefeller and Mike Hewitt are on the floor or standing in the wings.

Marty Brown, the governor's legislative liaison, came up one floor to the Senate chambers, too. I guess the guv doesn't have a big screen.

I'll try to catch some of them later. They're listening to a poet at the moment.

I knew Gov. Chris Gregoire was in D.C. but I just found out that Sens. Jeannie Kohl Welles of Seattle and Claudia Kauffman of Kent also made the trip.

Good morning.

To accompany the constant stream of national coverage, News Tribune reporters will be covering the inauguration through the eyes of South Sound residents. Our D.C. correspondent Les Blumenthal is hooking up with groups and individuals who are among the crowd in the Mall. Joe Turner will get reaction and color from Olympia. Other reporters will be out in the field and on the phones, capturing the scene as South Sound residents watch and reflect on the day. We'll be updating this blog as items come in.

We'd love to hear directly from you about how you are marking the occasion and how you feel about the ceremony and the speech. Drop me an email with your dispatch or photo and I'll post it on Political Buzz.

From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. Bureau

WASHINGTON - Just got back from the Mall where I was trying to hook-up with a group of eighth-graders from Mason Middle School in Tacoma. It didn't work.

The group had gotten up at 4:30 a.m., rode their bus from their hotel in a suburb 25 miles out, wandered through downtown for a half hour or so and finally arrived at a security checkpoint with about 10,000 other people. I must've gotten within about 30 feet of them, but I couldn't get through the crowd. Marilyn O'Malley-Hicks, the teacher leading the group, was in cell phone contact, but it wasn't going to happen.

Security was tight throughout downtown, but not oppressive. Military police directed traffic, though many downtown streets were blocked off. Even the U.S. Postal Police had a presence.

Hawkers were selling everything from T-shirts to hand warmers and foot warmers. "$5 T-shirts, no batteries required," said one.

A few people carried anti-Bush signs. One read, "Bush your time is up."

The crowd was black, white, young, old and mostly calm as they swarmed toward the mall.

Among those attending was Yakama Tribal Chairman Ralph Sampson Jr. "We're seeing a little bit of history," he said.

Sampson was in town for the inauguration and a meeting of the National Congress of American Indians. They were earlier briefed by the Obama transition team. "It's good to have Democrats in office," he said.

As for the crowd, Sampson said, "It's kind of like a stockyard here."

Rep. Don Cox, who served 8 years in the House, was selected to replace Rep. Steve Hailey, who died last month.

Cox will be back in town today or tomorrow.

Cox takes office as new 9th District state representative

Shortly after his appointment Monday by 9th District county commissioners, Colfax Republican Don Cox took the oath of office from Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier, and at 1 p.m. became the newest member of the Washington State House of Representatives.

Cox was chosen from a field of three finalists to succeed the late Rep. Steve Hailey, who announced his resignation Dec. 11, 2008, and succumbed to colon cancer Dec. 28.

=> Read more!

The Washington Round Table can see the writing on the wall: help for employees will come at their expense, either now or eventually.

As I reported last Wednesday, Gov. Chris Gregoire said in her second inaugural address that she wants to raise weekly unemployment benefit checks by $45 a week and cut employer contribution rates. Each part of her proposal would cost $200 million. That's a total of $400 million that would be taken from the $4 billion in the unemployment insurance trust fund.

I guess businesses figure when the bill for both of those changes comes due, it will be mailed to them.

Here's what Andrew Garber had to say on the Seattle Times blog.

That's how it appears. Why else would Rep. Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, say on TVW that we shouldn't expect to see a supplemental budget by the end of January. Instead, she said, there will be selective, targeted cuts.

It appears to be a gamble on getting bailout money from Obama Claus. If the state does get enough money, and enough for the right purposes, it would save House Democrats from cutting into programs and then having to gear back up when the money comes.

Of course, the flip side is that if they put off making $1 in cuts in the remaining 6 months of this biennium, they will have to make deeper cuts in the 24 months of the next biennium.

Linville, new chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee, made the remarks on TVW show last week.

Here is a link to Niki Sullivan's blog for TVW.

The annual demonstrations at the on the state Capitol Campus will take on greater significance this year, especially the one organized by proverty advocates. Those numbers are likely to grow in our recession.

PRESS ADVISORY
January 16, 2009

Statewide Poverty Action Network
Washington CAN!

MLK, Jr. Day: Hundreds of Low-income

Washingtonians to March on the State Capitol

What: Olympia march and rally calling for health care, housing, payday lending reform, income supports and immigration/naturalization services. Over 500 low-income Washingtonians march and rally from St. John’s Church to the Capitol steps where they are joined by key state lawmakers.

When: Monday, January 19th, 2009
11:45am March begins at St. John’s Episcopal Church
12: 30pm Rally at Capitol Steps with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and House Speaker Frank Chopp

Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church (corner of Capitol Way at 20th Ave SE)

=> Read more!

Not all of them, mind you, but some are talking about tolls, and that is significant. A couple years ago, the Legislature passed a budget that removed Alaskan Way Viaduct from the list of projects that were assumed to be paid for with tolls.

So, bringing back such talk is the beginning of something.

Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, chairwoman of the House Transportation Comittee, sent an e-mail to her fellow House Democrats. She's explaining what's going on in the wake of Gov. Chris Gregoire's annoucement about that the guv is recommending a tunnel be built (after insisting for a year or so that it must be another elevated viaduct.) Clibborn is referring to the deal between Gregoire, Seattle, King County and Port of Seattle.

