The House Finance Committee will be meeting Monday to wrap up the first round of its work and its chairman, Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said he's going to make a big change before his committee votes on bills to let King, Pierce and other counties raise money from a local option sales tax.

Right now, the law says there must be a public vote on the 0.3 percent sales tax increase for public safety stuff. House Bill 1147 and HB 2249 would have let counties raise that tax with only a vote by the county council or county commissioners.

Hunter told me Friday he's going to restore the language requiring a public vote. The counties and cities want greater flexibility in how they spend that money, as well as the 0.1 percent sales tax for mental health services. Pierce County has neither, yet.

I don't know what's happening to the Senate version of the bills, one of which is sponsored by Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma.

Here's my post from earlier this week.

According to the Post Intelligencer, former Washington Utilities and Transportation chairman Mark Sidran, a former Seattle prosecutor, has joined the field.

And so has state Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island.

Since leaving his job as Pierce County executive, John Ladenburg has hung his shingle out at his sons' law firm in Tacoma. He's "of counsel." He told me last week he's also doing some consulting work for Cascadia developer Patrick Kuo.

The P.I. points out that U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, will have a big say in who President Obama nominates for the Environmental Protection Agency job in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, etc. Dicks over sees the EPA budget.

My money's still on Ladenburg. He and Dicks go way back.

Here is the post by Joel Connelly at the P.I.

Almost every week, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, meet with statehouse reporters for about 45 minutes on Thursdays. Chopp at 2 p.m.; Brown, in a separate meeting, at 3:30 p.m.

This week, Chopp was mildly complaining that we in the Press Corps have not given House Democrats enough credit for what they've accomplished so far this session. And I respectfully disagreed. We have given them way too much credit. In fact, in hindsight, I can't believe how much "ink" they got for doing so little on the budget front. They passed a couple bills that cut state spending by about $300 million and spend about $330 million of federal money (instead of state money) from the economic stimulus money they're getting from Congress.

That doesn't address even 1/10th of the $8 billion budget deficit they are facing. And Monday will be Day 50, almost halfway through the scheduled 105-day session. (Yes, it may run longer, Chopp's protestations notwithstanding.)

More noteworthy, the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate told state agencies, basically, to ignore the cuts that Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed in her budget in mid-December and keep on spending money in many areas.

By my count they've done 3 substantive things that address our deepening recession, so far:

=> Read more!

There are already signs up in some parks asking people not to smoke.

But they're only in a few locations, including the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and Northwest Trek, the wildlife park near Eatonville. And they're voluntary requests, lacking the force of law.

Now officials from Metro Parks and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department are asking Tacoma city officials for an outright ban on smoking in all Metro Parks and city parks.

Nancy Davis, Metro Parks' governmental relations officer, and George Hermosillo, prevention specialist for the health department, met Thursday with the city's Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee to make their pitch.

In order to outlaw smoking in parks, the City Council will need to approve a change in Tacoma's Municipal Code.

Banning smoking in the parks will reduce second-hand smoke and cut down on litter from cigarette butts, officials said. Also, by reducing the number of children exposed to cigarettes and people smoking, it makes it less likely that children will start smoking, according to a document handed out to council members.

A ban on smoking would also continue the health deaprtment's effort to create smoke-free environments and create "new norms in the community," Hermosillo said.

Council members reacted with a mix of enthusiasm and concern over the proposal. Councilman Rick Talbert, a health board member, strongly supports the idea.

=> Read more!

County Executive Pat McCarthy is having a dinner party tonight for the County Council, her executive staff and their spouses.

McCarthy said it’s a purely social affair, and no public business will be discussed.

“I’m trying to develop a relationship with the council,” McCarthy said earlier this week. “It’s much better to work through issues when you’ve been able to communicate with people in other ways.

“We’re not going to agree on everything,” McCarthy continued. “But we do need to move forward together.”

One of the issues they may not agree on is McCarthy decision to hire some of the executive staff invited to the party. We hope awkward silences don’t spoil this party.

The first sentence of this news release says it all. It's a timely topic, considering that colleges will see their budgets cut at least 13 percent or maybe half again higher. Tuition could rise in double-digits. On the other hand, the 2-year colleges in particular will get some money to help jobless students get retrained in other professions.

The event is next Wednesday.

High Alert for Higher Education

When the economy tanks, state colleges find themselves on a collision course. Coming from one direction is increased enrollment from people who are looking to become more competitive in an uncertain economic environment. In the other direction is significantly less revenue as the economic slump reduces the state’s ability to fund higher education. This means that colleges must cut back just when more students crowd their gates.

Join Patricia Spakes, Chancellor, UW Tacoma, as she leads a panel discussion that includes Pamela Transue, President, Tacoma Community College, and John Walstrum, President, Clover Park Technical College. Dr. Spakes and her colleagues will look at the implications for our state’s future if one of our strongest economic drivers – higher education – is crippled.

Location: Wheelock Student Center Rotunda, University of Puget Sound
1500 N. Warner Street, Tacoma
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Cost: $23 for members, $30 for guests (includes dinner)

Advance reservations are required by Monday, March 2 at 253-272-9561, www.cityclubtacoma.org.

=> Read more!

The Olympian's Adam Wilson broke this story. After the Washington Federation of State Employees and its 40,000 members lost their court case, they decided maybe it might be best to try to work out a different contract. Maybe one the state might be able to afford.

Adam explains all this.

Here is Adam's story, which he says he may update later tonight.

I kept trying to get to this, but my colleague with The Associated Press, Brian Slodysko, beat me to it.

A few years ago, the oral history program got split up. The Legislature now commissions oral histories of former legislators (Former Sen. Lorraine Wojahn, Tacoma Democrat, still has a bio in the works, I think.) And the Secretary of State's office does everybody else.

Sam Reed's office chose to write bios on Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, longtime Bremerton Sun reporter Adele Ferguson and first black justice on the Washington Supreme Court, Charles Z. Smith.

Reed's office also is working a bio for former Gov. Booth Gardner and former Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Dimmick, the first woman on the bench of the state's highest court.

By BRIAN SLODYSKO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- What do a grunge bassist, a former newspaper columnist and the state's first black Supreme Court justice have in common?

They're the first to have their lives profiled in a new statewide oral history program unveiled Tuesday by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Reed was joined by Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic, former Bremerton Sun columnist and reporter Adele Ferguson and former Justice Charles Z. Smith.

=> Read more!

Majority Senate Democrats put out a list of bills that technically died on Ash Wednesday because they were not approved by the committee to which there were assigned.

But if they were among your favorites, don't go into mourning just yet.

Easter is April 12. And yes, some of these could rise from the dead by then or a couple weeks thereafter.

But just for the record, here are a few bills from the "Dead Bill List."

Sen. Ed Murray's proposal to get rid of the death penalty in Washington did die. So is his proposal to allow same-sex marriages. So too did Sen. Ken Jacobsen's perennial proposal to let him bring his dog into a bar when he goes drinking. (Just for the record, I've never seen Jake with a drink OR a dog. But I live in Tacoma.)

And Jake's bill to try to revive the Western Washington University football Vikings is dead, too.

Sen. Jim Honeyford's proposal for a 4-day school week is dead, but I think the House version is still alive.

SB 5444 and HB 1410 are dead, which should please the 82,000-strong Washington Education Association. Those are the bills that would implement some of the recommendation of the Basic Education Finance Task Force, like merit pay for teachers. (I guess their deaths clear the way for the WEA to become decidedly more active in the pursuit of a tax package for the ballot, or so I'm told. Then again, parts of these bills could come back three days after Good Friday.)

Also dead is Sen. Mike Carrell's proposal to make people prove they are U.S. citizens before they can register to vote. (I guess he figured he margin of victory over Debi Srail would have been greater is all of her supporters had to be legal immigrants.)

Here is the rest of the Senate list:

=> Read more!

This is my nomination for "best quote of the session," so far.

It was Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, commenting earlier this week on her own proposal, Senate Bill 6065. This is the one that would abolish the three $75,000-a-year jobs on the state Liquor Control Board and replace them with an executive director who would be appointed by the governor.

The bill was being heard before Fairley's own Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee.

Fairley, of course, was alluding to how the Liquor Board jobs are given to retired legislators for a couple years, just long enough to enhance their pension benefits by having said benefits be based on a $75,000 salary instead of the $43,000 salary of a legislator.

And that "before they die" remark was uncomfortably true in many cases.

SB 6065 is one of Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed reforms.

I wrote about this program back in July 2008, but it's taking longer than expected. And wouldn't you know it: Pierce and King counties, the big boys, are the ones that are delaying the advent of the e-mail alerts.

I've heard that Gov. Chris Gregoire is going to announce the rollout of the program at a news conference on March 9.

Here is the story I wrote last year:

E-mail will alert residents of felons
The state is beefing up its monitoring of sex offenders. An online system will send e-mail to people who sign up to learn when a felon moves nearby.

By Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Monday,July 14, 2008
Edition: SOUTH SOUND, Section: Front Page, Page A01
Washington residents will soon be notified by e-mail if they want to know when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

As part of an overhaul of the statewide sex offender registry, the state is setting up a system that features real-time updates for newly registered offenders and lets residents sign up to be notified if an offender moves nearby.

Meanwhile, Pierce County will be getting $437,000 of the $5 million the Legislature is giving to local authorities to verify that sex offenders really are living where they say they are when they register with local sheriff's departments.

The changes to the registry and the address verification program were among recommendations made late last year by Gov. Chris Gregoire's task force on sex offenders. The task force was created after the kidnapping and killing of 12-year-old Zina Linnik in Tacoma last July by a sex offender.

=> Read more!

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
Auto dealers, who have seen their sales go into the tank for more than a year, are asking the Legislature to allow them to triple the fee they now can charge customers to process car-purchase paperwork.

The new “documentary service fee” would be $150, up from $50 today. Overall, such an increase could let auto dealers statewide pocket as much as $100 million to $150 million, money that goes straight to their bottom line. Those figures assumes dealers will sell 1 million cars and trucks and that all dealers would charge the maximum fee allowed, as most do.

Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, said she sponsored Senate Bill 5816 at the request of the Washington State Auto Dealers Association and its 328 dealerships, and one of her former constituents, Mary Byrne, former owner of Nissan of Fife. Byrne now is a partner in Advantage Nissan in Bremerton.

“They told me that Washington state sales are down by at least 30 percent and that they just want to be able to compete with Idaho and Oregon on our borders, which have lower sales taxes,” Eide said. “They came to me asking for help. Our local dealers are our livelihood in our communities and they are going extinct. If they think this is going to be their lifeline, I’ll be there.”

Bruce Reeves, spokesman for the Senior Citizen Lobby, testified against Eide’s bill and against a similar measure, House Bill 1939, which was sponsored by Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview.

“The bill has no benefit to the public,” Reeves said. “It’s clearly a windfall for the dealers. And it’s ill-timed. This is no time to tack on $100 to the cost. It will just hurt owners.”

=> Read more!

A new opinion by a Pierce County Council attorney suggests County Executive Pat McCarthy overstepped her authority in reorganizing her office.

Council attorney Jeff Cox sent the opinion to council members last week. The document is sure to stoke opposition on a council that already has questioned the wisdom of beefing up the executive’s staff at a time of tight budgets.

McCarthy has hired three “executive directors” to oversee various county departments. She says the move won’t require an increase in county spending because she wants to transfer money from unfilled positions in other departments.

Cox’s memo says McCarthy’s plan may be illegal. Under the county charter, department heads are subject to council confirmation. But the executive directors on her staff apparently are not.

Cox’s memo says “placing three new managers as unconfirmed (by the council) intermediaries between the executive and department executives frustrates remedial purposes served by the charter’s confirmation protocols … and it may require the adoption of a new salary schedule through ordinance.”

Among other things, Cox also says McCarthy needs council approval for her plan to pay for the new positions – approval that the council so far has withheld.

UPDATE: After reading this item, McCarthy issued a statement defending the reorganization and her right to reorganize. "The County Charter clearly gives me broad authority to manage the government," she said. "I am required under the Charter to operate within the budget, and codified department heads in my administration are required to be confirmed. I have complied with all of those requirements."

She added: "In light of the significant issues facing Pierce County, I am disappointed that the Council has expended energy focusing on this when we should be working together."

You can read the complete memo and McCarthy's statement below.

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire already has signed the bill (House Bill 1906) that would boost the minimum weekly unemployment check payment to $200 and add $45 to everyone's weekly check, starting May 3. But there's a bill in the state Senate that might cut that increase to only $31 a week.

Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, has sponsored a bill to use unemployment insurance trust fund money to pay for more worker retraining. It's Senate Bill 5809. Quite frankly, I can't tell whether Hargrove is marching to his own drummer or doing something the whole Senate Democratic caucus wants. I suspect the former.

But it appears that Hargrove wants to pay for more worker retraining without taking more money out of the business community's contributions into the trust fund.

UPDATE: Hargrove just called. His original bill would have used business constributions to the UI fund to pay for training, but the bill got changed in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee to use $14 of the $45 new weekly benefit increase, and not raise rates for business contributions.

Hargrove, whose Grays Harbor County has about 12 percent unemployment, said he's fine with the changes because he was told the federal stimulus will add $25 to weekly benefits, so jobless workers still come out ahead. (They get $56 more instead of $70 more.) And community colleges get some money to pay their faculty to retrain laid-off workers, which was the main point of the bill, he said.

I've also got calls into Jeff Johnson, the state Labor Council guy who testified in favor of the bill, and to Donna Steward, the Association of Washington Business person who testified against the bill.

Here is the bill report on SB 5809.

State Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, soon to become state agriculture secretary under Gov. Chris Gregoire, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1292, the measure to allow a few schools to cut back to a shorter week.

The bill is before the House Education Appropriations Committee today. It would let as many as five school districts, with fewer than 500 students, get waivers from the State Board of Education on the requirement for 180 days in the school year. Students still would have to receive at least 1,000 hours of instruction.

Proponents say a four-day week would easier on rural students, especially those who have to travel long distances to get to class, and could save money on fuel, food, utilities and maybe employee salaries. The school worker unions testified against the bill. Their members might see their hours cut by 20 percent.

Here is the bill report for HB 1292.

And I don't mean "brats" in a pejorative sense. I've met too many former military dependents who wear that label as a merit badge.

Just an interesting factoid I picked up today while perusing bills that are up for hearing before the House fiscal committees. House Bill 1075, sponsored by Rep. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, would make some changes to the interaction between schools of other states and the students that come to Washington because their military parents have been transferred.

And with Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base and other military installations, there's a good chance those students will be transferred to Clover Park, Lakes or other Pierce County schools.

The bill report says about 30,000 of the 1 million students in Washington are sons and daughters of military personnel. So there's a lot of interaction between our school districts and those from other states.

I noticed one of the changes in the bill is that local school districts no longer would have the discretion about what grade to place a transfer student, as they do today. Students coming here would be put in the same grade that they left in the other state, regardless of their age.

Here is the bill report on HB 1075.

Unless, of course, a more severe earthquake knocks it down, along with several hundred cars and trucks.

The following story from The Associated Press prompted me to repost what I wrote a couple weeks ago about the big gamble state, Seattle and King County leaders are taking on the Alaskan Way Viaduct staying upright for another 7 years or so.

A 4.5 magnitude quake that rattled the Puget Sound region on Jan. 30 caused no damage to Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct.

But new sensors on the elevated highway showed the top deck shook 10 times harder than nearby ground.

The head of the University of Washington Seismology Lab, John Vidale (vih'-DOLL'-eh), told The Seattle Times the measurements confirm the structure and the fill dirt it's built on amplify earthquakes.

Officials fear the 56-year-old viaduct could collapse in a stronger quake.

Transportation officials are working on a plan to replace the mile-long section of Highway 99 along the Seattle waterfront.

I often have CNBC on TV in the background while I work at my desk. And they usually broadcast all things Obama and economic.

So, they just aired President Obama's introduction of former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as his nominee for U.S. Commerce Secretary.

Here's is Gov. Chris Gregoire's take on her predecessor's nomination:

Gov. Gregoire’s statement on Gary Locke’s nomination as Commerce Secretary

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today released the following statement on Gov. Gary Locke’s nomination as secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce:

“I am pleased to congratulate Gary on his nomination to lead the U.S. Commerce Department.

"Gary was an outstanding governor of the nation’s most trade-dependent state. As governor and as a private citizen, he has been a tireless advocate abroad for American goods, services and jobs.

“Having someone from the Pacific Northwest with an intimate knowledge of the role played by trade between the United States and the world is a winning scenario for Washington state and the nation.

“As governor, Gary was also lauded for his management and policy skills, which will serve him well in a federal agency that manages a wide range of important issues. President Obama will benefit from Gary’s experience as well as his diverse trade and economic development leadership in the public and private sectors.”

It's on Thursday, and among the things the Labor Council is going to talk about are "the issues surrounding balancing the state's budget."

That's what caught my eye. Big Labor has a seat at the big table, the one where they're talking about what kinds of taxes and what spending voters will support if asked to raise taxes.

Labor Council President Rick Bender is one of the few who has talked openly about a tax package since the beginning of session. Others are mostly secretive or circumspect.

State's largest labor group to meet in Olympia
Gregoire, Chopp, Brown on agenda for WA State Labor Council conference

The Washington State Labor Council, the largest union organization in the state representing approximately 500 affiliated union organizations with some 400,000 rank-and-file members around Washington, will hold its annual legislative conference this Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Red Lion Olympia Hotel. More than 200 representatives of the WSLC's affiliated unions are expected to attend the half-day conference that begins at 8:30 a.m.

=> Read more!

THIS TIDBIT FROM LES BLUMENTHAL IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Amid all the talk this week in the nation’s capital about sharply higher unemployment rates, a crashing stock market and nationalizing banks, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire did a little quiet lobbying at the White House for her own, small stimulus plan involving chocolates and wine.