The agreement sets the state’s commitment at $2.82 billion. This is $420 million more than we have currently earmarked for the project. No decision has been reached on how that $420 million will be financed, but tolls are being considered.

Check out my earlier post, which has a link to the letter of agreement.

Here is the rest of Clibborn's e-mail, in case Reps. Richard DeBolt, Dan Roach and the rest of the minority Republican caucus are interested. (They weren't on the list.)

=> Read more!

Now don't get mad at me, Randy Hodgins, but I had to laugh when I read that Qwest Field won't support the University of Washington's "fan base." It has only, what, 60,000 seats?

And that's why you want Husky stadium to have more than 72,000 seats.

Right now, I think the Husky fan base (and I'm a UW alum, OK?) would fit quite comfortably into one of those canoes on the Montlake Cut.

One of the two daily newspapers in Seattle has an article about how hard it will be to get the Legislature to approve use of King County taxes for Dawg pound expansion.

Here's a good story in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, which is still in business, by the way.

OK. I'm officially suffering from informational overload.

A technology immigrant such as myself was barely able to create a NetVibes page so I could keep track of what my statehouse colleagues were writing.

Then, last night Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, told me all the Senate Democrats have their own blogs. Holy Blogosphere, Batman!

I haven't decided which ones I will put on a NetVibes page, but Kilmer said Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, is a real hoot!

Here's a link to the Senate Democrats' blog page.

(View it at your own risk.)

I'm guessing the good senators' most prolific blogging will be done when the full Senate is in session and their colleagues are delivering floor speechs.

I think it would be taxpayers statewide, but it's impossible to tell from the agreement struck by Gov. Chris Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, King County Executive Ron Sims and the Port of Seattle.

Here's the letter of agreement that was signed by the guv, mayor and exec.

Read it carefully. The letter says each government takes on specific responsibilities for parts of the project and that includes "project cost overruns," for what is now ESTIMATED to be a $4.24 billion project.

(The Big Dig, by the way, is a project in Boston that started out with a $2.8 billion estimate, then ran into trouble and will end up costing $22 billion. It's the most expensive highway project in history. And it's a TUNNEL! In a waterfront city!)

First, the governor has committed state taxpayers to spend at least $2.82 billion on the Alaskan Way Tunnel. (Notice how it keeps growing from $2.4 billion to $2.8 billion to $2.81 billion to $2.82 billion?) But even that's not firm. The agreement doesn't put that dollar amount limit on the state's financial obligation. That's just an "estimate."

Even worse, the state appears to be taking on the portion of the project that is most likely to encounter Big Dig sorts of overruns: the tunnel.

=> Read more!

Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, is the lead sponsor on Senate Bill 5163, a measure that would suspend for two years (the 2009-11 biennium) the state program that sets aside 1/2 percent of the money spent on state construction projects for public art.

Here is a link to his bill.

"The governor talked about sacred cows (in her inaugural address) and this is a sacred cow," Hobbs said. Gov. Chris Gregoire said Wednesday some sacred cows should be put out to pasture. "Everyone's concerned about the budget."

Hobbs said the estimated savings is $5 million for the next biennium. The state is facing a $6 billion deficit over the next 30 months.

UPDATE: Here's how much money the state has spent on public art in recent years.
2002-03: $3 million.
2004-05: $4 million.
2006-07: $4.5 million
And last year, the state spend $1.9 million.

"I actually like the program, but everyone's gotta tighten their belts," he said.

Mark Gerth, spokesman for the Washington State Arts Commission, said the 1/2 percent set-aside for public art is for state buildings, colleges and public schools. That means the state portion of public school funding is used to calculate how much should be spent on public art in high schools, etc.

"Ours is one of the few programs in the nation that extends to public schools and we're very proud of that," Gerth said.

He's gonna get back to me with numbers on how much has been spent on art in the past.

Hobbs has a mix of Democrats and Republicans signed on as co-sponsors. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee, but is not yet scheduled for public hearing.

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, is the prime sponsor of a bill that would prohibit the state from spending any money on public art when the state is buildign additions to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island or on any of the halfway houses for sex offenders who graduate from the "big house"

That 1/2 percent of construction costs. I believe there is a planned expansion to the facility that how houses about 300 civilly committed sex offenders.

His proposal is Senate Bill 5217.

Here is the full text of the bill.

There is another, broader bill that would eliminate public art funding for all state projects and it's got bipartisan sponsorship. The impetus for that is the $6 billion budget deficit. Not sure how that one will fare. The Arts Commission has clout with many lawmakers.

I'll get back to you on that broader bill. I have to find it again.

I have to tip my hat to Jason Mercier for his quip (those are his words in the headline) after learning the state Arts Commission had extended the contract for its Poet Laureat through the end of 2009.

Mercier is director for the Center for Government Reform for the Washington Policy Center, a sorta watchdog group on state spending.

Samuel L. Green of Waldron will get $13,500 for continuing his job as Washington Poet Laureat. The governor's budget office approved the 1-year contract extension last month.

I also have to commend Mercier for his restraint. He made no mention of the state's $6 billion budget shortfall -- well, not directly anyway.

He's leaving the Olympia Press Corps to go work for newly sworn-in state Treasurer Jim McIntire.

Once again, Niki Sullivan has a post with links to the Post Intelligencer's announcement.