Gregoire brought a box of Fran’s salted caramels from Seattle for First Lady Michelle Obama. The candy is evidently the favorite of the First Family. Michelle Obama told Gregoire she had bought her a box of the chocolates for Valentine’s Day, but forgot to give them to the governor.

During the black-tie dinner for the nation’s governor, waiters carrying Fran’s chocolates on silver trays made the rounds after the meal, Gregoire said.
Gregoire also said she sat next to the First Lady during the dinner and pitched Washington wines.

“I had to whisper because (California Gov.) Arnold Schwarzenegger was on her other side,” Gregoire said.

(Here's a recent Seattle Times piece on how Fran's is enjoying its sudden fame.)

Here's the story I wrote for Wednesday's newspaper. It also updates an earlier post I put on the blog.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Federal stimulus money could be used to put Nalley Valley Viaduct construction back on track, but it won’t be used to help any of the other state highway projects in Pierce County that Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to delay so long that they may not be built.

The revised 2007-09 state transportation budget, which was unveiled Tuesday, would spend $342 million of additional money that Washington got from Congress. Much of the money would be spent on paving and other highway maintenance and safety projects whose contracts can be awarded in as few as 120 days.

House Bill 1978 would spend $70 million of those federal funds on state projects that are ready to go right away, thus freeing up state funds to build the second half of the Nalley Valley Viaduct in Tacoma in 2011-13. Gregoire had postponed that project, the eastbound bridge, until 2013-15 in her transportation budget.

Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said she and her Senate counterpart, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, used much of the state’s share of federal economic stimulus money to put highway projects back on the construction schedule the Legislature adopted last year.

=> Read more!

An independent group of Webbies has created an interactive site, stimuluswatch.org aimed at tracking and rating projects proposed for stimulus dollars. The site lists possible stimulus projects and allows users to search and sort local projects and vote and comment on whether they are good candidates for stimulus money. Here is their description:

StimulusWatch.org was built to help the new administration keep its pledge to invest stimulus money smartly, and to hold public officials to account for the taxpayer money they spend. We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed "shovel-ready" projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the bill passes.

It's worth emphasizing that there is no official "list" yet of stimulus projects - just proposals - so these folks are relying on a master wish list from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The list is at once overbroad (far more projects listed than there is available money) and lacking (some jurisdictions have nominated every conceivable project, others have targeted key projects.) Some jurisdictions have proposed no project on the list. That said, this is a promising idea to use Web 2.0 interactivity to help keep government accountable.

This will run in Wednesday's print edition, too.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
County councils are asking the Legislature to let them bail themselves out of their financial problems by letting local council members raise sales taxes by themselves and by giving counties the same ability to impose a 6 percent tax on water, sewer and electrical utilities that cities now have.

Most of those provisions are, or soon will be, included in Substitute House Bill 1147 and House Bill 2249, which were the subject of public hearings Tuesday morning before the House Finance Committee.

HB 2249 applies only to King County and its cities. SHB 1147 applies to the 38 other counties in the state and their respective cities.

Current state law allows counties to raise the local sales tax by 0.3 percent with a public vote as long as the money is used to pay for public safety programs. The two bills would give local county councils the option of raising taxes by that same amount without a public vote.
If counties do raise taxes, they have to share the money they collect with their cities.

Pierce County in 2003 tried and failed to boost the sale tax to raise $26 million a year to hire 100 law enforcement officers in the county and its cities. Voters rejected the proposal by a 59-41 margin.

In Thurston County, voters twice turned down similar tax proposals
State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, a committee member, was not pleased. He said HB 1147 would let council members impose taxes that voters already have rejected.

“You’re now asking us to change the rules?” Orcutt asked representatives of the Association of Washington Cities and Washington State Association of Counties. “Yes or no?”

“Yes,” replied Scott Merriman, deputy director of the counties’ group.

=> Read more!

The Tacoma Civil Service Board has once again scrapped a requirement that all classified employees must live in Tacoma when they start work for the city.

Board members voted 3-0 in favor of a one-year waiver of the city's residency requirement at their December meeting. Chairwoman Amy Heller abstained from the vote after voicing concern over the way the issue was handled. Heller said a Charter Amendment is the right way to handle it, according to meeting minutes.

The City Clerk officially sent word of the board's action to council members as part of tonight's City Council agenda.

Tacoma's got a long history of ambivalence toward its residency requirement. The policy, which originated with the city's 1953 charter, has been modified, scrapped and re-instated at various times over the years.

=> Read more!

That's up from 7.1 percent last month. We lost 7,000 jobs in January.

We had 56,000 fewer jobs in January 2009 than we had in January 2009.

Washington’s unemployment rate up again in January

OLYMPIA – Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 7.8 percent in January 2009, up from December’s rate of 7.1 percent, according to the state Employment Security Department.

The rate usually is supplied each month by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, BLS data for January has been delayed due to a computer project, so Employment Security calculated the number using a computer model that historically has closely matched the official number.

=> Read more!

Here's a note of irony: Both Gary Locke and Ron Sims, who is about to become deputy HUD secretary, were co-chairmen of the Hilary Clinton campaign in Washington, and they both may get into Obama's administration. Yet, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Tacoma, who was a very, very early Obama supporter, doesn't want an appointment in Obama's administration. Go figure.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke’s many trade missions while he was in office, as well as his subsequent practice in international law, have served to groom hi for what could be an appointment as U.S. Commerce Secretary, according to state officials who either worked for or with the ex-governor.

“He would be great,” said Valoria Loveland, who was state Agriculture Secretary for six years -- two under Locke and four under Gov. Chris Gregoire.

“He’s extremely smart,” Loveland said. “He understands how finances and businesses work in the United States. He has a really good knowledge of international commerce. And he’s held in very high regard in the foreign countries that we visited.”

“I think he’d be an excellent choice,” said Brent Heinemann, was -- and still is -- state director of international relations and protocol for all eight years Locke was governor. “He has experience traveling in many parts of the world, speaking not only on behalf of Washington state, but also promoting the United States internationally on free trade and mitigation of trade barriers.”

Loveland and Heinemann accompanied Locke on most or all of trade missions that Locke led to China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, France and Singapore during two terms in office, from 1997 to 2005.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Locke may be nominated by President Barack Obama by the end of the week to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

=> Read more!

This just in from the Associated Press:

By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior administration official says that President Barack Obama’s likely third pick for Commerce secretary is former Washington Gov. Gary Locke.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.

Locke was the nation’s first Chinese-American governor when he served two terms in the Washington statehouse from 1997 to 2005.

Obama’s expected choice of Locke arose less than two weeks after his most recent pick, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, backed out.

Just over a week after Obama named him and he accepted, Gregg cited “irresolvable conflicts” with the policies of the Democratic president.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, to create gender equity reporting requirements for local parks districts has been revised, much to the delight of local parks officials.

A substitute version of the bill now only would require public parks districts to establish policies addressing equal access and opportunity. It wouldn't have them submit annual reports to demonstrate that they provide equal opportunities to members of both sexes, as was written in the earlier draft.

Kohl-Welles and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said that women's and girls club teams sometimes get last pick when it comes to renting public facilities for games and practices. Linda Mandel of the ACLU-WA also said that in some places, girls' and women's softball fields are in disrepair compared to men's baseball fields.

Parks directors initially said that filing reports to prove that they distribute resources and facility space equally would have created a paperwork and staffing nightmare. But now that the substitute bill requires them only to create anti-discrimination policies, they're on board.

"Some of the things we did struggle with ... were regarding things like cause of action and monitoring and reporting," said Mary Dodsworth, Lakewood's parks director and the president of the Washington Recreation and Parks Association. "Those things were seriously considered and worked on in this bill. We are supporting it at this time."

The bill had a hearing today before the Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

No one testified against the bill at the hearing.

"It makes so much sense it's really amazing that this has not been done before," Kohl-Welles said.

The committee members afterward unanimously gave the bill a do pass recommendation and referred it to the Senate Rules committee for a second reading.

Nalley Valley demolition starts today (Feb. 23) in Tacoma. (Pictures and text courtesy of Washington Department of Transporation.)

TACOMA - Crews using hydraulic shears and breakers this morning began demolishing the ramp from Sprague Avenue to eastbound SR 16 as part of the I-5/SR 16 Westbound Nalley Valley project.

The demolition work is happening adjacent to the highway and could be a visual distraction to motorists. Drivers are advised to pay extra attention in the work zone.

This week’s work also requires lane and road closures in the Nalley Valley area.

• Left-lane closure on eastbound SR 16 from 9 p.m. Monday (tonight) to 5 a.m. Tuesday

• Right-lane closure on eastbound SR 16 from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday

• Center Street closed from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday. South Tacoma Way is available as an alternate route.

The Sprague Avenue on-ramp to eastbound SR 16, and the eastbound SR 16 off-ramp to Sprague Avenue closed Feb. 13, 2009. The off-ramp reopens in fall 2011. The on-ramp will open when the Eastbound Nalley Valley project is complete in 2013.

For more project information, visit www.tacomatraffic.com.

There will be a presentation on a proposed South Tacoma Community Center at a 5:30 p.m. study session before that Metro Parks Tacoma board meeting tonight.

A public meeting will follow on March 10 at Gray Middle School.

State Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Finance Committee, has introduced House Bill 2249 at the request of King County that includes several financial tools to help the county and its cities get out of trouble. By tools, I mean, taxes.

One of them is a boost to the sales tax, which could be approved for three years -- 2010 through 2012 -- by a vote of the King County Council or the respective councils of cities in the county.

This bill does not appear to go beyond the borders of King County.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing at 8 a.m. tomorrow in Hunter's committee.

Here is a link to the HB 2249.

A grateful King County Council chairman Dow Constantine sent out this news release last Friday.

Constantine praises Legislature's support for King County finances
Two bills address funding crisis

Metropolitan King County Council Chair Dow Constantine today praised the efforts of state lawmakers seeking to grant King County the flexibility it needs to address financial challenges while assisting in the reform of King County government.

“I appreciate the efforts of legislators in Olympia to address King County's funding crisis,” said Constantine. “With a tax base narrowed by years of statewide initiatives, and responsibilities broadened by decades of federal and state mandates, we need new approaches to protect major public health and safety programs for the nearly two million Washingtonians who call King County home.”

=> Read more!

After I read The Associated Press story over the weekend, I had to ask Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, is he is related to the Michael Ormsby whose name was submitted by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray for a presidential appointment as U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington.

"That's my older brother, Mike," Timm said today.

Here, read the AP story from Sunday:

New U.S. attorney candidate named
By The Associated Press

Sunday,February 22, 2009
Edition: SOUTH SOUND, Section: South Sound & Local, Page B02
SPOKANE - The office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says Michael Ormsby has been nominated to be the next U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington.

Murray's office said Ormsby's name has been formally forwarded to the White House, where President Barack Obama would make the appoint- ment.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 52-year-old Ormsby would be the chief federal law enforcement officer for Eastern Washington.

=> Read more!

The Pierce County Council won’t take up Executive Pat McCarthy’s plan to plug an $8 million budget hole for two weeks. But the council already has trimmed its own staff to rein in expenses.

Earlier this month the council voted to lay off three employees – a legislative analyst and two administrative assistants. The 2009 budget includes money for 30.5 “full-time equivalent” council employees, including the seven council members.

Chairman Roger Bush said the move was in response to McCarthy’s request that the council trim 3 percent – or $126,000 – from its 2009 budget.
The executive has proposed cuts to various departments to help balance the county budget. The sheriff’s and corrections departments would see cuts of less than 1 percent. Others – like the council, executive, assessor-treasurer and auditor – would see 3 percent cuts. Here’s a PDF copy of a letter from budget director Pat Kenney outlining all of McCarthy’s proposed cuts.

Bush said the council already has trimmed office supplies and other expenses. But to reach McCarthy’s target the council needed to cut deeper, Bush said.

“We felt, as a body, that we could not go forward and ask other departments to sacrifice their budgets and their funding when we weren’t willing to be in the same boat with them,” Bush said. “This is what we felt was the best course of action. We took it reluctantly. But we took it.”

The council is scheduled to take up McCarthy’s budget plan at a committee of the whole meeting March 10.

Update: In an earlier version of this post, I said the council voted on the layoffs last week. It was Feb. 10.

University of Washington president Mark Emmert wasn't exactly asking the Legislature to raise tuition by 10, 12 or 14 percent. But he did say that such an increase would be a bargain for a student who otherwise could not get the classes he or she needed to graduate on time.

Emmert was testifying (I think last week, maybe the week before) before Sen. Derek Kilmer's Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.

The governor has proposed giving the colleges authority to raise tuition by 7 percent in each of the next two years to help offset parts of the 13 percent cuts they are facing under her budget. The Legislature, however, has told the universities to lay out another scenario, with an additional 50 percent budget cut, just to see what it looks like.

So, suddenly a bigger tuition increase seems more likely.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, did say last week that a 16 percent increase seemed too high. But there's a lot of room between 7 and 16, especially with the state now facing an $8 billion shortfall.

Emmert also noted that some schools balance their budgets by letting more out-of-state students come to their schools. But not the UW, he said. UW has 82 percent in-state undergraduates and only 18 percent are from out of state. (Tuition for non-residents is about 3 times as high, so the schools can pay a lot more bills.)

Some schools solve their budget problems by having as much as 40 percent of its undergrad student body from other states, he said.

This was in response to state Rep. Dan Roach's suggestion that the state sell the property under the viaduct on downtown Seattle's waterfront to raise $1 billion of the $2.8 billion cost of building a replacement tunnel.

Roach, D-Bonney Lake, is top Republican on the House Transportation Committee. I sent him an e-mail to ask him how much research he did before he made the proposal. No word back yet.

UPDATE: Ron Paananen, WSDOT project manager for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, said the reader is correct. The city of Seattle owns the property under the viaduct, not the state. (The viaduct itself, which is Highway 99, belongs to the state, he said.)

This is not unusual for non-limited access highways. That is, land under freeway bridges, which are limited access facilities, is owns by the state. But for structures that have more access, such as the viaduct, the land is owned by the cities through which they run.

Mr. Turner,

Aside from the fact that Rep. Dan Roach is a member of the party out of power, the state couldn't sell the land under the Viaduct anyway. The state doesn't own it; it belongs to the City of Seattle.

Although the Viaduct (and the Battery Street Tunnel) happens to be SR 99, the portion through downtown Seattle is classified as a "non-Limited Access highway facility". Even though there are physical limitations that prevent the same degree of access found on most city streets, it is still technically a city street. Pursuant to RCW 47.24.020(15), title vests in the City of Seattle. WSDOT has operational responsibility for the structure and "curb to curb" maintenance, but does not own the alignment.

The City of Seattle has been collecting parking meter revenue under the viaduct since the time of penny meters.

RCW 47.24, "City Streets as State Highways" addresses the non-Limited Access ownership; RCW 47.52 discusses ownership of Limited Access highway facilities. If you have access to WSDOT highway right of way maps, you will note that Limited Access highways are shown with hachuers along the R/W margins.

Other than the inaccurate assumptions on ownership, enjoyed the piece.

I deleted the reader's name because I wasn't sure he wanted it divulged. He sent me an e-mail instead of commenting directly on the blog posting.

The parliamentary procedures in the state Senate can get pretty cumbersome and have tripped up more than one senator, but occassionally it can be pretty funny when the senator is tongue-tied, but quick on his feet.

Such was the case last Friday when Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, was trying to substitute a rewritten bill from an old bill before the vote on Senate Bill 5555.

Here's a link to Kilmer's interaction with Senate President Brad Owen.

Just click on the video.

Actually, Senate Bill 6065 would abolish the liquor control board, three folks who are paid somewhere in the $70,000 range, and create a liquor board director who would be appointed by the governor.

The bill was requested by Gov. Chris Gregoire. It's part of her government reform package. Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, is its prime sponsor. And, low and behold, Fairley's committee, the Government Operations and Elections Committee, is holding a hearing on her bill tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

The liquor board posts have a long history of being rewards (by governors) for lowly paid legislators after they finish their $40,000-a-year legislative careers. They can pad their retirements by holding onto a higher-paying commission job for two years. The liquor board chairman makes a tad more than the other two members.

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

Furniture is coming to Tollefson Plaza.

Tacoma city officials are pressing ahead with a four-phased plan aimed at bringing life to the moribund downtown open space.

Phase 1 includes placing some loose tables and chairs throughout the plaza, City Manager Eric Anderson told council members earlier this month at a meeting of the Economic Development Committee.

Officials from the city and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce hope to order the furniture in the couple of weeks and have the items in the plaza this spring, said Chelsea Levy, metropolitan development manager for the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce.

The city is contracting with the chamber for operations and minor maintenance of the plaza.

Planters and garbage containers should follow soon.

It’s a bit of a risk not securing the tables and chairs, officials acknowledged.

Council members seemed to like the ideas, though Councilman Rick Talbert was curious how the city planned to keep the tables and chairs from "walking off."

=> Read more!

The governor may be back for more punishment, according to AP reporter Curt Woodward.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, newly elected to a second four-year term, is considering a rare third run at the governor’s mansion.

Gregoire, a Democrat, filed paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission on Feb. 10 indicating that she’s a candidate for governor in 2012.

Gregoire hasn’t fully decided whether to seek a third term, but she also isn’t giving up that option, administration spokesman Pearse Edwards told The Associated Press.

“She’s interested in running, but hasn’t made up her mind,” Edwards said Friday. “It keeps those options open.”

=> Read more!

Metro Parks Tacoma just sent out the following update:

During the Park Board Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday February 17, commissioners requested that three resolutions be included on the agenda for their regular board meeting on Monday February 23.

*Resolution R-13-09 would direct staff to begin the master planning process for Kandle Park with a recreational pool.

*Resolution R-14-09 would direct staff to provide $125,000 in drain system upgrades to Titlow Pool to bring it into compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to allow operation this summer.

*Resolution R-15-09 calls for the creation of a task force to explore opportunities for development of a 50 meter pool in the South Sound area. The resolution directs that the task force complete its work and present a strategy by October 1, 2009 to the Board of Park Commissioners advising how the pool could be built and funded.

When I first saw those words in the news release from the Attorney General's office, I thought someone was addressing me. But not this time.

Turns out, those pejorative phrases were used by debt collectors trying to get money from consumers.

"That kind of language isn’t just abusive – it’s illegal," the news release said.

(For debt collectors maybe, but not for anyone addressing a reporter. It's been my experience that half of those terms are considered praiseworthy.)

Attorney General sues Everett collection agency for harassment, threats

SEATTLE – The Attorney General’s Office is suing an Everett-based collection agency accused of harassing, threatening and cussing at consumers. Representatives of Topco Financial Services, Inc., allegedly called debtors names such as “loser,” scum,” “plight on society,” “no good,” “lowlife,” “deadbeat,” “worthless,” or “terrible parents,” as well as profane names not suitable for print.

=> Read more!

House Bill 1382 had to be rewritten to win approval from the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee because it turned out to be so expensive. But committee chairman, Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, was among those who voted to move the bill ahead.

But state Rep. Mark Miloscia's bill did clear its first hurdle.

The bill requires authorities to collect DNA swaps from every adult arrested on felony charges or on lesser charges for soliciting a prostitute, stalking or some other sex crimes. (The original bill would have extended to juveniles, too.)

Looks like the bill would cost the Washington State Patrol about $3 million a year because the agency would have to hire 34 new workers to process an estimated 100,000 more DNA samples from suspect. However, the new requirement would take effect only if the state gets enough money from the federal government to pay for it.

The bill still has to win approval from the full House and it faces trouble if it gets to Sen. Adam Kline's Judiciary Committee. Kline is more comfortable with current law, which requires DNA samples from convicted felons, not just arrestees.

He and others also believe taking DNA swaps from arrestees constitutes an instrusion into privacy rights under the Washington state constitution.

Here is a link to the substitute bill.

There's a public records debate going on in Olympia that raises some interesting questions about the limits of open government.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna, who's built a reputation as a defender of open government, is asking for an exception to the public disclosure law when handling requests from inmates. He says a handful of inmates are abusing the law and wasting money and "terrorizing" with frivolous records requests. "Prison inmates developed a cottage industry, filing multiple, complicated Public Records Act requests with the hope state government will make a mistake so they can sue for a windfall," he wrote. "This abuse threatens timely access to government information for all legitimate requestors and devours tax dollars in the process.

He took the unusual request of sending a letter appealing for support from the news media, normally an absolutist bunch when it comes to public records. Here's
his letter, followed by a story by AP legal writer Gene Johnson looking at the issue. Read on and let us know what you think.

Dear friends,

A few state prisoners are jeopardizing legitimate public records requests, extracting a hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from our depleted state budget while terrorizing hardworking public employees. This urgent problem demands a bipartisan solution—and that’s why I’ve proposed new legislation to address it.

=> Read more!

House Bill 1614 would impose a $1.50 per barrel tax on oil. How that translates into concumer-level products isn't quite clear to me yet. I've made only very cursory inquiries into this bill.

It would raise between $110 million and $115 million per year, according the Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, the bill's prime sponsor.

The tax, which would take effect July 1, would apply to products that contribute to surface water runoff pollution, including asphalt, road oil, lubricants, motor gasoline, residual fuel oil, and "any other petroleum substance that the state Department of Ecology determines contributes to stormwater pollution."

The tax would NOT apply to crude oil, aviation gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil or diesel used on farms.

Ormsby said he wants the money to be used for stormwater pollution cleanup and prevention.

Here's the bill report on HB 1614.

Yesterday was a busy day so I'm just now catching up with my reporter colleagues on news they broke.

State Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Finance Committee, told me yesterday he was not going to hold a hearing on the bill that would have put an 18.5 percent tax on most visual and audio pornography. Hunter said he didn't want to waste time on a bill that appeared on its face to pose problems. That is, a different sales tax rate for porn compared to other products.

The proposal, House Bill 2103, would have generated about $133 million over the next 10 years in revenue to the state.

It was put forth by state Rep. Mark Miloscia, D-Federal Way, who said he was dusting off a proposal from a few years ago by Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington.

Here is a link to my earlier post.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Washington now faces an estimated $8 billion budget shortfall thanks to a steep dive in how much the state expects to collect in taxes over the next 28 months, and that circumstance has legislative leaders openly talking about asking voters to raise taxes to help the state get through a lingering recession.

Arun Raha, the state’s chief economist, told members of the Economic Review and Revenue Forecast Council on Thursday that he expects state tax collection through mid-2011 to be $2.3 billion lower that what he forecast as recently as three months ago.

That would have produced an $8.3 billion gap between tax collections and how much money the state would spend to maintain all state programs at current levels, pay for growing school, prison and Medicaid caseloads, give pay raises to state workers and teachers and boost spending on the programs for the poor.

However, the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire trimmed $300 million from that amount earlier this week by cutting spending for the final six months of the current two-year budget cycle.

=> Read more!

I had a quick interview with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chairwoman of the Senate Tranportation Committee at noon-ish. It lasted the 6 or 7 minutes it took to ride the elevator down from her office and walk across campus to the Legislative Building.

Anway, we chatted about carpool lanes and federal stimulus and the state transportation budgets. Here's the story that will appear in Friday's paper.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Some of the carpool-lane construction projects in Tacoma that were delayed to death in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed 2009-11 transportation budget might be restored by the state Senate.

The promise of an estimated $342 million in federal stimulus money for Washington highway, bridge, ferry and rail projects has improved prospects that some of the carpool projects on Interstate 5 through Tacoma -- between the Tacoma Mall and the King County line -- might be in line for funding.

“It’s on the list for consideration,” is all that state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, would say Thursday about the use of federal stimulus funds.

=> Read more!

Brad Shannon at our sister newspaper, The Olympian, has this item that is particularly germane these days.

The Washington Education Association (aka W.E.A.) is part of the unions and other alphabet soup working out in the burbs to see whether voters would buy into a tax increase this year, and these ads appear to be part of the softening up process. Schools are, after all, warmer and fuzzier that pay raises for state agency workers.

(I should note, it's not at all uncommon for the WEA to be running ads during any legislative session.)

Shannon's item is here.

I'll try to get more on this and other topics after House Speaker Frank Chopp meets with reporters at 2 p.m. today and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown meets with us at 3:30 p.m. And, of course, at 4:30 is the state revenue forecast.

The name "Nofziger" (from the teacher radio ads) rings a bell. Hmmm. Where have I heard that before?

Pierce County attorneys will be in court next week to defend the County Council’s decision to appoint Jan Shabro as county auditor.

The hearing was scheduled after Pierce County Democratic Party Chairman Nathe Lawver filed a second lawsuit seeking to overturn Shabro’s appointment.

Lawver filed his original lawsuit in January. But that lawsuit seemed to be going nowhere fast and isn’t scheduled for trial until July.

Now Lawver has filed a second lawsuit last week. The second lawsuit is on a faster track. Superior Court Judge Beverly Grant already has ordered Pierce County officials to show why she should not nullify Shabro’s appointment as auditor. That’s what’s on the agenda for a hearing tentatively scheduled for Feb. 27.

The county auditor’s job became vacant when Democrat Pat McCarthy resigned to become county executive at the end of December. In January the County Council appointed Shabro, a Republican, to replace McCarthy.

The lawsuit claims the council broke the law in several ways:

• It claims the council violated the county charter by refusing to choose an auditor from among three nominees submitted by the local Democratic Party. The charter requires the council to fill vacancies in partisan offices by selecting from among three nominees submitted by the party of the person vacating the office.

Lawver claims the council must follow those provisions even though voters made the auditor’s office a nonpartisan position in 2007. Lawver claims that because McCarthy was twice elected as a Democrat the office remains partisan for the purposes of appointing her replacement.

• The lawsuit claims the council violated the county charter in December by approving an “emergency” resolution outlining the council’s own auditor replacement process. It claims no emergency existed. And it contends the county charter does not authorize emergency resolutions.

• Finally, the lawsuit claims the council violated the state Open Public Meetings Act during the auditor replacement process. It claims the council did not give adequate public notice of the resolution adopting the council’s appointment process.

=> Read more!

I'm told that the House and Senate Transportation Committees are putting together a longer list of project that will be built over the next two years, thanks to the economic stimulus package approved by Congress and President Obama.

That may come out as early as next week, but it won't necessarily be the final say. Gov. Chris Gregoire announced her "Washington Jobs Now" program last month, and it was basically a recast version of the transportation and capital budgets that she proposed in mid-December.

Federal money allows for state highway, bridge, ferry and other projects to be built. But I don't expect to see the final 2009-11 transportation budget until April.

The meetings between Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, Rep. Judy Clibborn (transportation chairwomen) and Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and her No. 2 David Dye earlier this week probably were to make sure everyone's pretty much on the same page. That is, general agreement on what projects should be added to the list.

UPDATE: Their meetings were to talk about the supplemental state transporation budget for 2007-09, Haugen said. Part of the estimated $342 million that the state is getting for its own transportation projects as part of the federal stimulus package has to go to bid by June 30. So, the state is going to try to add projects to the list.

Some of it will be done in 09-11.

Twenty-two of them signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and many of them will be meeting with Brown today (about an hour before Brown meets the press.)

Of course, these economists will be preaching to the choir. Brown, an economist, said before the 2009 Legislature session that tax increases have a "de-stimulating" effect on the economy. But that doesn't mean she thinks we should not raise taxes as part of the remedy for what is expected to be an $8 billion budget problem. Far from it.

The main point of the economists is that cutting state spending on services too much is way worse for the economy (not to mention people) than raising taxes.

And Brown has said from the start that a tax increase is one of the tools available to lawmakers, but it's not where they will start. She and other legislative leaders said a bit more in a story in the Times.

Here is Andrew Garber's story in today's Seattle Times.

And here, thanks to the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, is the letter the tax-favoring economists sent to Gov. Chris Gregoire, Brown and House Speaker Frank Chopp.

Your answer might tell a lot about you – such as your age, education, politics and region.

That's what the Pew Research Center discovered when its pollsters asked this question: Would you rather live in a neighborhood with more Starbucks or more McDonalds?

McDonalds wins overall but broken down by demographic group, liberals prefer coffee while conservatives prefer fast food. Men like burgers and women are closely divided. The younger you are the more likely you are to prefer more Starbucks.

Here is the graphic on the poll question.

Sen. Rosa Franklin, D-Tacoma, introduces a state income tax bill almost every legislative session. This one was no exception.

But largely because Initiative 960 requires a 10-year projection for any bill that proposes to raises taxes or fees, her bill got more scrutiny this time. I wrote about it earlier.

Below is an opinion piece that Franklin sent to The News Tribune's OP-ED page. There's no limitation on space here in the blogosphere, so I'm "printing" it.

Let’s talk about taxes—without the scare tactics

By Sen. Rosa Franklin

Washington’s tax structure was developed more than a century ago for an economy based on agriculture, manufacturing and local commerce. It was appropriate then and for many decades, but over time it has become less and less appropriate—and adequate—for the needs of our modern economy.

The sales tax, which accounts for more than half of our state revenues, is a regressive tax; those who earn the lowest wages pay the highest taxes. For example, those who earn less than $20,000 per year lose nearly 16 percent of their income to state and local taxes; those earning between $40,000 and $130,000 pay 6 to 8 percent in taxes; those who earn more than $150,000 pay only 4 percent in taxes.

=> Read more!

Next week in Seattle, the state Department of Transportation and others are holding a couple open houses to let folks see what Gov. Chris Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims have in mind for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Seattle's waterfront.

Wish I could go, but there's this pesky thing call the Legislature that's in session in Oympia, 60 miles away from Seattle. Guess I'll just have to look at the pictures on line at WSDOT's Web pages.

The trio has hatched a $4.24 billion plan to replace the viaduct with a 1.7-mile deep bore tunnel under Seattle. The state's share would be $2.82 billion, plus any cost overruns on the tunnel. That's the recommendation.

The Legislature will decide whether to go along with it.

Take the first look at the bored tunnel hybrid plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct; open houses on Feb. 23 and 24

SEATTLE – WSDOT, King County, and the City of Seattle will share information about the plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall at two open houses next week.

=> Read more!

An alphabet soup of unions and other organizations whose state funding would be decimated if the Legislature were to close its $6 billion budget hole only by cutting spending is doing preliminary work on the final element of the state budget solution: taxes.

See, even though it appears the Washington Legislature has been moving at something less than what Sen. Jim Hargrove called "ludicrous speed," (invoking the term from the movie, Space Balls) they're right on pace for a deliberative democratic-republic.

On Tuesday, President Obama signed the $789 billion economic stimulus plan and Washington lawmakers learned they will get maybe a bit less than $2 billion to apply toward their own state operating budget mess.

On Wednesday, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a "micro supplemental belt-tightening budget" for the final six months of the 2007-09 biennium which cuts about $300 million in state spending, uses $340 million of federal money to replace state funds and grabs about $100 million of unguarded "leftovers" from other state accounts.

=> Read more!

Victoria Woodards said today that she'll be a candidate for the Tacoma City Council this fall.

Woodards, the president of the Metropolitan Parks board, will run for the at-large position now held by Mike Lonergan. Under the Tacoma charter, Lonergan cannot seek an additional term on the council.

"I am running for Tacoma City Council because I care about Tacoma and want to help make Tacoma an even better city - for all of us," Woodards said in a prepared statement.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Washington State History Museum and sits on the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation Grants Distribution Committee. Woodards is the former chair of the Washington State Commission of African-American Affairs, a member of Allen AME Church and Chair of the Joint Municipal Action Committee.

Born in Riverside, CA, Woodards moved to Tacoma at the age of four and is a 1983 graduate of Lincoln High School. She enlisted in the US Army and spent three years stationed at Fort Lewis.

Woodards serves as assistant to County Council member Tim Farrell.

State Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, top Republican on the House Transportation Committee, has a novel approach to pay for Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct without robbing money from other state highway projects.

"We would raise $1 billion by selling the real estate where the viaduct currently sits and then dedicate all sales tax on tunnel construction and related private development back to the project to reduce costs," he said.

That's how the state would come up with $1 billion of the $2.4 billion the Legislature already has committed to the project. It's an interesting idea that's going to go nowhere, of course.

But you gotta hand it to Roach for coming up with a way to maximize the use of state lands. Face it, downtown Seattle waterfront property under the state highway (the viaduct is Highway 99) will be worth a fortune when the viaduct is torn down, so why not sell it to developers instead of turning it into a promenade for Seattle?

"It would also free up $1 billion for other projects throughout the state," he said.

=> Read more!

Can you believe after all the fuss of awarding Bill Gates Jr. a state medal for distinguished public service, the word was misspelled on the lapel pins?

It's true. Wilfred Woods got a bad one, too. (Or maybe his was a "metal" of "merid.")

I'm not sure what lesson should be learned from this. Maybe it, "Never place an order over the phone." Or, "Always pronounce your consonants clearly.

Dave Ammons over at the Secretary of State's Office said:

The actual medals, cast by Northwest Territorial Mint in Auburn, do not have the recipients' names. The lapel pins for the two honorees had Metal of Merit and then the person's name in a larger font. They were ordered in person at Color Graphics in Olympia, and somehow the person who made the lapel pins used the wrong spelling. The weird thing is that lots of people saw the tags here, including me, and didn't notice the error. I just noticed the two names on the tags, and thought, that's nice. The rest of the party, including the Dan Evanses and family members and others at the reception, the joint session, and the Governor's Mansion luncheon, all had cheapo name tags generated by computer. The phrase Medal of Merit was spelled right, tho!
Best,
dave

David Ammons
Communications Director
Office of Secretary of State

Scroll further down to find my post on the Medal ceremony last week.

State Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma is holding a town hall meeting this Saturday at Pacific Lutheran University that's more than just asking the folks back home what they want from the Legislature this session.

It's designed to let folks hit by the economic downturn what's available to them. As chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, Conway know better than most, but he's also assembled some folks who also are knowledgeable -- unemployment, job retraining and other stuff.

From Conway's office:

SPECIAL TOWN HALL: The Economic Crisis, Unemployment, and our Social Safety Net

Saturday, February 21 - 9am to 12pm
Pacific Lutheran University
Scandinavian Cultural Center Room
Park Avenue South and Garfield Street

Money is tight, jobs have become scarce, and families are struggling to make ends meet. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know what options are available, and how your state government can assist you through these tough times.

Join state Rep. Steve Conway and other legislators for a special town meeting to discuss the economic crisis, unemployment, and our state’s social safety net.

=> Read more!

BY JOE TURNER
The News Tribune

Work on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge still isn’t done, partly because the state Department of Transportation keeps thinking of more things to do with the toll money it’s collecting on the new bridge.

For instance, next week the state DOT will be asking contractors to submit bids to build new, movable barriers in the plazas at each end of the twin bridges at an estimated cost of $852,000.

DOT engineers decided after the new bridge opened in July 2007 that barriers should be erected to keep drivers from crossing over and running into oncoming traffic from the other bridge. Barriers also could be used to divert traffic from one bridge onto the other in case one of them is out of commission.
Overall, DOT has $4.1 million worth of bridge work it wants to do in 2009 and 2010.

Kevin Dayton, DOT administrator for the region that includes Pierce County, said he approved the barrier project even though it wasn’t part of the original construction contract with bridge builder Tacoma Narrows Constructors because it was “within the scope” of the original project.

He said the same is true for the noise wall that is being built at the west end of the bridge to shield neighbors from washboard-like racket caused by cars driving over an expansion joint. That was a contract change that came up late in the bridge project and also is being paid for with tolls.