With the imminent sale of the P.I. (or not) you can't blame the guy. And he's another who loved being a reporter.

Dave Ammons, Associated Press
Dave Postman, Seattle Times
Ralph Thomas, Seattle Times
Chris Mulick, TriCity Herald
Chris McGann, Seattle P.I.

And I'm not mentioning the newspapers who just pulled their reporters out of Olympia.

Who's next?

I knew reading the TVW blog would pay off for our readers, too.

They reported the Randy Hodgins told members of the Appropriations Committee that the UW will freeze enrollment, so 300-400 fewer students will be admitted. That's out of something like 40,000 total enrollment.

Gov. Chris Gregoire gave the universities a lot of flexibility to make cuts where they choose.

Here is a link to Niki Sullivan's post on Capitol Record, the TVW blog.

A commenter on the post about Jan Shabro being appointed Pierce County Auditor made reference to Shabro finishing one point ahead of Dick McEntee, one of two other finalists for the position. It attributes the statement to Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri.

I wan't aware of any scoring system being used in the controversial appointment, so I asked Muri for an explanation. He said he used his own personal scoring system to rank the candidates, and it's a practice he's used hundreds of times in the Air Force.

The council as a whole did not score the candidates, but Muri said he informed his colleagues of the outcome of his scoring during the executive session just before the council vote.

For the record, Shabro finished with 59 points out of 70 on the Muri Scale, one point ahead of McEntee. Katie Blinn scored a 46.

The appointment is controversial because Democrats wanted the council to replace Democrat Pat McCarthy with another Democrat, even though voters approved a charter change in 2007 making the position non-partisan. Nathe Lawver, chairman of the Pierce County Democratic Party, maintains that council members improperly modified the charter and repeatedly violated state Open Public Meetings law while creating the process for appointing a replacement for McCarthy.

=> Read more!

This is the segment from downtown Seattle to the University District and Husky Stadium. The first segment from downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac International Airport will open later this year. The $1.9 billion University Link line is scheduled to open in 2016 and add more than 70,000 daily riders to the system, Sound Transit says.

FTA awards Sound Transit $813M grant to begin University Link light rail extension

Sound Transit today welcomed Federal Transit Administration officials to Seattle as the FTA awarded an $813 million grant to build the University Link light rail extension. The nation’s top transit official awarded the grant agreement at Sound Transit headquarters.

“It’s time to get to work and start digging,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “Thanks to the FTA and Senator Murray, we’re ready to deliver more transit options and more construction jobs to this region with the University Link project.”

=> Read more!

Here's a story I wrote for tomorrow's paper. You've seen parts of it already because I wrote about them in mid-December when Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled her 2009-11 capital, transportation and operating budgets.

Here is a link to the project list.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
Expansion of the University of Washington Tacoma is one of the projects that Gov. Chris Gregoire counts as part of Washington Jobs Now, the state version of an economic stimulus plan that she says will create 20,000 jobs over the next two years.
The governor unveiled her jobs plan Thursday in Seattle, but it’s largely a repackaging of the transportation and capital budgets she submitted to the Legislature in mid-December, with an added emphasis on green-collar jobs, sweeter unemployment benefits and some last-minute add-ons such as paving projects that can begin fairly soon.
There is $34 million for Phase III of the UW Tacoma campus, a project that will renovate the Joy Building in downtown Tacoma and add a fourth floor to provide additional classroom and faculty office space. That building will help the campus make a transition to a four-year campus. It will provide capacity for at least 600 more fulltime students.

=> Read more!

I'm losing track of all the unions that are suing Gov. Chris Gregoire, basically accusing her of double-crossing them by not forwarding agreed-upon contracts with pay raises to the Legislature.

Her budget director, Victor Moore, said the state can't afford to pay for the pay raises, so the guv doesn't have to.

Nurses at Rainier School, Western State Hospital and other state facilities are among the 900 state nurses who are suing to governor.

The suit, filed on behalf of 900 state registered nurses, alleges bad faith bargaining, breach of contract, and failure to follow the legal mandate that would implement the collectively bargained agreement.

The 40,000-member Federation of State Employees was the first to sue. Two SEIU locals followed suit, so to speak. This latest one by the nurses is another local of the Service Employees International Union. It's 1199NW.

State Nurses Sue Governor to Protect Safe Patient Care

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW registered nurses today filed suit in King County to protect patient care and public safety in state psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, and schools for developmentally disabled and juvenile offenders.

=> Read more!

God Bless the Washington State Labor Council, David Groves and all the kind works they do for struggling workers everywhere!

(There! Does that make up for all the slights I've given you so far and all those I'll give labor in the future?)

Seriously, David has a point about our set-up for this legislative session. We tended to give more of an airing to business concerns than labor. But, trust me, it will balance out over the session.

Here are the stories he refers to, John Gillie's and mine. Both ran in last Sunday's paper.

Here's the exchange of e-mails between Groves and me, starting Monday, the very first day of session.

I couldn't help but compare the legislative-agenda coverage you granted all the business lobbying groups (today's "Business lobby battens down" featuring a complete listing of their priorities along with their explanation of why they are necessary -- sans comment from opponents of their agenda), compared to the coverage you gave the state's largest labor organization after we had a press briefing on our agenda last week (Joe's blog posting about one of our issues -- raising unemployment benefits -- and a quick mention in an Joe's Sunday article about whether taxes will increase).

=> Read more!

This is a particularly scathing condemnation of King County government and the way it treated a public records request by a citizen. The case was from 1997.

UPDATE: The lawyer for Allied Daily Newspapers called me back. She said the fine at $15 a day amounted to about $123,000. At $100 a day, it would be well over $750,000.

Here is part the 5-4 ruling handed down today by the Washington Supreme Court:

Specifically, we decide whether the trial court abused its discretion by imposing a $15 per day penalty in response to King County's grossly negligent noncompliance with the Public Records Act. Under the facts of this case we hold the trial court abused its discretion by imposing a penalty at the low end of the PRA penalty range.

The case is Armen Yousoufian vs. Office of King County Executive Ron Sims. It involves a public records request made in 1997 by a guy who wanted to learn more about the rationale for the public to build a $300 million stadium for the Seattle Seahawks.

Lower court judges ruled against King County for giving Yousoufian the royal runaround, but fined the county only $15 a day for the violation of the state Public Records and Open Meetings Act.

The court majority said the fine should be at the high end of the $5 to $100 a day range because there were many "aggravating" circumstances, and "proper deterrence for King County and others clearly requires a penalty at the high end of the penalty range."

Here's my favorite line from the ruling:
"A flea bite does little to deter an elephant."

=> Read more!

Circle that date on your calendar. That's when the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council meets to listen to chief economist Arun Raha tell them just how much money legislative budget writers can expect for the remainder of the 2007-09 biennium and the next next one.

Generally, the Legislature (this time it will be the Senate going first) comes out with its budget proposal. It's merely a coincidence that March Madness begins around the same time as the revenue forecast. However, this year, it may refer to more than just the NCAA basketball tournament.

State Sen. Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield, top Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Commitee, already is predicting a $7.5 billion deficit. (That's for a 30-month period.) Technically, right now we're up to about $6.2 billion, but that includes $220 million of new spending in Gov. Chris Gregoire's 2009-11 budget proposal.

Like any other new policy proposal, the recommendations of the Basic Education Funding Task Force will have to fight its way through a Legislature focused on budget problems.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of interest in the final report which was released today (warning, it is a big file).

The task force was charged with looking at how the state pays for education and how it might change the way money is doled out. It also looked at what should be considered basic education and how to get some long-discussed reforms in place.

Here are some of the major findings:

– Stop paying teachers based on the degrees they earn and instead reward them for earning certification and then for how well they do, based on a new peer evaluation system;
– Create a mentoring program for new teachers;
– Give bonuses to schools that increase academic achievement;
– Attack the achievement gap by providing resources so disadvantaged children will get more instructional time to help them catch up.

In return for accepting some of the changes, schools would see more state money and teachers would be paid a lot more than they are now.

Here's a shorter summary of the report prepared by the bipartisan group of legislators most responsible for the final result.

Sure, a swearing in ceremony is supposed to be serious. After all, most of these folks spent a lot of money to win these offices.

But Lt. Gov. Brad Owen felt the need to speed things along and lighten then up after Brian Sonntag took the oath for his fifth term as state Auditor. Unlike previous office holders who shook the hands of a few of the dignitaries on the rostrum in the House Chambers, Sonntag shook every single hand.

Owen started tapping his finger on the podium and then started humming the theme from Jeopardy. You know, the music that plays while contestants are trying to find the answer to Final Jeopardy.

Sonntag finally made it back to his seat and said in a stage whisper, "Hey, they're all voters."

Gov. Chris Gregoire kicked off her fifth year in office Wednesday by calling upon lawmakers and citizens to be brave and help each other survive what may be the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“This is our time. A time like no other. Our time to show courage,” she said. “Our time to reach across the aisle – Democrats and Republicans – to help our people. We cannot ride out the hard times and then go back to business as usual. Instead, we must renew hope for Washingtonians who are suffering today, and lay for them a platform for a better tomorrow.”

The governor, who won reelection in November to a second four-year term, was delivering her second inaugural address to a joint session of the House and Senate.

=> Read more!

Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, a retired Seattle police sergeant, has sponsored a bill to look into the possibility of surgically implanting tracking devices in sex offenders who have been released to the community.

His proposal, embodied in House Bill 1142, would hire the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to see whether implanting "subcutaneous" radio frequency identification devices could be used economically to keep an eye on offenders.

The group would report back to the Legislature in December.

That RFID technology is what the state uses on the Narrows Bridge to electronically collect tolls from motorist. It's that little chip in the decal that we put on our windshields.

One thought that comes to mind is that scene from Total Recall, when Arnold Schwarzenegger's character realizes he is being tracked and pulls the huge bulbous device out of his nostril. I think of this only because, just as ex-cons sometimes disable their ankle bracelets, so too would some of them scratch the RFID tag out from under their skin.

Here's a link to the full text of the bill.

The bill has been referred to te House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee, but I don't think it's scheduled for a public hearing yet.

John Ladenburg, who also is a huge Bob Dylan fan (so don't get him started on that tangent), does a pretty good imitation of Bill Crystal's "Fernando" character.

For those of you who think Saturday Night Live began with Tina Fey, that's the "You look mahvelous!" schtick from the very early years of SNL. (For more info, see an earlier post on Don Fernando Brad Owen.)

There. Now you have some non-political questions to ask the former Pierce County executive.