Even so, local legislators want to subject Narrows Bridge work to closer scrutiny to make sure tolls are not being used to pay for bridge and Highway 16 corridor improvements that should come out of gas tax collected statewide.
Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, has introduced a pair of bills that would require DOT to get legislative approval before spending any more money on capital improvements or preservation work, such as repaving or painting, on the bridge and to prohibit the agency from using toll money to pay for staff expenses such as travel, meals and cell phone use.

=> Read more!

Maybe that headline overstates what the state Public Disclosure Commission actually did earlier this month.

The PDC said the woman who lodged a complaint against then-candidate, now-state Rep. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, a month before the November 2008 election did not back up her claim. So the PDC dismissed the complaint.

Lindsey Grad claimed Dammeier was getting a below-market rate on the cost of his campaign literature from Print NW, a company in which Dammeier has a 14 percent ownership interest. Grad claimed that printing amounted to an in-kind campaign contribution in excess of the $800 contribution limit, and that Dammeier didn't report it.

The PDC contacted a Tumwater printing company and found that Print NW actually charged between 5 and 15 percent more than what Dammeier's own print shop charged him for some work, and 15 percent less for door hangers.

"In summary, no evidence was provided by Ms. Grad or found during the investigation that Print NW rendered services to the 2008 Bruce Dammeier campaign in the form of printed political advertisements or other services for less than the fair market value," the PDC ruled. "As such, contribution limits are not implicated by this activity."

This is one reason I don't pay much attention to allegations of campaign abuses. They are so easy to make. And so seldom proved. Mostly, they are designed to splash some mud on a candidate and raise some doubts.

Dammeier defeated Democrat Rob Cerqui, a Fife councilman, in the election.

Here is the PDC ruling.

And here is Dammeier's take on what happened.

Frivolous campaign complaint against Dammeier dismissed by Public Disclosure Commission

=> Read more!

The Pierce County Council this afternoon tabled County Executive Pat McCarthy’s request to transfer about $261,000 to her office to boost staffing there.

McCarthy requested the council transfer the money from the communications and human resources department to help cover the costs of a reorganization in her office. As part of that reorganization McCarthy has hired three executive directors to oversee various county departments.

The council voted 5-2 to reject McCarthy’s request. The council’s two Democrats – Tim Farrell and Barbara Gelman – voted against tabling McCarthy’s request.

Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, said he did not want to pass judgment yet on the merits of McCarthy’s proposed reorganization. But he wanted to take up McCarthy’s request when the council discusses ways to plug an $8 million hole in the county budget.

“I just thing it fits better within a larger discussion of priorities,” Bunney said.

After the vote, Deputy Executive Kevin Phelps suggested the council is involved in “gamesmanship” with McCarthy. He said the executive has the authority to reorganize the office.

“It’s an interesting place to draw a line in the sand,” Phelps said.

The budding relationship between new Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy and the County Council will get its first test this afternoon. That’s when the council will take up McCarthy’s request to transfer funding from other departments to her office to support the administrative reorganization she favors.

Early indications are the council won’t give her what she wants, at least today.

McCarthy has requested the council transfer about $261,000 from the county communication and human resources departments to the executive’s office. That would help boost staffing in McCarthy’s office and support a new administrative structure there.

Previous Executive John Ladenburg had a single chief of staff (Lyle Quasim) who oversaw county departments. McCarthy has hired three “executive directors” to divvy up the departments.

Throughout her campaign McCarthy spoke of reorganizing county government to make it more efficient and responsive to taxpayers. She sees the reorganization of her office as a first step. McCarthy told me this morning the new structure will help her get a better handle on the various departments and determine whether taxpayers are getting “the biggest bang for their buck.”

“The bottom line is, my goal is to make county government more efficient,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the new structure of her office is “budget neutral,” meaning it requires no new spending. It’s merely shuffling money between departments. McCarthy said the money is coming from vacant positions in communications and human resources and will not reduce services to county taxpayers or employees.

But the council appears far from sold. Budget neutral or not, Councilmen Roger Bush, R-Graham, and Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, last week note McCarthy has requested a nearly 25 percent increase in the executive’s budget. And they question other cost-shifting McCarthy has engineered to pay for her reorganization.

=> Read more!

Thanks to Gov. Chris Gregoire's press shop, I may have found a fallback position in the event I lose my job in the next round of layoffs at The News Tribune: Census taker, aka "enumerator."

The U.S. Census Bureau will be hiring 4,000 temporary workers, most of them February through May, for several weeks to go around counting heads.

Since a lot of federal funds are distributed based on a state's population, Gregoire's office is encouraging everyone to get counted. It means more money for the state.

I called the Regional Census Center Recruiting Department at 866-861-2010 and listened to a bit of the recorded messages. You have to take a 28-question multiple choice exam to see if you can read, count and read a map, and you have to pass a criminal background check.

This might tide me over until the Puyallup Fair starts in September. That's another 17 days of work.

Making sure everyone is counted
Decennial census info means money, representation and jobs for state

OLYMPIA – Even though the census is a year away, census workers are needed soon. The local Census Office will be hiring 4,000 temporary employees for 2009.

“This is not only an opportunity for thousands of Washingtonians to gain much-needed employment, this census ensures Washington receives its fair share of federal funds,” Gregoire said. “Every Washingtonian who completes the census form means about $800 of federal funds each year coming to Washington for roads, community and senior centers, schools, hospitals and emergency preparedness.”

=> Read more!

Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, was House floor leader for minority Republicans last year (see correction below), then he sorta dropped off the face of the earth.

It was after the 36 Republicans (outnumbered by 62 Democrats) reorganized themselves.

As floor leader, he is chief spokesman for "the loyal opposition" and comments on just about every bill that comes up for a vote. So his absence was noticeable. Ericksen wasn't very talkative after he lost his job.

But I was told Ericksen made a bid for minority leader, but Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, held onto the job. Apparently they've all put the palace revolt behind them 'cause now they're publicly nice-nice.

CORRECTION: I had the wrong title for Ericksen. He was deputy leader in 2007-08 and floor leader in 2005-06. I'm also told that Ericksen "began the 2009 legislative session by being appointed lead Republican on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee," which must be quite an honor.

Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside, the former floor leader, was appointed state Agriculture Secretary last week by Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Ericksen elected House Republican floor leader
42nd District lawmaker returns to leadership role, will lead House floor debate

Rep. Doug Ericksen was elected today by his House Republican colleagues to be floor leader. He replaces Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who was selected Friday by Gov. Chris Gregoire to be director of the state Department of Agriculture.

=> Read more!

Rep. Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was decidedly upbeat today when she ran into TNT columnist Peter Callaghan after lunch today.

She had Chinese and her fortune read: "You will discover an unexpected treasure within the week."

Hmmmm. Does that mean Thursday's quick-and-dirty revenue forecast won't be as bad as people are expecting? Don't know.

Actually, Linville thinks it will be pretty bad. She's predicting an $8.3 billion shortfall. Not because she has any particular insight or special information. She's just saying $8.3 billion because "it sounds so precise" that it gives people the impression you really know something.

Clearly, people who say the shortfall will be "$7 billion" or "$8 billion" are just guessing. Whereas a person who makes a prediction with a decimal point truly is in the know.

Glad to see Linville's still got a sense of humor.

House Speaker Frank Chopp reportedly is telling everyone to assume the state will have to fill an $8.6 billion budget hole with no federal help.

The budget landscape is forever changing. Tomorrow for lunch, Linville may cut open a bird and read its entrails.

Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, who finished a 36-year career in the Legislature last year, will receive the Robert G. Waldo Award for "outstanding service to public higher education" by the Council of Presidents.

Sommers was the House's chief budget-writer for many years.

The presidents are the top folks at the six, four-year colleges.

Tuesday is Higher Education Day 2009 at the state capital, so there also will be a lot of door-to-door pleading going on regarding the state budget (and cuts) to college funding.

The event for Sommers is at 4 p.m. in the State Reception Room in the Legislative (domed) Building.

I haven't had a chance to read Senate Bill 5525 yet, but I know that groups that try to help offenders made the transition back into the community were devastated when former Washington Corrections Secretary Harold Clarke pretty much got rid of the housing voucher program. (Clarke is back East now.)

Ari Kohn, who works in a post-prison education program, was chief critic of Clarke's move. Its replacement is a program that will helps only about one-tenth as many offenders as the old voucher program. The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development was put in charge of organizing "mentored" housing arrangements.

Not sure what the status of that program is. (Citizens for Responsible Justice in Tacoma was one of the applicants for grant money to set up a housing program. The group was denied. Long story.)

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, says the state can save money by going back to the voucher program because cons won't be held in prison past their earliest release date so often. I'm assuming new DOC Secretary Eldon Vail is on board with the idea but I'll have to call him this week. After all, this whole legislative session is about saving money.

Carrell rental voucher bill saves taxpayer money, puts less burden on state facilities

OLYMPIA… Under a bill proposed by Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, offenders who have served their time and are ready for release could be eligible for rental vouchers to get them into a suitable housing arrangement upon release.

Senate Bill 5525, which is co-sponsored by every member of the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee, Republicans and Democrats alike, received a public hearing in that committee Thursday.

=> Read more!

State Transportation commissioners still haven't decided whether to recommend a toll increase on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, starting July 1. The traffic and toll collection figures for December worried them.

But January bridge traffic is back on pace to raise enough money to pay the bills. Even so, it should be an interesting discussion. The Citizen Advisory Committee recommended the tolls stay the same -- $2.75 for electronic tolls, $4 for cash at the booth -- through June 30, 2010.

Transponder owners should enjoy the differential while it lasts because the financial plan assumes that everyone pays a $4 toll on July 1, 2010.

And for the misery-loves-company crowd over in Gig Harbor, there will be a discussion of tolling on the Highway 520 bridge. The Legislature will make that decision, not the commission. But nonetheless.....

My money is on early tolling on Highway 520, maybe not in 2009, but not at late as 2017, either.

The commission meets Tuesday and Wednesday.

Transportation Commission to discuss final reports on tolling implementation and ferries long-term funding

OLYMPIA – The SR 520 tolling implementation committee’s final report, Tacoma Narrows Bridge traffic and revenue updates, and the Long-term Ferry Funding Study final report will be among the topics of discussion when the Washington State Transportation Commission meets next week in Olympia.

=> Read more!

Sen. Patty Murray's office put together a breakdown of the many, many things in the federal economic stimulus package that President Obama is expected to sign on Tuesday. I've rewritten parts of her Friday news release with comments and observation.

Comments and correction that can shed more light on this are most welcome. Please.

From a state government point of view, it appears that less than $2.5 billion of the $7 billion or so that Washington will get from the feds over the next 30 months will help the Legislature deal with its own $7 billion-plus operating budget deficit. Money for Hanford and the BPA doesn't do state budget-writers any good, at least, not in the short term. (There's the job-creation aspect over the long haul, but that won't help plug the gaping hole in the 2009-11 budget.)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes at least $6.7 billion in funding for Washington state, plus tax cuts, tax breaks for people who buy cars, trucks or houses this year, money for food stamps, extra cash for retirees and vets, more money for college Pell grants, and on and on. Keep reading to the bottom. Some of the stuff I don't understand, but you readers do.

The following is a list of some of the investments, tax cuts and grant programs that will benefit Washington state. All figures are for Washington state unless otherwise noted.

INCOME TAX CUT: It's $400 for singles, $800 for couples. You won't notice it until the end of May, when between $8 and $16 less will be taken out of your weekly paycheck. It would appear to run until May 2010.

ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX: According to the Congressional Research Service, 348,000 Washingtonians would be protected from the Alternative Minimum Tax in 2009. (I don't know a thing about the AMT.)

FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER TAX CREDIT: This bill includes an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers who purchase their homes between January 1st and December 1st, 2009. But adjusted gross income has to be less than $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return).

SALES TAX DEDUCTION FOR VEHICLE PURCHASES: The bill provides most taxpayers with a deduction for State and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new cars, light truck, recreational vehicles, and motorcycles through 2009.

=> Read more!

Beckie Summers-Kirby has announced she will run this fall for the District 5 seat on the Tacoma City Council currently held by Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg.

Ladenburg is barred by term limits from running again.

Summers-Kirby, 52, has served on several public board and commissions, including the Tacoma Public Library Board of Trustees, the Tacoma Human Rights Commission, the Tacoma Civil Service Board, and the Pierce County Charter Review Commission. She also served as vice chair of the Pierce County Democratic Central Committee and is currently chairwoman of the 29th District Democrats.

Summers-Kirby ran for the District 4 seat on the Tacoma City Council in 2001, and lost to Rick Talbert, who is leaving the council at the end of the year after serving two terms.

Since then, Summers-Kirby moved into District 5 and is now running for the same seat that her husband, state Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, occupied for a total of 15 years during stints in the '70s, '80s and '90s.

Kirby is serving as his wife's campaign manager.

Summers-Kirby said in a statement that she believes her background and experience will allow her to immediately go to work fixing the city's problems. She said the City Council's priorities need to include more basic neighborhood services.

"Our streets are falling apart, prostitution and gang activity are on the rise in the South End, and we need to direct more of our resources into making our neighborhoods safe and livable," Summers-Kirby said.

Pierce County residents, your property tax bills will be in the mail beginning Saturday. But if the suspense is killing you, here’s a sneak preview.

Some bills will fall: Average tax bills are down in some parts of Pierce County. The average Fife bill is down 11.4 percent. Average bills are down 3.7 percent in Milton and Puyallup. Tacoma, University Place and other communities also will see a decline in average bills.

Some bills will rise: Average bills are up 20 percent in Pacific and 18 percent in Eatonville. Other communities – including Sumner, DuPont and Bonney Lake – will see small or modest increases in average bills.

These figures are averages and may not reflect your individual tax bill.

Look for yourself: You can get more statistics on Pierce County property taxes at our SoundInfo web site. You’ll find detailed tax information by city, town, unincorporated area and school district.

If you can’t wait for your tax bill to show up in the mail you can look it up after 5 p.m. today at the assessor-treasurer’s web site. You can search for your tax information by address or parcel number.

Coming Sunday: We’ll have a story looking at local tax bill trends, including where they’re going up, where they’re going down and where the money goes.

Not too long ago I came across this police after action report on the 2007 Port of Tacoma anti-war protests -- it had been posted to the city's Web site in response to someone's public records request.

Curious, I thought I'd compare it to the report from the protests in the beginning of August 2008. So, I requested a copy of the 2008 after action report from the Tacoma Police. Today I was told that one was written, but it hadn't moved up through the bureaucratic ranks yet and received approval.

The 2008 protests were much more subdued than those the year before, so I'm not expecting the report to be all that exciting. Still, there were a few interesting incidents that did happen -- for example, Olympia attorney Legrand Jones was arrested for refusing to show his identification to police. His attorney argued that this was not a crime under Washington law and the charges against Jones were later dismissed.

Update:

After posting the above, I was contacted by Tim Smith of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee - Tacoma.

He forwarded some e-mail exchanges with the city in which he asked for the after action report I posted above and was told that it didn't exist.

Here's an excerpt from a May 30, 2007 e-mail (the report is dated April 19).

In addition, you requested "Final report AAR (After Action Review) to City Manager from Tacoma PD unknown date but sometime in April. Documents should be in City Manager's Office. Request all annexes and appendices." After inquiries of both the City Manager's Office and the office of the Police Chief, it has been determined that there are no documents responsive to this portion of your request.

This request is now closed; however, if you believe additional documents exist, or this does not meet the scope of your request, please contact me immediately.

Regards,

Yvonne Yaskus
Records Management Supervisor/
Public Records Officer

Now, I haven't yet talked to the city about this, but one possible hang up is that Smith asked for a report to the City Manager -- the report is from Assistant Chief Bob Sheehan to Chief Don Ramsdell.

I'm going to be following up on this with the city presently.

Update 2:

I e-mailed the city's record's officer, Yvonne Yaskus, asking about Smith's 2007 request.

Update 3:

I got this reply back from Yvonne Yaskus:

At the time the request and my subsequent reply to Mr. Smith was made, I was informed that this document did not exist.

I'm going see what additional information is available about why Mr. Smith wasn't able to obtain the document through the public records process.

Is the income tax proposal for real this year? Every year, state Sen. Rosa Franklin, D-Tacoma, introduces a bill calling for a state income tax. Hers often is the only name listed as a sponsor. Such is the case this year. She dropped the bill Jan. 13.

The real interesting thing is that a fiscal note was completed on Feb. 11 and it is really elaborate! I mean, state agency and legislative committee staff put one heckuva lot of work into something that in years past has been a non-starter of a bill.

Has something changed? Is this what Democratic majorities in the House and Senate really have been waiting for? (Next week, we also get word from Congress on how much money Washington will get in bailout money, and how bad the financial situation is. Is it a $7.5 billion shortfall?)

Here is a link to the full text of Senate Bill 5104. But just even more interesting are the numbers in the fiscal note.

Here's a quick summary: An income tax ranging from 2.2 percent to 6 percent would be put in place. The state portion of property tax would be eliminated entirely. The state's 6.5 percent sales tax would be reduced to 3.5 percent.

In state fiscal year 2012, the state would collect $6.67 billion in income taxes, but would forego $3.9 billion in sales taxes and $1.9 billion less from a zero property tax.

The state would have a net gain of $854 million for that year. The bill says the income tax measure would be put on the November 2009 ballot.

Tim Eyman is the one who pointed this bill out to me. Give credit where it's due. I saw it the first week of session but dismissed out of hand as Frankin's usual non-starter. Perhaps I should not have. He pointed out, rightly so, that his I-960 is much of the reason for the more intense scrutiny. I-960 requires the governor's budget office to lay out the 10-year financial impact of any bill that raises fees or taxes.

It's bound to be part of the discussion with Democrats having such hefty majorities. Although they are still shy of two-thirds votes needed to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot without some Republican help.