The Ladenburg Legacy

Tacoma, WA – You’ve read The News Tribune’s editorial about John Ladenburg’s legacy, and also the comments of Pierce County political leaders gathered by the TNT’s David Wickert. Some letters to the editor and blog posts have presented contrasting views. Now let’s hear from Ladenburg himself.

=> Read more!

THIS WORD JUST IN FROM REPORTER JASON HAGEY

The Pierce County Council has appointed former county councilwoman and state legislator Jan Shabro, a Republican, as auditor to replace Pat McCarthy, who was elected county executive.

The council chose Shabro over Katie Blinn, assistant state director of elections, and Dick McEntee, a former Nalley's executive and community volunteer.

The council voted 5-1. Councilwoman Barbara Gelman voted no. Councilman Terry Lee was absent.

Cliff Webster, who actually still reads the print edition of newspapers, just dropped by to see if the press corps in Olympia still exists because he read that we are a dwindling lot.

He also wanted to rent space in our building if we have space.

(We're on campus, so we reporters (our digs, anyway) are the envy of regulars during session.)

Yes. We are dwindling. Yes. We have space. No. It's not available to lobbyists.

But thanks for asking, Cliff.

Gov. Chris Gregoire also will be sworn in at noon Wednesday. She delivers her speech to members of the Legislature (and a TV audience) from the House chambers in the Legislative (domed) Building.

I don't know who decided she would deliver it at noon (maybe it's so she can get it out of the way before the ball tomorrow night) but I'm glad they did. Always annoyed me how the guv's office was trying to accommodate the 5 and 6 o'oclock TV news shows.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday will take the oath of office before delivering her inaugural address in the House chambers at a joint session that also will be attended by members of the Washington Supreme Court, state elected officials and other dignitaries as well as the public.

For interested media TVW will be carrying both the ceremony and inaugural address LIVE on statewide cable TV – Comcast Channel 23 – or on-line at www.tvw.org</blockquote>

Channel 23 is TVW on Comcast in Olympia. The rest of you, check your local listings.

Adam Glickman of the Service Employees International Union 775NW, the local that represents 23,000 home care workers in contract negotiations with the governor, just dropped by the office.

He said the Supremes have agreed to fast track the lawsuit that SEIU filed against Gov. Chris Gregoire for not forwarding their contract to the Legislature for approval (or rejection.) That contract contains a 47-cent-an-hour pay raise for workers over the next two years.

The union contends the governor has no right to not send it on. State law requires her to do so if the contract if approved by an arbitrator, which is what happened in this case.

The governor's budget director, Victor Moore, said the state basically can't afford to pay for the raises because the state is facing a $6 billion deficit.

Here is the ruling, signed by the court commissioner. Looks as if most of the paperwork has to be filed by mid-February.

As Marty Brown, the governor's main lobbyist, observed last week, fast track just means the lawyers for both sides have to file stuff in a hurry. The Supremes still take their sweet time making a decision. (Or something like that.)

Here's an earlier posting on the SEIU stuff.

It took me awhile, (I've been working on this off and on since Christmas) but I've finally done a line-by-line analysis of Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2009-11 transportation budget and compared it to the project list approved by the 2008 Legislature.

Both budgets are actually 6- to 10-year plans.

Here are the winners and losers in the governor's budget. The key is this: any project that is delayed beyond 2015 probably won’t get built unless the state gets a whole lot more money -- either from higher taxes or from a huge federal windfall from Santa Obama Claus.

The governor balances her budget six years out, and she does so by borrowing one heckuva lot of money. So much so, that by 2016, almost 80 cents out of every $1 the state collects in transportation taxes will be spent paying off old debts. That doesn't leave much money for new stuff.

LOSERS

Tacoma carpool lanes: The 2008 Legislature committed $586 million to build carpool lanes on Interstate 5 from the Tacoma Mall through Fife between 2009 and 2013. Gregoire cuts that amount to $116 million in that four-year period, shifts another $370 million to the 2013-15 biennium and puts off more than $160 million of work beyond 2015.

Highway 167 (Pierce County): The 2008 Legislature included money only to buy property and do preliminary design work on the future extension of the highway from Port of Tacoma to Puyallup, but Gregoire that amount by $73 million in the current 2007-09 budget -- from $90 million to $17 million. More than $100 in funding from the Legislature would be moved beyond 2015. That means costs are $40 million higher because property will cost more 10 years out.

=> Read more!

BY BRIAN EVERSTINE
The News Tribune

The Pierce County Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Monday afternoon to attempt to block the appointment of the next Pierce County auditor, which is scheduled for this afternoon.

The party had said for weeks that they would seek a court rule to stop the appointment because the process the council used was illegal and that the body repeatedly violated state law while looking for a replacement.

“My hope is that they stop this process,” party chairman Nathe Lawver said Monday evening. “What the County Council is doing is illegal.”

=> Read more!

And Gov. Chris Gregoire's office finally is confirming what Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was telling everybody yesterday.

The total cost of the replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct is now pegged at $4.24 billion, including the 2-mile tunnel that will open up the downtown Seattle waterfront.

The governor says the state’s commitment is $2.81 billion. That includes restoring the land under the existing viaduct to a four-lane surface street.

Here's the deal: The Legislature has committed only $2.4 billion to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. That means, if the governor gets her way, the additional $400 million probably will come from one of the other 391 projects that were supposed to be built with money from the 14.5-cent gas tax hikes in 2003 and 2005.