There's an excellent explanation of why the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage, aka FMAP, is such an important component to helping Washington get out of his $6 or $7 billion budget problem.

It's the percentage of state money that is saved by going from a 50-50 split of federal state spending to 60-40. Under the 50-50 split, Washington would be spending a total of $2 billion on Medicaid by putting up $1 billion of state money to match $1 billion from the feds.

But under the 60-40 split, the state still can spend $2 billion overall on Medicaid programs, but it shells out only $800 million and the feds pay $1.2 billion. The state "saves" $200 million that it can shift to other stuff.

Those are just "for instance" numbers. The real ones are bigger.

Here is the link to Schmudget, the blog for the Washington State Budget and Policy Center.

The graphic tells it all.

One sign that these are tough budget times: Pierce County may cut hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to community groups and charities.

The details are yet to come. But County Executive Pat McCarthy has recommended cutting $565,000 in funding to outside groups as part of an $8 million spending reduction.

County Council members and the executive divvy up millions of dollars in such spending each year. This year’s budget includes $4.8 million for “miscellaneous current expenses,” which includes funding for the community groups. It’s a way for elected officials to fund what they say are worthy programs.

Council members clearly are uncomfortable with the idea of reneging on funding for those groups. At a retreat this morning, the council and the executive played a little ping pong on who will decide which groups get cut.

“Those are your choices to make,” McCarthy told the council when the issue initially came up.

Council members pressed the executive, asking if she would suggest specific cuts. Ultimately, McCarthy said her office would review spending placed in the budget by previous Executive John Ladenburg, while suggesting the council review its own spending on community groups.

“We’ll do our due diligence,” McCarthy said. “You do your due diligence.”

=> Read more!

Our D.C. correspondent Les Blumenthal is tracking Washington's piece of the stimulus pie. According to federal estimates, the compromise $789.5 billion stimulus bill would:

• Create or save 75,000 jobs in Washington state.

• Send half a billion dollars to Washington for highway, road and bridge construction, $175 million for transit projects and $2.06 billion to help bolster the Medicaid program.

• Provide 2.4 million Washington residents with a tax break

• Provide an extra $100 in unemployment benefits to more than 400,000 people.

Here's an administration estimate of where the jobs would be created, by Congressional district. South Sound's primary districts (6th, 8th and 9th) stand to get more than 25,000 jobs.

The Pierce County Council today is meeting at the Alderbrook Resort & Spa on Hood Canal for its annual retreat. The topic: budget, budget, budget.

Just a month into 2009, the county already faces an $8 million budget hole. The main reason: lagging sales tax and interest income collections.

County Executive Pat McCarthy, who also is here for the day, has recommended cuts for numerous departments. The sheriff’s and corrections departments will take hits of less than 1 percent. Other departments – including the executive’s office and council – are slated for cuts of 3 percent.

The council will take up those cuts soon. But that may just be the start. From the drift of this morning’s discussion, it seems the budget hole is likely to get bigger. January sales tax money is down about 12 percent from a year ago.

The budget discussions will continue all day. The council retreat began yesterday afternoon and will continue through Friday morning.

For the record, the retreat cost $6,147.96. Council spokesman Brad Chatfield said the council considered cancelling the retreat to save money. But it would have forfeited about $3,500 to break the Alderbrook contract, signed last March.

Update: Council Chairman Roger Bush notes that council members paid for their own rooms at the retreat.

I'm filing this report from home. Despite the flu shot I got in November, I got knocked down by the usual legislative session bug.

But I talked to Sen. Derek Kilmer yesterday to get the skinny on his bill, which is racing through the Senate. He introduced it on Monday.

The Senate is scheduled to start work at 8 a.m. today and pass two bills. Here's the draft of a story I was writing for today's blog and tomorrows print edition of the paper.

UPDATE: Senate did pass both and since they changed the unemployment benefit bill, it and the Senate bill will go to the House.)

The Washington Senate on Thursday approved a $45 hike in
unemployment checks and a tax break as high as $4,000 for each job
created by small companies, then sent both bills to the House and, eventually, on to the governor.

The minimum unemployment check, starting in May, will be $200 a week.
That maximum will rise to $586. Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign House Bill 1906 into law since she proposed the increases in her inaugural address last month.

The second measure, Senate Bill 5899, sponsored by Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, would give small businesses an incentive to create jobs and offer employees health care coverage by giving them a break on their business and occupation taxes.

Companies with 10 or fewer workers could cut $2,000 off their state
business and occupation taxes if they created a job whose salary and benefits are less than $40,000 a year. Pay and benefits combined also would have to be at least 150 percent of minimum wage and the employer would have to offer the worker a health plan.

For jobs whose pay and benefits are greater than $40,000 a year, the tax
credit would be $4,000.

=> Read more!

Officials at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium have seen a ray of sunshine cutting through the gloomy economic news.

Due to the drop in sale tax revenue that supports the zoo, the park decided to close its doors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the winter.

But, that hasn't kept visitors away -- a combination of nice weather and folks seeking economical family fun is likely behind the increase in attendance this January over last year.

Zoo spokeswoman Whitney DalBalcon sent me these figures this morning:

More than 15,280 people visited Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in January 2009, a 24 percent increase over January 2008 and the highest January attendance on record in our history.

Attendance
January 2009: 15,283
January 2008: 12,280

A sign of the times Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome: More than 800 people showed up for a test to become a water meter reader.

For one open position.

Tacoma Water advertised the opening from Jan. 15-29 and received 1,400 applications, according to Sonja Hall, a spokeswoman for Tacoma Public Utilities. Typically, the utility receives about 300 or 400 applications for a meter reader position.

Utility officials reviewed the applications and invited 1,300 of the hopefuls to take an 88-question test.

Some 807 came to the Dome Exhibition Hall for the testing, which took place in two sessions.

One explanation for the crush of applicants could be a new online application system that the utility recently launched. But Hall acknowledges that “the economy and the decrease in available job opening” may have something to do with it, too.

Human Resources officials will grade the tests and determine scores, Hall said. They hope to notify candidates of their scores by Feb. 20. After that, candidates will be selected for interviews.

The hourly pay range for the coveted job: $17.76 to $23.56.

And his son, the more famous Bill Gates III., is, indeed, looking on here in the House chambers, and watched his dad get the Washington Medal of Merit.

(That's why there are so many State Patrol troopers and bodyguards around the immediate area.)

TWO CORRECTIONS: It was Microsoft Bill's sister standing next to him in the House gallery, not wife Melinda. And the guy getting the medal is actually Bill Gates Jr. His dad is the original. And Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates is actually the 3rd, although I guess they do that in numerals, III, whom the family calls "Trey". (Thanks, Randy). Ya learn somethin' new every day.

Gates Sr. raised something like $2 billion for the University of Washington endowment fund. But that appears to be only the cap on a lifelong career of public service.

The medal is awarded to "any person who has been distinquished by exceptionally meritorious conduct in performing outstanding services to the people and the state of Washington."

I ran into Herb Simon of Tacoma earlier today in the Pritchard cafeteria. Simon is on the UW Board of Regents and he came down here for the medal ceremony too. He said Gates, is in his 80s, "but he's going on 25."

William H. Gates Sr. has been a UW regent since 1997. He also is a founding partner in the law firm, Preston, Gates and Ellis.

Right now, he is co-chairman of what has become the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable foundation in the world. (That would be Microsoft money.)

=> Read more!

FROM LES BLUMENTHAL IN D.C.:

Roll Call is reporting this morning that a defense lobbying firm, whose Virginia offices were searched last year, and its employees have contributed $59,500 to Washington Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks since 2002.

The firm, PMA Group, has ties to Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., who chairs the House defense appropriations subcommittee. Dicks is the third ranking Democrat on the subcommittee and has a close working relationship with the chairman.

Roll Call said there are no indications Murtha, Dicks or any other members of the subcommittee are targets of the federal probe.

George Behan, a Dicks' spokesman, said his boss has not been interviewed by the FBI or Justice Department investigators. "He is not involved," Behan said.

The New York Times also carried a story about the investigation of PMA and its links to Murtha.

PMA, its founder Paul Magliocchetti, and other employees have given more than $1 million to political campaigns over the past three election cycles, The New York Times said, citing the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Much of the money was targeted at members of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing Taxpayers for Common Sense, also said lawmakers earmarked more than $100 million in defense spending for the lobbying firm's clients in 2008 appropriations bills.

Roll Call (subscription only) said Murtha has received $106,000 in campaign contributions from PMA and its employees since 2002 and Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., another subcommittee member, $93,750.

State Sen. Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island, is prime sponsor of a bill that's being sought by all the transit cops in the Puget Sound region.

Senate Bill 5513 expands the list of offenses from littering and spitting to loud noise, gambling, skating on skates, skateboarding and refusing to obey a transit cops who tells you to stop doing what you're doing.

Cops say they want to create "fare enforcement zones" so passenger will feel safe while they're waiting for a bus, train or ferry. And if you can't prove you bought a ticket, they can kick you off.

Here's a link to the Bill Report for SB 5513.

House Bill 1205 would authorize another judge to Division II, District 2, which is based in Tacoma.

CORRECTION: A former neighbor pointed out that I made an error when I said the new appeals court judge would handle cases only from Thurston, Kitsap, Mason and three other counties. I should have that judge, whenever he or she is appointed, will have to stand for election in those six counties. (And that doesn't include Pierce County.)

Here is the Bill Report for HB 1205.

Just passing this on. (I just bought a roll of 100 stamps, too.)

Postal Service Mailing Services Prices to Change on May 11
Annual Pricing Review Results in 2¢ Increase in First-Class Mail Stamp

The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service have approved new prices for mailing services, including a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp to 44 cents. Prices for mailing services are reviewed annually and adjusted each May. The new prices will go into effect Monday, May 11.

=> Read more!

Pierce County voters will decide in November whether to repeal an election system they used for the first time last fall.

By a vote of 6-1, the County Council approved an amendment to the county charter this afternoon that would repeal ranked choice voting. Now the fate of the election system goes to voters for the third time in three years.

Pierce County voters approved ranked choice voting in 2006 and modified it in 2007. The vote was widely interpreted as a rebuke of the state’s unpopular “pick a party” primary, which required voters to state a party preference in primary elections.

Ranked choice voting addressed that issue by eliminating primary elections for most county offices. Instead, all candidates for those offices advance to the general election.

Under the new system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and voters’ second and third choices are taken into account.

The process of eliminating candidates continues until someone gets a majority of votes.

Supporters of ranked choice voting say it encourages more candidates to participate and gives voters more choices in the general election. That seemed to be the case last November, when four candidates vied for county executive and six ran for assessor-treasurer.

Opponents say the system is too confusing and didn’t give voters the chance to properly vet all the candidates.

Today the council elected to let voters decide who’s right.

=> Read more!

The Feb. 10 revenue collection report came out to day with the same kind of news the state has been getting for many, many months.

The state expected to collect $1.17 billion between Jan. 11 and Feb. 10. Instead, it collected $1.07 billion, or $63 million less than expected. That makes cumulative tax collections $196 million less than expected for the last three months.

The Economic Review and Revenue Forecast Council will meet next Thursday to take another quick look at "projected" revenue collections. It's supposed to sober up legislators who appear to be in denial as to how much they are going to have to cut spending.

They still haven't sent the governor any spending cut bills, and it's a full month into session.

If they're paying attention to Congress, they should be able to see they might get about $2.5 billion worth of help. But the projected deficit probably will be $7 billion by then.

Here is the Feb. 10 revenue report.

Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, top Republican on the Senate budget committee, has less than kind words for Democratic majority. Gov. Chris Gregoire said yesterday she's also frustrated by legislative leaders and has let them know it.

From Zarelli:

Legislature fiddles while shortfall grows
One-third through session and still no budget savings, with revenues worsening…

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced today she has chosen Bremerton School District Superintendent Bette Hyde to take over the top job at the state Department of Early Learning.

She will replace Jone Bosworth, the agency's first director, who left at the end of Gregoire's first term. Hyde starts in April at a $142,000 salary.

Gov. Gregoire appoints Early Learning director

OLYMPIA—Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced her appointment of Dr. Bette Hyde as director of the Washington State Department of Early Learning.

“The children and families of our state are incredibly fortunate to have Bette coming onboard to lead the Department of Early Learning,” Gregoire said. “With her years of classroom experience and firm belief that all children have the potential to succeed, she will bring passion and strong leadership to one of our state’s most important investments.”

Hyde is superintendent of the 5,500-student Bremerton School District, well-known for its emphasis on partnering with local early learning groups to improve kindergarten readiness. She began her career as a special education teacher, and has worked as a school psychologist, principal and assistant superintendent in the Seattle, Vashon Island and Highline school districts. Hyde worked as deputy superintendent for Puget Sound Educational Services District. She also served on the governor’s Washington Learns advisory committee.

=> Read more!

Puyallup City Manager Gary McLean won't be getting a performance raise this year, a city official told me today.

I posted an item on this blog last week raising the question, since a salary increase wasn't discussed as part of McLean's public evaluation by the city council.

"He didn't ask for one," city spokeswoman Glenda Carino told me today over coffee. "He said it's not the time to ask for any type of raise."

That's in part because the City of Puyallup is trying to tighten its belt, she said. The city cut $3.5 million from its general fund spending in 2008 to offset revenue shortfalls.

As a result, the city ended up saving $2 million over the course of the year. The city plans to save an additional $1.2 million in 2009 and $2.4 million in 2010.

In that spirit, McLean's base salary will remain at $151,800 for 2009, plus a standard cost of living raise being given to all city employees. (I'm unsure right now what percentage that raise is, but it's low -- less than five percent.)

On Feb. 3, four members of the Puyallup City Council gave McLean a positive review, while the other three council members were more negative.

2008 was McLean's first year as Puyallup's city manager. Prior to that, he spent about six years there as city attorney.

Sim Wilson was before my time, but he served 20 years in the Legislature.

His widow, former state Rep. Karen Schmidt, is still head of the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, and is a former chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee.

Here is a link to The (Everett) Herald story.

The most obvious reason was pointed out yesterday by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. The guv said she didn't want to jinx it, but she noted the U.S. Senate plan has only $39 billion for "stabilization" money for the states, whereas the U.S. House plan had $79 billion.

They two measures are headed for a conference committee to hash out a compromise.

The key provision in the House plan is this: There's $25 billion -- that's for the entire nation -- that could be used to replenish cuts the Washington Legislature might make to prison budget, services to the disabled and elderly, child care, law enforcement, child care, etc. It's hard to figure out how much Washington would have gotten from that pot of money, maybe $527 million.

Both versions have about $2 billion in Medicaid money for Washington, but not all of that could be used to backfill state cuts, maybe only one-fourth. Both also have about $1.32 billion for schools, but again that isn't gonna help the state budget much, if at all. There's also pots of money for more food stamps and homelessness prevention.

Basically, the state could cut state funding then restore spending with federal money. If the cards fall just right, maybe $1 billion to $2.5 billion might be available to help the state with its $6 billion, going on $7 billion budget deficit over 30 months. That's the best-case scenario. So does that mean the Legisalture is looking at a tax increase to put on the ballot? Probably.

=> Read more!

Plans to close part of A Street in downtown Tacoma and turn a portion of the old Prairie Line railroad line into a biking and pedestrian trail are moving forward, despite the decision by Denver-based ProLogis to abandon its part of a complicated deal with the city and railroad.

City officials are working on a legal document for a slightly revised transaction and plan to bring it to the City Council soon, said Ryan Petty, director of the city's Community and Economic Development Department.

The potential Prairie Line trail and the planned warehouse development were never really related, but city officials tied them together as a bargaining tactic with BNSF. The city had tried for years to get the railroad to donate a portion of the right-of-way from the historic Prairie Line, but had not succeeded. BNSF needed the city's cooperation on the ProLogis development.

Even without the ProLogis warehouses, BNSF wants to move forward with the closure of A Street and it remains willing to give up part of the Prairie Line, Petty said.

=> Read more!

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, says she got extra weeks and larger unemployment benefits into the U.S. Senate's economic stimulus package. (It's not on President Barack Obama's desk yet. And I'm sure Cantwell didn't do it all by herself, but, hey, she helped.)

I wrote a story last week about the state House passing a bill to raise the minimum weekly unemployment benefit to $200 and the maximum to $586. That story said benefits could be gotten for a total of 72 weeks. That included the 33 weeks that Cantwell is talking about in her news release. You could get the additional weeks if you've used up all 39 weeks that are available now.

That extra $25 would appear to increase the weekly benefit to a minimum of $225 and a maximum of $611, but I haven't seen the full text of the bill in Congress and the House and Senate have not yet hammered out a final deal.

Cantwell Secures 33 Weeks More Support for Washington State Workers and Families Struggling with Unemployment

136,000 Unemployed Washingtonians Eligible for Additional Unemployment Insurance

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) successfully secured an additional 33 weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers in Washington state who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation benefits. Also, individuals receiving unemployment insurance could receive an additional $25 a week. Currently, there are more than 136,000 Washingtonians receiving unemployment benefits. More than 90,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in December of 2008, which is a 75 percent increase from a year ago.

=> Read more!

State Rep. Mark Miloscia, D-Federal Way, is prime sponsor of House Bill 2103, which would levy an 18.5 percent tax on all visual or audio pornographic materials.

But he's not the only one.

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, has signed on. So have Reps. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, John McCoy, D-Tulalip, and Marilyn Chase, D-Shoreline.

I don't know yet how much they hope to raise from the porn tax because there is no fiscal note for the bill yet. I don't think it would solve the entire $6 billion budget shortfall, but I'm assuming Miloscia arrived at the 18.5 percent figure for a reason.

Miloscia said he doesn't know yet, either, "but anything would be helpful in this situation."

House Finance Committee Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina, has agreed to hold a hearing, Miloscia said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed cutting the General Assistance Unemployable (GAU) and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Support Act (ADATSA) programs to save $415 million over the 2009-11 budget cycle. (I don't have separate figures for each program, but Miloscia wants to salvage only the 16,000 folks on GAU, not the 6,000 on ADATSA.)

Here is the full text of HB 2103.

The porn tax would apply to materials that show explicit sex -- magazines, photographs, motion pictures, video tapes, video discs, cable television, telephone services, audio tapes, computer programs and paraphenalia. The movies must be X-rated.

=> Read more!

The blocked type below is what you get if you sign up on the ListServ for the Initiative 960 notices from the governor's budget office. The governor's folks are required to sent out notices that indicate how much money would be raised over 10 years from any tax or fee bill that is introduced in the Legislature.

(I added 2 years to the 10-year just to hit $1 billion in my headline.)

It also lists the sponsors and how to contact them so you can chew them out for daring to sponsor a tax or fee increase bill. That's what Tim Eyman, I-960's sponsor, wants you to do. It's the Scarlett Tax provision of the initiative.

This particular e-mail is interesting because it's a significant amount.

But just today, I UNSUBSCRIBED from the notification list because it was clogging my e-mail inbox with worthless stuff. I'll have to rely on other eyes to keep me posted because I don't have time to open and read 20-some tax bills every day. I doubt that even Eyman has time for that.

You see, you also get e-mails every time a fee bill is introduced, every time it is passed by a policy committee, every time it gets passed by a budget committee, every time it passes the House or Senate. And then, it starts all over again in the other chamber: introduction, committee, committee, full House or Senate.

So, if the fee for getting a physical therapy license goes from $100 to $110, and it moves through the Legislative process, you'll get about 8 e-mails on that one bill alone.

=> Read more!

Jim Vaughn, a retired military officer who decided to run for Congress (in the 8th District) last year, is now prime sponsor of a pair of initiatives to the people.

The first, I-1044, seeks to replace the business and occupation tax with a flat rate corporate tax not to exceed 5% (national average is 6.6%).

The second, I-1045, provides every resident in the State of Washington with full medical coverage.

Vaughn got his feet wet in the political arena last year running against Darcy Burner in the Democratic primary. He lost. And Burner lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert. But Vaughn met a lot of people.

Now, he's jumping with both feet into Tim Eyman country, and he may need to get a few pointers from the Pro. He did OK on the first part: He named his group Citizens for Economic Stimulus in Washington. Not real catchy, but topical.

On the other hand, ask Eyman what it's like to try to finance and collect 300,000 signature on 2 initiatives at the same time.

I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Jim Vaughn and I am a former military officer that now has a staffing service focused on assisting our veterans obtain employment. Priority going to service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Given the state of our country and economy I decided to get involved.

=> Read more!

Moving state Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers into the Washington State Patrol is one of the government efficiencies now under consideration by Gov. Chris Gregoire’s administration.

And the recreational and wildlife groups reportedly are none too happy about the proposal.

Bruce Bjork, chief of the enforcement program for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the agency is concerned its mission will change too much, and game officers might find themselves writing a lot of traffic citation like state troopers.

“There’s a little concern that our focus of fish and wildlife enforcement might end up getting diminished over the years,” Bjork said. “I’m not saying it would. But that’s certainly a concern. We actually limit the amount of time (now) for traffic enforcement, by policy.”

The main mission of the State Patrol is traffic enforcement on the state highway and freeway system, although the Patrol also has commercial vehicle inspections, auto theft details and organized crime detectives.
The commission board and its interim director also object to the proposed merger, Bjork said.

“But we also realize that we’re not the policy makers, so whatever the governor and the Legislature decide to we’ll make it work,” he added.

Ed Owens, who represents about 75 hunting and fishing groups to the Legislature, said the wildlife community is unanimous in its opposition to the governor's proposal.

Only Oregon and Alaska have their wildlife officers as part of the state police force, Owens said. After a similar consolidation took place in Oregon, he said, "they had wildlife officers writing speeding tickets."

Rich Simms of Mukilteo, president of the Wild Steelhead Coaltion, said he has no strong feelings one way or the other, as long as enforcement of poaching and other wildlife laws remains a priority for the State Patrol.

“We don’t have enough enforcement as it is,” Simms said. “There’s frustration in the angling community about not getting response from the poaching hotline or after-the-fact responses.”

The governor confirmed at Monday’s news conference that she has her cabinet members talking to each other about such a consolidation, and that they also have examined whether to include park rangers and detective in the state Department of Natural Resources.

Robin Arnold-Williams, the head of the governor’s policy staff now chief architect of Gregoire’s government restructuring, said after the news conference a bill to merge the wildlife agents into the State Patrol would be introduced later this legislative session.

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire held her news conference on eliminating boards and commissions and streamlining state government. Her staff sent out a bunch of stuff Friday, which was embargoed until today, and all of that stuff -- the list of boards and commissions and all the other red-tape elimination -- appear at the end of this blog posting.

It's a long list, so keep scrolling to the bottom.

She also confirmed that her agencies are talking to each other about shifting the law enforcement officers at the Department of Fish and Wildlife over to the Washington State Patrol, but "it's more complicated than we thought."

Here's the news-you-can-use portion of this story: Department of Licensing offices in Auburn, West Tacoma (Universitiy Place) and one in Olympia will be closed. A lot more offices will be open Tuesday through Friday until 7 p.m. and all day on Saturdays. That includes the Puyallup and South Tacoma offices.

Some of this stuff the governor can do on her own. Hence, the elimination of 56 boards and commissions by executive order. She needs the Legislature to approve the elimination of 34 more by June 30, 2009 and 62 more by June 30, 2010.

The status of 40 more would be reviewed and might be eliminated, but the governor says she wants to keep all 30 of the agriculture advisory groups. That would include the potato, cranberry, honey bee, hop, strawberry and similar commissions.

This is out of a total of 470.

Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, has introduced a bill that would elminate all but 7 of those 470 boards and commissions. So, who knows? Maybe the Legislature will go the guv one better.

The financial savings isn't that much, not compared to a $6 billion budget shortfall. Most of these boards only cover expenses of its members, plus $100 a day. But all of them require staffing, so maybe this means state agency workers and legislative staff can spend their time on something else.

I don't know whether merging the state Department of Archeology and Historical Preservation into the state Parks and Recreation Department requires legislative approval.

On the flip side, members of the Interagency Task Force on Milfoil Control must be heartbroken right about now. Likewise, the Acupunture Ad Hoc Consulting Group members must be besides themselves.

=> Read more!

Or rather, was George Walk, the Pierce County lobbyist in Olympia, of two minds when he testified last Friday on House Bill 1572?

That's the bill that would require the entire state to conduct elections entirely by mail-in ballots. And Pierce is the only outlyer right now.

Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, who used to be the county's top elections official, wanted Walk to testify in favor of the bill. The Pierce County Council wanted Walk to testify against the bill.

I missed last Friday's hearing, but I just got off the phone with Walk. He signed in both in favor and in opposition to the bill "with one arrow pointing to the County Executive and one arrow to the County Council," he said.

"Fortunately, it's very rare when we have situations like this," Walk said. It might be worth going to the TVW archives to see the tape.

"Everybody was laughing," Walk said. "And at the end of the hearing (Rep. Dennis) Flannigan said, 'Thanks for the guidance.'"

Some background: The November 2008 general election had 37 of 39 counties vote entirely by mail. Only Pierce and King counties had some poll voting. But King County has indicated that was its last poll election.

From now on, only Pierce would vote at the polls.

Here is a link to HB 1572.

The bill comes up for vote in the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee at 8 a.m. Thursday. (Flannigan probably will vote both "yes" and "no".

Now it's even easier to share a piece of your mind with us (and everyone else).

One recent caller told reporter Jason Hagey that his story looking at police reports from the fatal Tacoma Dome monster truck accident was full of "liberal bull****" and "as far as I'm concerned your newspaper's nothing better than toilet wipe." (Click the link to listen to the call.)

Perhaps the caller didn't realize that our Opinion section has started a new hotline called Chatter Box where people can leave 30-second messages that are posted to the Web for everyone to hear.

You can reach it by calling 253-353-7100.

Remember, if you want your rant to make it online, you've got to keep it clean.

(Photo: demibrook)

Remember that lawsuit over the Pierce County Council’s appointment of Jan Shabro to be county auditor? Don’t expect it to be resolved any time soon.

The lawsuit is set for trial in July. There won’t even be a hearing until next month. Meanwhile, Shabro continues to serve as county auditor. That might give her an edge in November’s special election to fill the unexpired term of former auditor and current County Executive Pat McCarthy.

In the lawsuit, local Democratic Party chairman Nathe Lawver and county resident Ron Lopp claim the County Council and an ad hoc committee violated the state open meetings law by holding illegal closed sessions and failing to provide adequate notice of discussions related to replacing the auditor. They also claim the council violated the county charter by approving an auditor replacement process via emergency resolution. They argue the charter does not provide for emergency resolutions.

Lawver also argues the Republican-controlled council was required to select someone nominated by the Democratic Party to replace McCarthy, who was twice elected as a Democrat.

In a response filed in Pierce County Superior Court, county lawyers argue that voters made the auditor’s office nonpartisan in 2007, so the council was under no obligation to select someone recommended by the Democrats. They also argue the council and the ad hoc committee conducted lawful closed sessions while considering the qualifications of people who applied for the auditor’s job. And they say the procedure for replacing the auditor was legal. The county has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit on several procedural grounds.

Lawver said the Democratic Party has agreed to become a party to the lawsuit. He said local attorney Monte Hester has agreed to represent the party.

After last fall's passage of Initiative 1000, the Death with Dignity measure, it's now up to the state Department of Health to adopt regulations for how one goes about ending one's life.

There are rules that must be followed.

Here is a link to the proposed state Department of Health regulations that would govern getting a lethal dose of drugs from his or her doctor to end their life.

Scroll down to the bottom to see the questionnaire that applicants (?) must fill out.

There is a hearing on the regs tomorrow, from 9 a.m. 'til noon, at the DOH, Point Plaza East Room 152-3, 310 Israel Road S.E., Tumwater.

Maybe we'll find out at the news conference how she got out of it, or, rather IF she got out of jury duty.

What happens if she actually gets seated on a 2-month murder trial?
At first, I thought it was a joke, but . . .

The Governor was called for jury duty this morning. No, I am not kidding. She is currently at the Thurston County Courthouse and will be there until she is called to serve or dismissed. As a result, this morning's press conference is postponed. I hope to reschedule the press conference for later this morning. Once I know that information I will let you know ASAP.

In the meantime, can you please continue to honor the embargo until we have a new time for presser.

Thanks,
Pearse

Pearse Edwards
Communications and External Affairs Director
Office of Governor Chris Gregoire
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

UPDATE: Check back here at 11:30 a.m. I delay-posted the reform items on the blog for that time, to honor the guv's embargo.

I thought they already were banned, but what do I know.

State Sen. Jim Hargove, D-Hoquiam, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5263. There was a hearing on it last Friday, but I missed it. One wonders whether there was such an incident on school grounds somewhere in the state.

I have to admit when I first saw the bill title, I thought it might be banning teachers from having stun guns. And I wonder if Sen. Pam Roach, R-2nd Amendment, wants to make an exception for teachers.

Here is a link to the bill report for SB 5263.

Summary of Bill:

Stun guns, tasers, or portable devices used to provide electric shock, charge, or impulse are added to the list of items that are deemed unlawful for students to carry onto, or possess on, school premises, school provided transportation, or areas used exclusively by schools.

Anyone in violation is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. If found guilty, the person will have his or her concealed pistol license, if any, revoked for three years. Those who are convicted will be prohibited from applying for a concealed pistol license for three years. Elementary or secondary school students who violate will be subject to expulsion. Those who are at least 12 and not more than 21 years of age will be detained or confined in a juvenile or adult facility for up to 72 hours and cannot be released within that time period until that person has
been examined and evaluated by the county designated mental health professional unless otherwise directed by the court.

(Photo: yoheiyamashita)

UPDATE: The news conference was postponed indefinitely because the governor got called up for jury duty.

UPDATE NO. 2: I still don't know whether the governor is going to talk about consolidating law enforcement among Fish and Wildlife, DNR, Parks and the State Patrol. But I have a refresher on my rumors: Apparently Fish and Wildlife was trying to get DNR and Parks rangers put under FW jurisdiction and was told, "Stop it. If anyone goes anywhere, it will be Fish and Wildlife going to the State Patrol."

Hmmm. I wonder is this means that state troopers will be enforcing the law against using body gripping devices to catch moles who leave mounds of dirt on your front yard?

Her press conference is at 9:30 a.m. This is where we hear more about what might happen to Fish and Wildlife cops, who could find themselves shifted over to the State Patrol.
In my earlier posting, I mentioned Natural Resources and Parks and Recreation cops, too, but they have only limited commissions (they're not full-fledged cops) so maybe they won't be moved. Troopers and wildlife officers (what used to be called "game wardens") have full law enforcement commissions.

OLYMPIA - Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday will hold a media availability in Olympia to announce her government reform package.

The governor will be joined by state Auditor Brian Sonntag, Sen. Eric Oemig, Rep. Larry Springer, Department of Licensing Director Liz Luce, Association of Washington Business President Don Brunell, Washington Federation of State Employees Executive Director Greg Devereux, Service Employees International Union Local 775 President David Rolf, and Deputy Executive Director of Education Jan Yoshiwara with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

ACLU Washington is pushing this bill. The organization says 167,000 people are barred from voting because they have not yet paid off their financial obligations -- court costs, fines, victim restitution. Current law says they have to pay off all that stuff before they can vote.

ACLU says it amounts to a poll tax. Today's hearing in on the Senate version of the bill, but state Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, has a compansion bill in the House.

Darneille has introduced the measure for several years. She said she did so after running into so many people in her 27th District that were not allowed to vote.

Here's the ACLU release.

Hearing on to Be Held on Monday Morning, Feb. 9 on Bill to Restore the Right to Vote – SB 5534

A hearing will be held Monday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. on Senate Bill 5534, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles. The bill would automatically restore the right to vote to citizens who have come out of the criminal justice system. The hearing will take place in the Senate Government Operations Committee at Senate Hearing Room 2 of the J.A. Cherberg Building. The companion bill in the House is HB 1517, sponsored by Rep. Jeannie Darneille.

=> Read more!

The news was buried deep down in the Washington Department of Corrections' February newsletter.

This is the prison that's basically going to let the state bring back the rest of some 800 inmates who are now housed in private prisons in Oklahoma, Minnesota and Arizona. There used to be 1,000 out of state.

Coyote Ridge, which is north of TriCities, has added room for 2,048 more inmates. That's in addition to the 600 already there on a kind of honor farm.

The first group of new inmates -- I think it's 256 -- were arriving this past week.

Coyote Ridge Corrections Center Opensit its Doors to the Community

By Maria Peterson
East Team Leader, Communications

Hundreds of people toured Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell Jan
22 for an inside look at the facility’s new $230 million expansion before it opened to offenders in February.

Community members, family and friends of DOC staff and city
representatives were guided through the new buildings by Coyote Ridge
Corrections Officers.

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire will be fielding questions from an audience Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Channel 9.

Also noteworthy: The guy who sent out this notice is named Stephen King. The e-mail signature says he's a "communications intern." Yeah. Sure he is.

This could be a helluva call-in show.

KCTS 9 and KYVE 47 present Ask the Governor

Washington state residents will be given the opportunity to communicate directly with Christine Gregoire, Washington state Governor, live from KCTS 9, Wednesday, February 11, from 7:00p.m.

=> Read more!

Pierce Transit officials are mulling bus service cuts even as the economy is driving more people to use public transportation.

The agency is trimming its budget and targeting low-use bus routes in an effort to plug a budget hole caused by lagging sales tax revenue. Its board of commissioners will meet Monday to hear details of three options for service cuts that could be imposed this summer.

Pierce Transit chief executive Lynne Griffith said the agency is trying to cut costs in ways that have minimum impact on passengers and employees. But she noted transit systems across the country are resorting to service cuts and layoffs. And she said Pierce Transit’s financial problems might get worse before they get better.

“We’ve never experienced this kind of (revenue) decline in the history of Pierce Transit,” Griffith said.

It’s been a roller coaster year for Pierce Transit, which provides bus, shuttle and other transportation services across Pierce County. Last year high gas prices led many commuters to abandon their cars in favor of buses. The agency’s total passenger boardings rose 11 percent to 16.1 million in 2008.

But as the economy soured later in the year, Pierce Transit’s biggest source of revenue – sales tax – began to lag. Though the agency has not finalized its 2008 finances, spokesman Lars Erickson said it appears sales tax revenue will be $10 million less than expected for the year.

The agency cut $5.7 million from its 2008 budget. It made more cuts in the 2009 budget and raised adult fares by 25 cents. But it’s still facing a $5 million budget shortfall, thanks to the lagging sales tax.

In response, the Pierce Transit board last month asked the staff to study the effect of eliminating low-use routes. On Monday the staff will present three options:

=> Read more!

Laid-off workers in Washington state would get at least $200 a week in unemployment benefits under provisions a bill that was just passed by the state House of Representatives.

The House voted 91-2 in favor of boosting the minimum benefit check to $155 a week from the current $129, then tacked an additional $45-a-week increase to everyone’s unemployment benefit check.

The new range for weekly benefit checks would be $200 to $586.

Those temporary increases would take effect in May, the earliest the state Employment Security Department can implement them, said Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee and prime sponsor of House Bill 1906. They would remain in place until Jan. 3, 2010, then drop back down to the regular range.

The Senate is expected to follow suit and send the measure to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who proposed the $45 boost in her Jan. 14 inaugural address.