Hmmmm. I wonder which projects will be postponed to the point of never getting done. Gregoire's proposed 2009-11 transportation budget already would postpone at least $400 million of work for the ferry system and $400 million of work in Pierce County. And that was when she was assuming a total state commitment of only $2.4 billion!

Those carpool lanes on Interstate 5 from Tacoma to Fife? Not gonna happen. Only part of them will get built if Gregoire prevails.

Keep this in mind: The guv, Seattle, the port and King County exec SEEM to be in agreement, but it's still only a recommendation to the Legislature.

UPDATE: And House Speaker Frank Chopp, who has his own ideas, makes it clear the Legislature has the final say. They hold the purse strings. Chopp notes the guv and others chose the most expensive option, one that Seattle voters rejected. And they are the ones who, theoretically, might be on the hook for part of the difference between $2.8 billion and $4.24 billion.

=> Read more!

This is not a new request. Counties, particularly the highly urbanized counties like King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, want the same kinds of taxes that cities have. Chief among them is the utility tax.

This was to be expected, given the budget and revenue problems that local governments are running into. It's also highly unlikely they will get a utility taxing authority, but the Legislature may find some other ways to help counties.

King County Council calls on state lawmakers
to act on revenue options for counties
State legislative agenda seeks flexibility for counties
to set local fees and revenue sources to avert another budget crisis

As the state Legislature convenes today in Olympia, one of its priorities must be to fix the broken structure for providing revenues for all counties across the state, according to the state legislative agenda unanimously adopted today by the Metropolitan King County Council.

=> Read more!

I'm just catching up with my e-mail inbox.

Dow Constantine, who is from West Seattle, used to be a state senator. Our paths crossed mostly when it came to ferry service, since his legislative district includes Vashon Island.

Constantine had a hand in creating a ferry district in King County so the county could take over state foot ferry service between Vashon and downtown Seattle.

Dow Constantine to chair King County Council in 2009
New vice-chairs, committees, and committee chairs also named

Members of the Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously elected Dow Constantine as Council Chair for 2009, named Bob Ferguson and Jane Hague as Vice-Chairs, and approved a reorganization of their standing committees that shares leadership on a non-partisan basis and shifts their weekly Committee of the Whole meetings from Mondays to Wednesdays.

=> Read more!

The Washington Transportation Commission will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday to hold a work session on whether to raise tolls on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge sooner than what a citizen advisory committee has recommended.

The advisory committee wants to hold steady at $4 for cash and $2.75 for electronic tolls for one more year -- until July 1, 2010.

Department of Transportation staff wanted to go higher. So, this is where we find out whether the citizen committee is just so much window dressing and DOT staff gets to do what they want anyway, or if the committee actually has some clout and is listened to.

(Warning: Shameless self-promotion ahead)

Gov. Chris Gregoire reflected on her recent trip to Iraq to visit Washington National Guard soldiers deployed with the 81st Brigade Combat Team. She talked about the logistics of the trip, meeting Ambassador Ryan Crocker (a Spokane native) and the unit's equipment levels.

Feel free to mosey on over to read about it at our military blog, FOB Tacoma.

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, (D-Lincoln High School), is sporting a new beard (with lots a salt and not much pepper) and it's such a change from the usually clean-shaven Owen that it knocks the good senators off their stride.

Just about everyone who stood to speak on the floor of the Senate today remarked on it. And they kept telling Owen how good it looked.

Sen. Jim Hargrove did.

Sen. Mike Hewitt did.

Finally, Sen. Karen Fraser stood up to speak.

"You want to tell me how good I look, too?" Owen asked her.

"I've known you for a long time and you always look good," Fraser said.

Where's Billy Crystal when you need him?

As you'll see below in the full text of House Speaker Frank Chopp's speech, the late Rep. Bill Grant of Walla Walla was one of the few people who could get away with calling the Speaker "Frankie."

Chopp's remarks on the first day of this legislative session repeat a familiar theme: One Washington. And his new refrain, "We can see our future in ...."

One of them acknowledges an effort in Tacoma.

We can see our future in the faces of the 5th graders in Tacoma who are being taught about civic involvement through their efforts to create the Zina Linnik Park, next to their school.

Zina was the Tacoma girl whose Fourth of July abduction and murder led to an overhaul of sex offender laws.

Speaker Chopp’s Acceptance Speech
January 12, 2009

Welcome to the People’s House.

Thank you Eileen, for your nomination.

And thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as your Speaker.

=> Read more!

Officials from the City of Tacoma, the Skokomish Indian Tribe and numerous federal agencies officially ended a decades-long dispute over the Cushman Dam Hydroelectric Project with a signing ceremony this morning in Tacoma.

After years of acrimony, the city's utility and the Skokomish Indian Tribe agreed to a settlement that calls for the tribe to receive a $12.6 million one-time cash payment, 7.25 percent of the value of electric production from the Cushman No. 2 powerhouse, and transfer of land worth $23 million that includes the Camp Cushman on Lake Cushman, the 500-acre Nalley Ranch and Saltwater Park on Hood Canal.

The agreement, approved by the city last month, resolves a $5.8 billion claim from the tribe for damages dating to the construction of a pair of dams in the 1920s that at times either completely or nearly completely diverted the flow of water from the North Fork of the Skokomish River.

Joseph Pavel, chairman of the Skokomish Tribal Council, said his tribe was a small one with limited resources, but they worked hard for decades to bring back fish runs, win back land, and gain relief from flooding.