This is the Washington Legislature’s first step toward an economic stimulus package that lawmakers hope will keep a stumbling economy from getting worse. The unemployment rate in Washington is 7.1 percent and is expected to climb higher. The national unemployment rate is 7.6 percent.

Unemployed workers spend their benefit checks right away, providing an immediate stimulus, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, told reporters at a news conference before the House vote.

“They don’t put it in savings or in stocks and bonds,” Chopp said. “They spend it.”

About 251,000 people in Washington were unemployed in December. About 151,000 of them were drawing unemployment benefits. The average worker gets about $1,000 a month from unemployment. Often, that’s enough to keep making their house payment, he said.

=> Read more!

Freshman Rep. Marcie Maxwell, D-Renton, wants to create a brand-new college over in Bellevue, one that has the authority to issue bachelor degrees in education and applied sciences, at a minimum.

I wonder is she's anticipating those $5-6 roundtrip tolls on the Highway 520 bridge and maybe Interstate 90 bridge, too. That would be a real handicap to Eastside kids who want to get a bachelor degree from the University of Washington main campus in Seattle, if they are commuting students.

More on this later.

At the same hearing, Tuesday at 10 a.m. before the House Higher Education Committee in House Hearing Room D, is House Bill 1467, the bill that would create a branch campus somewhere in Snohomish County. Everett, Marysville and others are still fighting over the location.

Here is a link to the full text of HB 1726, the Bellevue College bill.

Just before he left office, former state Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland (former Tacoma mayor) signed a settlement and lease agreement with Taylor Shellfish for the harvest of geoducks on state lands.

New Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark says he isn't going to sign it. It's basically a do-over.

Taylor Shellfish is getting fined for harvesting geoducks from state lands without and lease and the company is now getting the lease they should have gotten in the first place, said Goldmark spokesman Aaron Toso.

"The lease and the settlement are separate issues," Toso said "But they were tied together (in Sutherland's deal) and the public didn't have a voice in the lease."

The deal that Sutherland signed imposed a $630,000 fine on the shellfish company for harvesting geoducks and oysters from Totten Inlet. It gave the company 5 years to pay off the fine.

It also gave Taylor Shellfish Farms a 10-year lease to 10 acres of state tidelands for about 11 percent of the value of its geoduck harvest and 15 percent of its oyster harvest, plus a fee of about $11,500 a year.

Here's the whole deal.

Goldmark said he will meet with company officials on Monday.

Also, just before he left office, Sutherland signed a 30-year lease for gravel removal from the Maury Island. Goldmark's staff is still reviewing that agreement.

OLYMPIA – Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark today announced that he will not sign a lease with Taylor Shellfish with terms as negotiated by the previous commissioner. The terms had been set in a settlement addressing the company’s trespass on state aquatic lands in Totten Inlet.

=> Read more!

Typically, evaluations of public officials like city managers and school superintendents come with pay raises for good performance.

But Puyallup officials haven't discussed that matter yet as it concerns their city manager, who received his first annual evaluation Tuesday night.

Puyallup Mayor Don Malloy told me Tuesday morning that the city council had yet to talk about whether or not first-year City Manager Gary McLean would receive a raise.

And it didn't come up at that night's meeting, when three council members voted to put McLean out of a job and four voted to retain him.

I'm curious about this, so I'll continue to ask. And I'll be sure to let you know.

Here is the estimate from the General Accounting Office of how much Washington state would get from the U.S. Senate version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment ARRRRRRRRRRR economic stimulus. (Medicaid only).

Thanks to Jerry Reilly, chairman of the Elder Care Alliance. The alliance cares about that $2.02 billion figure because its members want to restore many of the human service cuts that Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed in her budget. That figure is for a 2-year, 3-month period, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2009.

FMAP: That the acronym for Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage. It's sorta synonymous with Medicaid.

From Jerry:

Attached is new analysis of the amount of additional federal funds that Washington state would receive for FMAP under Medicaid in the Senate
Version of the stimulus package. The amount is $2.020 billion. This is the highest number that I have seen thus far. There is more than enough money to restore the devastating cuts that have been proposed for long term care and health programs funded though Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act.
Jerry Reilly (360 561-4212)
Chair, Eldercare Alliance

It's Senate Bill 5875. This is partially a defensive move by the Washington State Trade and Convention Center, which has seen its capital and operating budget surpluses raided by the Legislature in recent years.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, is pushing to the bill for the center. But Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Finance Committee, said before the Legislature convened Jan. 12 that the convention center plan was "not ready for prime time."

Here's the story from the Seattle Times.

And here is the earlier post I put on this blog, explaining what the convention center was up to, partly through Hunter's eyes.

That's according to a report written by the Washington State Department of Transportation for the 20 years from 1984 to 2003. (Remember, the Legislature passed a 5-cent gas tax in 2003 and a 9.5-cent increase in 2005.)

Here is a link to the report.

This is for ALL transportation taxes, state and federal.

King County got back $1.09 in projects for every $1 its citizens paid in taxes. The county that got the least amount over those 20 years was Whatcom (Belligham). They got only 61 cents for every $1. Pierce was fifth worst in terms of return on taxes collected. We shelled out $640 million more than we got back: Paid $2.7 billion; got back $2.06 billion.

Wahkiakum County is the biggest beneficiary: something like $5.78 back for every $1 its citizens pay in transportation taxes.

Deputy Pierce County Executive Kevin Phelps cited this report Wednesday when he was rallying local officials to encourage the Pierce County delegation in the Legislature to persuade their colleagues to restore the money Gov. Chris Gregoire proposes to cut from state projects in Pierce County.

(County Executive Pat McCarthy is meeting over the lunch hour (right now) with the Pierce legislative delegation.)

CONFIDENTIAL TO NOTME: The info you're looking for is on pages 12-14 of the pdf.

But read the whole thing. Some of this info is dated. It appears this particular report was generated so legislators could see how much money counties had gotten in the past, compared to what they would get from the 2003 and 2005 taxes.

There are persistent rumors to that effect. But I've been told the Fish and Wildlife is not being eliminated.

I do know that combining the law enforcement officers for multiple agencies, such as state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources and may Parks and Recreation is being talked about.

Rumor is, they all could fall under the jurisdiction of the Washington State Patrol.

I'm only piecing together some random observations in the natural resources arena (with lots of guidance from others who know a lot more than I do) but there are some signals.

For one, Gov. Chris Gregoire telegraphed the potential for moves in her budget, where (I’m told) she made deeper cuts to Fish and Wildlife than other natural resource agencies.

She also made that remark in her (Second) inaugural address about having three biologists from separate agencies working in the same stream.

Pearse Edwards, the governor's communications director, said only that Gregoire would have a list of reforms to announce at her news conference on Monday. That's at 10 a.m., I think.

Regarding those scientists in the stream:

"Those bioloists are all looking for different things," said someone who works for one of the agencies involved. Fish and Wildlife protects endangered salmon. DNR protects the bottom of Puget Sound and the eel grass on it. Ecology keeps an eye on what is dumped into water.

"There are things we could do more efficiently. There are places where we could work together," my source said.

=> Read more!

Former state Rep. Mary Skinner is the third past legislator to die in recent months. Bill Grant and Steve Hailey, also from Eastern Washington, also passed away recently.

Cancer claims former Rep. Mary Skinner
Lawmakers mourn loss of former 14th District state representative

Surrounded by her family, former Rep. Mary Skinner died this morning at 6:25 a.m. at her home in Yakima after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 63.

Skinner was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994. She served for seven terms, including the last two as vice chair of the House Republican Caucus, but announced last May she would not seek re-election and would retire from office when her term expired this month.

=> Read more!

Randy Dorn said a news release should be coming from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction later today.

But Dorn told me over by the sundial a couple hours ago that there's no money to process and grade the tests.

The 9th grade WASL (Washington Assessement of Student Learning) is optional, but 36,000 students had signed up for it this school year. The test is taken in the spring.

So, it's not as if he's getting rid of any mandatory testing, he said. A lot of students use it for practice. And Dorn said, if a student passes the test, it counts as if the student passsed the 10th grade WASL.

UPDATE: Here's that news release I promised you:

Ninth grade optional WASL testing cancelled

The number of ninth-grade registrations outpaced available funding

OLYMPIA — In an effort to avoid nearly $500,000 in unfunded testing costs, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has cancelled optional Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) testing for ninth graders effective immediately.

=> Read more!

FROM LES BLUMENTHAL IN OUR D.C. BUREAU

WASHINGTON - So the White House says its version of the stimulus bill, or as Democrats now call it the recovery bill, will create or save 79,000 jobs in Washington state. In a state-by-state breakdown, the administration said 90 percent of those jobs will be in the private sector.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House version of the bill would create or save nearly 100,000 jobs and shave 2 percentage points off the state's current 7.2 percent unemployment rate.

The White House has been cranking up its press machine over the past several days, meeting with reporters from various regions of the nation.

In today's release, the White House also said 2.45 million Washingtonians will be eligible for up to a $1,000 tax cut; 404,000 unemployed in Washington state will get an extra $100 a month in their unemployment benefits and 67,000 families in the state will be eligible for a $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college.

Finally, the White House says its bill would provide sufficient funding to modernize at least 138 schools in Washington state.

That little factoid comes to us from Kevin Phelps, the new deputy Pierce County executive, from this morning's presentation to members of RAMP (Regional Access Mobility Partnership).

Phelps was helping County Executive Pat McCarthy fire up the troops (local government and business leaders) to get them to urge the Pierce County delegation in the Legislature to get their colleagues to restore the proposed cuts that Gov. Chris Gregoire has in her 2009-11 transportation budget.

The guv delays to death several big projects, to the tune of almost $500 million. Here's a list of some of the projects that got put off by the governor. (Note: The Highway 167 project hit is about $20 million smaller than my story said.)

Phelps said he got the info on gas tax from the state Department of Transportation Web site. That figure, $642 million, is the difference between what we collect in gas taxes and how much we get back in the form of projects built in Pierce County. That's how much we shipped out over the past 20 years, making us a huge donor to other counties.

Phelps said based on projects, Pierce would export and additional $620 million over the next 10 years.

Here's the PowerPoint presentation that McCarthy and Phelps gave to the locals.

Transportation funding (or lack thereof) is a regular topic at the weekly meetings of legislators from Pierce County.

Sens. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, and Dale Brandland, R-Bellingham, (a former sheriff), have sponsored a bill that would let authorities collect DNA from people convicted of a crime, even if the crime to which they plead guilty isn't on the list.

That is, if they were first charged with felony that would require them to submit a DNA sample, but they plead to a lesser crime than has no DNA submission requirment, they still have to be swabbed.

Regala thinks because it's narrower than HB 1382, the one that would allow cops to get DNA from arrestees (instead of conviction), it has a better chance of passing.

Joe,
Saw your story this a.m. about the DNA bill in the House.
You might be interested to know about SB 5026 which Sen. Brandlund and I collaborated on. It takes a more measured step forward on this issue.
Essentially – if a person is charged with an offense for which current law would require collection of DNA and then agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge which would not require collection of DNA – the collection of their DNA would be a required part of the plea agreement. There has to be probable cause for the original charge.
There likely will not be a large number of cases where this applies but it does allow collection of DNA from folks who might pose a risk for future crimes. They are thus in the system and can be identified which wouldn’t happen if they plea to the lesser crime.
Both the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault programs(Lonnie Johns Brown) and the Prosecutors(Tom McBride) testified in favor of the bill.
Debbie Regala

Ken Madsen retired in December after eight years as Pierce County assessor-treasurer and more than two decades of public service. I caught up with him last week to chat.

Turns out retirement can be a job in itself. Madsen said he’s trying to take six months off to do a “brain flush.” But he’s been busy dealing with retirement and insurance issues and his phone “rings incessantly.”

“I heard when you retire you can have some fun,” Madsen joked.

Madsen grew up in Spokane and spent much of his adult life in public service. He served three years in the Army and was a Green Beret in Southeast Asia. Later he went to college and took a job with the Dun & Bradstreet financial information firm in Seattle.

In 1984 Madsen was elected to the state House of Representatives and later served in the senate. In 1992 he won the first of two terms on the Pierce County Council. And he finished his career as assessor-treasurer.

Looking back, Madsen said he most enjoyed serving as assessor-treasurer because it was an administrative – rather than a legislative – job.

“With the assessor’s office, you could make a decision and go do it,” he said. “With legislation, you’ve got to stroke egos and everything to make it pass.”

Madsen cited his efforts to improve technology in the assessor-treasurer’s office. Digitizing documents, for example, allowed multiple employees to work with documents simultaneously and boosted productivity.

Madsen’s own productivity has declined somewhat in retirement. Aside from working through retirement issues, he’s taking in a lot of plays. And at 69 he’s still thinking about what comes next.

“I haven’t had much time to think that through,” Madsen said. “But I am retired.”

In yesterday's special election for King County elections director, incumbent (by virtue of appointment) Sherril Huff won 44 percent of the vote.

State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, was in third place in the early tally. Fellow Republican David Irons was in second place. I'll have to look for an updated count. In the meantime, here's a link to Horses Ass blog.

And here's a link to King County early election returns.

Our Washington, D.C. correspondent Les Blumenthal caught up to U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, today to ask him about his plans for the future. (And see my earlier post about state Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, running for the 9th Congressional District seat.)

UPDATE: Brad Shannon at The Olympian reports state Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, would be interested in the 9th District seat, but he would not run against Adam Smith. “If it’s an open seat, then I’m very interested in running,’’ Hudgins told Shannon.

UPDATE NO. 2: it's really, really official now. I got an e-mail from Adam Smith's political director.

Joe,
Below is the official statement in response to the rumor you inquired about earlier.

I am not taking a position with the Obama Administration and will run for reelection in 2010. I love my job and living in Tacoma and will continue to serve in Congress. I have strong ties to the District and have no intention of relocating to Washington D.C. My family lives in Tacoma, my two children - Kendall and Jack - go to Tacoma public schools, my wife is the PTA president and we love the neighborhood where we live.

=> Read more!

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking citizens to show how they would cut about $6 billion in state spending and balance the budget.

There’s an interactive budget calculator on her Web site that lets users add and subtract from major spending areas.

=> Read more!

Last Friday’s 4.5 magnitude earthquake was not-so-gentle reminder of just how much Gov. Chris Gregoire, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and (soon to be former) King County Executive Ron Sims are gambling in their deliberations and recommendation for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

It was the imminent threat of earthquake that boosted the $4.24 billion viaduct project on Seattle’s downtown waterfront and, to a lesser extent, the $4.5 billion Highway 520 bridge project, to the top of the state’s priority list for money. Those two projects were the main reason the Legislature approved raising the gas tax by 9.5 cents a gallon in 2005.

State highway engineers say there is a 10 percent chance that over the next 10 years, there will be an earthquake severe enough to make parts of the viaduct collapse.

Ron Paananen, DOT deputy urban corridors director and the guy who oversees the viaduct replacement project, said earlier this week that translates into a 1 percent chance each year that the viaduct may crumble. Conversely, that means there’s a 99 percent chance that it won’t.

Gregoire, Nickels and Sims were playing the odds over the past two years while they were negotiating a deal. They still are.

The governor issued an ultimatum a couple years ago, saying the viaduct was coming down no later than 2012, so all interested parties had better come to an agreement.

Now, the trio are recommending to the Legislature that the viaduct stay in place -- it carries 110,000 vehicles a day -- until 2015, while a deep-bore tunnel is dug about 300 feet from seawall.

That means the trio are still playing the odds.

=> Read more!

But rumors persist that Congressman Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, is going to get some kind of job in President Barack Obama's Administration, so he won't be running for re-election.

I reported earlier in this blog that state Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, was looking to announce his congressional bid if Smith did get a D.C. job. Now, I'm hearing from the Republican side of the street that Campbell is running for Congress, regardless.

UPDATE: Campbell just called back. He's runnin'. He said he's filed the paperwork with election officials.
"This district fits me," he said.
The 9th District runs from Burien (King County) to Bucoda (Thurston County), cutting right through the middle of Pierce County. That includes his 2nd Legislative District, which has parts of Pierce and Thurston counties.

And he's the first one out there.

Now, we'll have to see what happens in the next chapter of Mr. Smith goes to Washington. It might be, Mr. Smith stays in (the other) Washington.

Here's part of an e-mail I got from a source earlier tonight:

We have just heard a DC rumor (through the Republicans) that Adam is close to getting the appointment he wants, in the Defense Department or possibly State Dept., and that the appointment may happen as early as tomorrow. Tom is running, whether or not Adam Smith runs again -- but we're pretty sure he won't. Did you catch Adam today on MSNBC, being interviewed about the Middle East and commenting about Afghanistan? My best guess is that Adam wants to replace Michael G. Vickers, Ass't Sec. of Defense for Special Operations, Low-Intensity Conflict, and Assymetric Warfare. Vickers was in the CIA with Gates; he ran the Reagan-era Afghan operations and his character had a speaking role in Charlie Wilson's War. Adam's Armed Services Subcommittee has jurisdiction over this area, so Adam would be the perfect appointee -- unless part of Gates' price for staying on was keeping Vickers and others.

So, there you have it. Interesting rumor, huh? I love the elaborate ones. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

Sometimes, ya just gotta give someone credit for stating the obvious.

Such is the case with Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and his most recent news release. Schoesler says more pointedly what Gov. Chris Gregoire must privately be feeling. They're both frustrated by the pace of Democrat majorities in the Legislature.

It's pretty clear that Democrats in the House and Senate don't want to do much cutting until they get a clear idea of just how much money they're going to get out of Congress and President Obama.

The alleged $640 million in spending cuts the House passed and sent to the Senate is only about half cuts. Mostly, the House Democrats just cut $300 million in state spending and are spending federal funds instead.

And if you want evidence of just how much they are ignoring the governor, just read sections of the budget. Basically, HB 1694 isn't so much a slimmer budget as it is a directive to state agencies to ignore what the governor said in HER budget, and keep on spending on programs that the governor wanted to cut.