=> Read more!

House Democrats will be looking to fill the vacancy created by the Jan. 4 death of caucus chairman Rep. Bill Grant of Walla Walla, but not right away.

Grant's funeral was just this weekend. But the legislative session began today, and Democrats need someone to take over their No. 3 leadership post. (House Speaker Frank Chopp is No. 1; Majority Leader Lynn Kessler is No. 2.)

Tacoma's Rep. Jeannie Darneille was caucus vice chairwoman for four years while Grant had the top job, and Puyallup's Rep. Dawn Morrell took over the vice chair job this year when Darneille got her own committee chairmanship.

Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish also is said to be interested in the post. But as chairman of the House Capital Budget Committee, he will be in charge of one of the few areas of government that actually gets to spend money instead of cutting spending.

Generally, members with leadership positions don't pull double duty by trying to chair a committee, so they would have to choose.

Here's the earlier post I had on Grant's death.

That's the topic of a bill that was pre-filed, that is, filed before the Legislature came to town.

(The only reason this bill is the first one I'm blogging about this session is that I was going in numberical order. Plus, I work for the media.)

House Bill 1017, sponsored by House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, would create a 13-member committee to "study" the feasibility of creating a commmittee that would resolve disputes over the Open Meetings Act. (Read the previous sentence twice.)

I'm guessing the board, which probably never will be created, would decide whether the public and-or media has a legitimate complaint against a city council or board of commissioners when they talk about something in private that they're not supposed to.

This is the kind of bill that one introduces to act like something substantive is in the works. And it has a very good chance of passing because it doesn't really do much.

Cities, counties and other local governments don't want anyone looking over their shoulders when it comes to what they do behind closed doors.

Here is a link to the full text of the bill.

Nita Rinehart ran for governor after a long career in the state Senate and before she became staff director for the Senate Democrats.

(Emily's List pulled the campaign financial rug out from under her and Gary Locke ended up winning that year's govenor's race.)

I remember her from the 1995 legislative session, when she was chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Republican Revolution in the fall of 1994 had given control of the House to the GOP and then-Rep. Dale Foreman, R-Wenatchee, sat across the table from Rinehart in the first open budget negotiations.

The 1995-97 budget also was the first to have its spending level limited by Initiative 601.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2009

Former legislator appointed to fill HECB vacancy

OLYMPIA—Governor Chris Gregoire has appointed former state legislator Nita Rinehart to a term on the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) that expires in June 2012.

Rinehart is well known in state government, having represented parts of Seattle in the Legislature from 1979 until 1996. She served one term in the House of Representatives and her remaining time in the Senate, where she chaired the Ways and Means Committee and a Higher Education Subcommittee.

=> Read more!

The size of that tax hike depends on how much money Washington gets from the feds, and how much further our state tax collections fall. (See previous post in this blog.)

Here's story that will appear in Sunday's print edition of The News Tribune.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Prospects for a sizeable tax increase hover in the background as state lawmakers converge on Olympia this week to begin grappling with a $6 billion budget shortfall.

Budget writers in the House and Senate say it’s too soon to talk about raising taxes and there are no specific proposals yet because the budget picture is likely to change by March and April. That’s when the Legislature will be finalizing a spending plan for the next two years.

But Democrats, who hold majorities in both chambers, also have made it clear they are not going to accept all the deep cuts that Gov. Chris Gregoire, a fellow Democrat, proposed last month in her no-new-taxes budget for 2009-11.

=> Read more!

They aren't all named Gates, Ballmer or Chihuly. Many of the 60 Washington residents who've given more than $1 million to Barack Obama's inauguration committee are regular people who've gotten caught up in the excitement. Although several have given the maximum $50,000 (you get tickets at that level), about half have given $500 or less.

These numbers are coming directly from the committee, which is posting donor information on its Web site. To go along with D.C. reporter Les Blumenthal's story in Sunday print edition, I downloaded the Washington state donor information into a spreadsheet and did a little analysis.

Here are some of the factoids:

58: Donors from Washington state to the inauguration committee, listed as of Friday night

$18,596: Average donation

$1,115,750: Total donations

28: Number of donors giving $500 or less

17: Number giving the maximum $50,000 donation

22: Donors from Seattle

3: Donors from Pierce County

2,033: Number of donors nationwide

$27 million: Total amount raised nationwide

10th: Rank of Washington in number of donors among states and D.C.

Read on to see if you know someone on the list.

=> Read more!

Tax collections for the 2-month period between Nov. 11, 2008 and Jan. 10, 2009 were $134 million lower than already low expectations. That pretty much encompasses all of the Christmas shopping season.

The second of those two months was the worst. Tax collections were $98 million less than the estimate that was made as recently as Nov. 19. Tax collections for that second month were 9.4 percent worse than expected. And expectations weren't all that high to begin with.

The state expected to collect $2.64 billion in taxes over those 2 months, but collected only $2.51 billion.

"Tax payments by firms in the retail trade sector were 13.4 percent below last year," the report said for the Dec. 11-Jan 10 period.

And it's not just retail. There were 30 percent fewer real estate deals done in November 2008 than there were in November 2007, and the value of those deals was 24 percent lower, on average.

Now you see why many lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, say they expect the budget problem to be $7 billion by the time the next revenue forecast comes in mid-March.

It's already a $6.1 billion "problem" for the next 30 months. I don't know what to call it anymore. Shortfall? Deficit? It's getting more manufactured. That is, it's no longer a maintenance level budget. That's the kind of budget you get by spending at the same pace on programs you already have up and running.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was plugging a $5.7 billion gap between the amount of money the state expects to collect in taxes over the next 30 months and the amount of money she wants to spend. I say "wants" because about $220 million of that spending is brand new, not related to pay raises, or more kids in schools or keeping pace with families who want to put their kids on Medicaid.

That's not "maintenance level."

The House and Senate budget committee staffs both say the gap is now $6.1 billion. That means the $98 million in lower tax collection between Dec. 11 and Jan. 10 made the problem grow to $6.2 billion.

We can't stand many more months like that.

Here is the full tax collection report.

The Legislature convenes on Monday for a 105-day session.

I’ve had several folks ask me how the committee that recommended three finalists for Pierce County auditor could meet behind closed doors to discuss their qualifications.

At Wednesday’s meeting, County Council attorney Susan Long cited a provision of the state Open Meetings Act that lists numerous circumstances under which a government body can meet in closed session. Among them:

RCW 42.30.110 (h): To evaluate the qualifications of a candidate for appointment to elective office. However, any interview of such candidate and final action appointing a candidate to elective office shall be in a meeting open to the public.

That doesn’t mean the process couldn’t have been more open. Local Democrats say they’ll make that argument in a lawsuit they plan to file by next week.

(Photo: allegri.)

Julie Murray will be replacing Scott Merriman, who -- ironically, I guess -- left Gov. Chris Gregoire's office last year to go work for the Washington State Association of Counties.

It's not quite a straight swap, but close enough.

The "legislative director" is the one who has the day to day talks with legislative budget writers to try to persuade them to go along with the specifics in the governor's budget proposal.

With a $6 billion deficit, it should be an interesting year for everyone.

State budget office names new legislative director

OLYMPIA – The Office of Financial Management announces the appointment of Julie Murray as its new legislative director. Murray has extensive experience in the governmental affairs area, having handled legislative responsibilities for several organizations, including the Washington State Association of Counties, where she has served as policy director for the past three years. She was previously employed by the Washington State Department of Revenue, Metropolitan King County Council and Washington State Farm Bureau.

=> Read more!

This afternoon I was finally able to touch base with the state Department of Ecology about the Northwest Detention Center expansion.

A local activist group, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, had raised concerned about the project and I previously blogged that they had heard back that the site was indeed violating some pretty serious rules.

Here's the Cliffs Notes update: the state believes the contractor running the facility, the Geo Group, likely violated a restrictive covenant by digging down through clean dirt into potentially contaminated groundwater.

There is only minimal danger to the public, however, they said.

The state is now working with the company to figure out the extent of any problems and what might need to be done.

Look for a full story in tomorrow's paper.

Friday update: Follow this link to today's story.

Read a letter from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee - Tacoma to state environmental regulators:

Bill of Rights Defense Committee – Tacoma

06 January 2009

To: Sally Toteff
Regional Director
Southwest Regional Office, Department of Ecology
360-407-6307 / stot461@ecy.wa.gov

SUBJECT: Violation of Protective Environmental Covenant by GEO Group, Inc and CSC LLC of Tacoma at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC)-Tacoma

Thank you for your prompt attention to serious issues regarding the expansion of the Northwest Detention Center at 1623 East "J" Street in Tacoma, Washington. Your email response to Cindy Beckett provided valuable information. However, I am replying to offer additional, updated information and to correct errors that seem to have become commonly misunderstood when examining this privately owned and operated facility.

=> Read more!

Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, got it right when he said, “Without a doubt, the action this year is with the budget.”

I'm wondering how the new budget committee structure will work in the House. There are 3 "appropriations" committees and 1 overall Ways and Means Committee.

And all four of them will have having hearings on different aspects of the budget. At some point, someone has to make a decision about what gets into the state budget and what gets left out.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall to overhear that discussion, but I can't even figure out which room I should go to and which wall I should cling to.

Seaquist named vice chair of new Health and Human Services Committee

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OK, the University of Washington didn't really drop its football program last year. It just dropped the "winning" part.

Western Washington University, on the other hand, is proposing to drop its winning football program as part of its budget cuts.

Get used to this kind of announcement from the colleges. Gov. Chris Gregoire gave all the universities a lot of flexibility to decide what to cut from their respective budgets and they appear to be exercising that up Bellingham way.

Funny thing, the WWU news release makes absolutely no mention of how much money it would be saving by dropping football. That's odd, since it was a budget-saving move. Then again, maybe it's like the Tacoma School Distict announcing that is will have to cut all the music programs and football if voters don't approve a property tax increase.

UPDATE: The Bellingham Herald found out cutting football will save $450,000 a year. Its story is below.

By Joe Sunnen
The Bellingham Herald

BELLINGHAM -- The Western Washington University football team has become the latest casuality of budget cuts in higher education across the state, school officials announced Thursday, Jan. 8.

The university is cutting the football program effective immediately in an attempt to balance an athletic department budget that has been operating at a deficit for the last five years.

Cutting the program, which has been a part of the athletic landscape at WWU for the last 100 years, should save the school around $450,000 a year in the next two to three years and help stabilize the remaining 15 intercollegiate athletic programs for the forseeable future, said Eileen Coughlin, vice president for Student Affairs and Academic Support Services.

=> Read more!