In their defense, Legislative leaders are counting on more Obama Claus money than Gregoire assumed in her budget, and they're probably right to make that assumption.

But Gregoire had to play the "heavy," and the legislative Dems get to ride to the rescue and restore lots of Gregoire cuts.

Anyway, read what Schoesler has to say.

Schoesler says Legislature’s response to shortfall is falling short
‘Early action’ measure heard in Senate committee today is another half-step

OLYMPIA…Sen. Mark Schoesler doesn’t often see eye-to-eye with Gov. Christine Gregoire on budget issues, but a comment the governor made Monday made it clear she shared Schoesler’s expectation that lawmakers would be closer to passing a supplemental state budget than they are.

“The governor said yesterday she had hoped the Legislature would work ‘sooner and faster’ to adopt a supplemental budget. That had been my hope also, because overhauling the budget is the surest way to start downsizing state government to a level the people can afford without tax increases,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “Unfortunately the Legislature has fallen short of what should have been a reasonable hope.

=> Read more!

I'm not sure how this is any different from what the governor has the state Department of Corrections doing now. But it's probably much broader, even if it is just for Level III homeless offenders.

And she has no cost yet. It probably will be a lot more expensive than she thinks, or we'd being doing it now.

Angel bill seeks electronic monitoring of all Level 3 sex offenders
Measure would also add GPS monitoring of transient, homeless sex offenders

Better tracking and monitoring of dangerous sex offenders to further protect the public is the goal of legislation introduced this week by Rep. Jan Angel.

House Bill 1834 would require electronic GPS (global positioning system) monitoring of all Level 3 sex offenders and sex offenders who are registered as homeless, transient, or have a prior conviction of failing to register.

"Sex predators can be most effective in victimizing people when they are operating in secret and their whereabouts are unknown. When convicted Level 3 sex offenders are released, many of them lack a fixed residence. They may be living out of their cars, under a bridge or even in an area frequented by children," said Angel, R-Port Orchard.

"If we are to keep the public safe, we've got to know where they are. Often, we don't know that information, and we can't track their location. That puts the public at risk."

=> Read more!

A hot-off-the-printer draft of a letter that Pierce County officials are preparing to send to state legislators in their quest to restore funding for transportation projects received a luke-warm reception today from the Tacoma City Council.

"I don't think it's strong enough," Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg said during the council's Committee of the Whole meeting. "It's a nice letter. I don't think we should be playing nice."

Councilman Mike Lonergan shared the sentiment, telling council members earlier in the day that Gov. Chris Gregoire's promise to have Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond look at some of the Pierce County projects that were left unfunded is "not quite good enough. She is the governor," Lonergan noted.

Councilman Rick Talbert said city leaders need to be "hard-asses." He said he does not want federal stimulus dollars to supplant state funding. "We should be able to get what we have coming," Talbert said.

City Manager Eric Anderson said he will ask the city's lobbyists to prepare a strategy that can be be implemented in the next seven days. It will include identifying key individuals in state government and making arrangements for Tacoma City Council members to meet with them.

Pearse Edwards dropped by the office for his monthly visit, and to assure us reporters in our White House that the governor will be out of town tomorrow. And she won't be interviewing for an Obama Administration job. And she won't really be with our troops in Iraq. And she won't be partying with Ron Sims. (OK. I made that last one up. Who knows? She might be partying with the new deputy-HUD nominee.)

She's going to hang with Barack and exchange acronynms, like SCHIP.

Edwards, the guv's communications director, said the President is not springing for Gregoire's airfare. The state is picking up the tab, he said. (Maybe we can get reimbursed out of the extra $15 million that's coming our way for childrens health insurance, ya think?)

"She not staying overnight," Edwards. "She'll be going to meetings on the fed stimulus in addition to representing the state at the signing."

Gov. Gregoire’s statement on the signing of SCHIP legislation

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today released the following statement on President Obama’s signing of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization tomorrow:

“I was honored to be asked by President Obama this morning to join him as he signs the reauthorization of SCHIP, and am proud to represent Washington state at tomorrow’s bill signing. Washington state has been a national leader in providing low-income families with health insurance for their children. This legislation will strengthen our partnership with the federal government to provide coverage to as many children as possible not only here, but across the nation.

“While in Washington D.C., I will also be meeting with members of our congressional delegation to advocate quick passage of the federal stimulus package.

“It is great to have a partner in Washington D.C. who shares the same values that I do. I look forward to continuing that partnership for the next four years as Washington’s governor.”

Just got an e-mail from the folks staffing RAMP, that Pierce County group that cares about transpo stuff (I can't remember what the acronym stands for.)

Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy and Port of Tacoma Executive Director Tim Farrell are trying to organize a coalition to get the Pierce County delegation to stand up and get the Legislature to put back the money that Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to take out of Pierce County projects. Among them, carpool lanes on I-5, the extension of Highway 167 from the Port to Puyallup, the second half of the Nalley Valley viaduct replacement.

They're trying to get people to sign onto the letter below, then send the letters to the 25-30 legislators who have part of Pierce County in their districts.

McCarthy and Farrell will be at Wednesday's RAMP meeting in the Tideflats.

Subject: Pierce County/South Puget Sound 2009 Transportation Legislative Initiative

Dear ______:

Thank you for your continued leadership in addressing critical transportation infrastructure needs of Washington State and Pierce County. We appreciate your good work and wish to encourage your further success with our recommendations regarding the Transportation Budgets for Fiscal Years 2007 - 2011.

We represent the Pierce County/South Puget Sound Transportation Legislative Initiative, a coalition of county, city and tribal governments, as well as business, labor and environmental stakeholders. We would like to express our concerns with the Governor’s proposed State Supplemental Transportation Budget for FY 2007-09 and proposed Transportation Budget for FY 2009-11.

Specifically, we urge the delegation to protect funding for right-of-way acquisition for the extension of SR 167 and for the Tacoma/Pierce County Core High Occupancy Vehicle Program (HOV Lanes) to keep these programs on schedule.

=> Read more!

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, a member of the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, was the one who organized this. He said he wants lawmakers to get a good hard look at lousy tax collections numbers a full month ahead of schedule so they can get serious about writing a budget.

The three other legislative members of the council agreed, and Gov. Chris Gregoire said yesterday she wants it early, too. And the guv has a couple of her people on the council: Victor Moore, her budget director, and Cindi Holmstrom, revenue director.

Here is the earlier post.

This is where we find out if we're facing a $7 billion or $7.5 billion or $8 billion budget shortfall over 30 months. And since Congress is supposed to pass a $900 billion stimulus package by President's Day, lawmakers also will have the benefit of knowing how much Obama Claus money is on its way to this Washington.

Chief economist Arun Raha's office just sent out this notice.

OLYMPIA, February 3, 2009 – The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will present a preliminary revenue forecast at 4:30 p.m. on February 19, 2009. The meeting will be held in Conference Rooms A, B & C of the John A. Cherberg building.

The formal revenue review and official forecast adoption will take place on March 19, 2009 as previously scheduled. This preliminary February revenue forecast will not replace the official March revenue forecast. The preliminary forecast is meant to provide the Legislature, at its request, with early guidance regarding the impact of deteriorating economic conditions on state revenues since the official November 2008 forecast.

Please note, however, that given the current uncertainty about the economic environment and stressed financial markets, conditions may change enough between the preliminary forecast and the official one, such that the final forecast may differ significantly from the preliminary estimate.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to eliminate GAU and ADATSA to save $415 million in 2009-11 has draw quite a bit of attention. You can search for earlier posts on this blog.

Meanwhile, here is a link the the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, not to be confused with the center with the shorter name.

You might want to put this RSS feed on your NetVibes page to keep abreast of what human service advocates are thinking and saying and doing. Scroll down for some of their other views.

As for the fate of GAU, House Speaker Frank Chopp isn't going to let the program be elminated. But few programs are going to look the same after the Legislature writes a budget that deals with a probably $7 billion shortfall. Even $3 billion of Obama Claus money won't plug all the holes.

Jeff Goltz just wrapped up a 30-year career in the state Attorney General's Office. I believe Gov. Chris Gregoire spent a little time working in that office, too.

Gov. Gregoire announces new UTC chairman

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced her appointment of Jeffery D. Goltz as chairman of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). The UTC protects consumers by ensuring that utility and transportation services are fairly priced, available, reliable and safe.

“I have no doubt that Jeff has the leadership and strong ethical background that is required to successfully manage this dynamic and complex agency,” said Gregoire. “Jeff brings an incredible passion for public service and constructive approach to any challenge. I look forward to working with him in this important role.”

=> Read more!

That's the quote of the day, thanks to colunmist Mark Steyn of Steyn on American, via Carl Gipson of the Washington Policy Center.

The full quote: "Congress, meanwhile, is behaving disgracefully, magically transforming pork into "stimulus" by sticking another three zeroes on the end."

Here's the full post by Gipson.

February 02, 2009
Don't confuse 'stimulus' with 'wish list'
Last week Andrew Garber wrote a story for The Seattle Times on the Governor's request for projects that the state stimulus package may eventually fund. I think that the article revealed what is becoming an important debate on the national scale, and should be talked about as policymakers in Olympia start hashing out the details of a stimulus package -- what is economic stimulus?

=> Read more!

This was brought to my attention by Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center, one of those government watchdog groups.

(With the ranks of reporters thinning so rapidly, it's always nice to have another set of eyes, even if they bring just a bit of conservatism to the issues.)

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, and four other Democrats from safe Seattle-area legislative districts, have signed onto a bill to create a commission to study the structure, function and operation of the Legislature.

The key to this study is in one of the "WHEREAS-es." It presupposes an outcome.

"WHEREAS, the time demands have expanded significantly for legislators...."

UPDATE: Kohl-Welles got back to me just before 4 p.m. She said she isnt' trying to make the case for a fulltime Legislature, although that might be a recommendation. The commission also might recommend that legislators get a second fulltime year-round staffer, or they might recommend the House have different legislative district boundaries (so there would be an odd-number and no more 49-49 ties in the House), she said.

"I've been here 18 years and we have fewer staffers than when I first got here," she said. (She doesn't count campaigning as part of her workload, she said. "I haven't had an opponent since 1994." So she doesn't have to campaign much.)

Legislative districts have twice as many people as they did 20 years ago, or close to it, she said.

=> Read more!

I should have said YOUR car is spying on you. I own a 1983 Toyota Tercel with 250,000 miles on it. It's too tired to spy on me. But newer cars have a lotta do-dads.

The American Civil Liberties Union Washington alerted me to House Bill 1500. It's slated for a hearing at 3:30 p.m. today.

House Transportation Committee to Hear
Bill to Protect Privacy Rights of Vehicle Owners

The bill requires auto manufacturers to notify consumers who purchase vehicles that devices in their car will collect personal information about them. Further, it prohibits individuals and agencies from collecting such personal information without the driver’s permission or a court order. The bill also sets limits on sharing the information.

“You shouldn’t have to give up your privacy when you’re traveling in a car,” said Shankar Narayan, Legislative Director of the ACLU of Washington, which supports the measure. “This bill will help owners and drivers feel more secure that their personal driving information won’t be shared without their knowledge or permission.”

Many vehicles feature global positioning systems (GPS) and event data recorders that collect information such as location, speed, steering, brake use, and general driving patterns. Federal law requires car manufacturers to notify customers that their cars contain devices that will record information just prior to a crash. But neither state nor federal law requires notification that a car’s GPS or hands-free device is recording information. Nor does any law prohibit access to and use of that information.

“This measure will put control back in the hands of car owners and drivers. People need safeguards to protect their personal information,” said the ACLU’s Narayan.

Pierce County bus driver Gary Zies makes a phone call while awaiting for bus commuters at a nearly deserted Lakewood Station for the first day of the new facility in Lakewood. (Lui Kit Wong/The News Tribune)

Sound Transit officials are holding a news conference Tuesday to announce a new bus route from South Tacoma to downtown Seattle.

ST Express Route 593, which begins service Monday, will let commuters begin using the park-and-ride facility at the new South Tacoma Sounder Station -- even though the train is still a couple years away from reaching South Tacoma.

Commuters can ride from the station, located at South 60th and Adams streets, to Seattle via the Tacoma Dome, said Sound Transit spokeswoman Linda Robson. At the Dome stop, riders can choose to get off the bus and board the Sounder commuter train the rest of the way, or remain on the bus to Seattle, Robson said.

Similar service is already running from the Lakewood Sounder station.

Sound Transit plans to start construction next year of a stretch of railroad track in Tacoma that will extend Sounder commuter rail service to Lakewood, possibly by 2012.

Following a Monday meeting with Pierce County business, labor and government leaders, Gov. Chris Gregoire said she is asking the state Department of Transportation to take another look at some county road projects.

Specifically the governor said she wants DOT Secretary Paula Hammond to look at a few high-priority projects that were left unfunded in her transportation plan. A $5 billion shortfall in transportation funds led Gregoire to suggest that construction of carpool lanes on I-5 and the purchase of right-of-way for Highway 167 to the Port of Tacoma be delayed.

That has led Pierce County leaders to claim that their county was shortchanged to the benefit of expensive projects in King County like a rebuilt Highway 520 bridge and the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"I know there are competing projects but our stakeholders feel we are not getting our fair share," Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy told Gregoire.

After the session with 20 people at the University of Washington Tacoma, Gregoire said she is sensitive to the complaints.

"I'm talking with Paula about it," Gregoire said. The governor said Pierce County is one of the state's most-populated and is a vital connector.

"I've asked her to rethink things to see if she can put some of those back up on the list," perhaps using federal stimulus dollars, Gregoire said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said today she was thrilled the appointment of King County Executive Ron Sims to the No. 2 spot at the federal department of Housing and Urban Development.

Gregoire said she had pushed the Obama Administration to pick Sims and said the state will benefit by having someone who knows how federal housing programs work at the local level.

And while she had no candidate to recommend to the King County Council, she did have one bit of advice: pick someone who will not be a candidate for the job this fall.

"Is it better to have someone at the helm of county concentrating on the problems there rather than someone who has to run for the office," Gregoire said.

The King County Council will make the appointment following state law that controls the filling of vacancies in partisan offices. The council majority, like Sims and Gregoire, is Democrat.

Pierce County voters likely will determine whether the county retains its ranked choice voting system beyond 2009.

By a 2-1 vote, the County Council’s rules committee this morning approved an amendment to the county charter that would repeal ranked choice voting.

The amendment still must win the approval of the full council next week. But it appears to have the votes necessary to send the proposal to voters in November.

Voters approved the new system in 2006 and used it for the first time in November. The new system eliminates primary elections for most county offices. Instead, all candidate advance to the general election, and voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, voters’ second and third choices are considered and the winner is determined by a process of elimination.

Opponents say the system cost too much ($1.7 million last year). They say allowing all candidates to advance to the general election makes it hard for voters to fully vet the candidates. And they say the new system is confusing to many voters.

“(Voters) don’t go to the polls to be confused,” former Councilman Harold Moss told the rules committee.

Supporters say the system gives voters more choices by encouraging more candidates to participate. Though they acknowledge some voters were confused, they blamed an inadequate voter education effort. They say it will take more than one election to judge whether ranked choice voting is working.

“It is very difficult to change,” former Tacoma City Manager Jim Walton told the committee.

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King County Executive Ron Sims has finally made it official - he'll resign to take a position with the federal department of House and Urban Development.

Sims' position will be pretty high-ranking – deputy secretary.

The Spokane native is at the end of his third term as executive and had planned to seek a fourth. He served on the county council before that and was on the staff of former state Sen. George Flemming.

Sims, 60, has twice run for statewide elected office. In 1994 he was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, losing to then-U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton. And in 2000 he lost the Democratic primary for governor to Chris Gregoire.

Sims was a state co-chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign but jumped over to Obama once he had secured the presidential nomination.

The King County charter provides for a deputy, designated by the executive, to take over the duties if a vacancy happens. But the council can also appoint a successor and that is what the council plans to do.

The executive was already subject to this fall's election. So far only county Councilman Larry Phillips has declared for the office.

Read his letter to supporters here.

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At least three Seattle news outlets are reporting this morning that King County Executive Ron Sims in, in fact, taking a senior position in the Obama Administration.

Sims and his staff have been dismissive of the rumors about a job change. Sims even welcomed county Councilman Larry Phillips into the race for executive, which will be on the ballot this fall.

But now KIRO TV, the Seattle Times and the Associated Press are reporting that Sims will become deputy secretary of the department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, has thrown a red flag onto the field and is challenging the decision by Western Washington University to dump the winning, but money-losing 105-year-old football program.

Jake, even though the UW is in his legislative district, is prime sponsor of a bill that would create a task force to review the Bellingham school's "process" for making its decision. And maybe reinstate it before the 2009 season.

Apparently, the alumni are raising holy hell, and others (Central) is worried about losing a rivalry and the annual "battle of Seattle."

WWU officials say they can save $450,000 a year by cutting football.

Here's my earlier post, with thanks to the Bellingham Herald.

SENATE BILL 5784
State of Washington 61st Legislature 2009 Regular Session

By Senators Jacobsen, Hobbs, McCaslin, and Delvin

Read first time 02/02/09. Referred to Committee on Higher Education &
Workforce Development.

AN ACT Relating to creating a task force to review the process of
Western Washington University's decision to terminate its one hundred
five year old football program and to make recommendations about how to
potentially reinstate the program prior to the 2009 season; creating
new sections; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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This story will appear in the print edition later this week. There is a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.

Here's a copy of the 10-year deal between Tacoma and Metro Parks.

Warning: There is a typo (or so it seems) on Page 3. It says the city is paying Metro Parks $3.08 million over TWO years -- Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2010. City spokesman says that should read Dec. 31, 2009. (Seems like a pretty bad typo to remain in a contract, but that's just me.)

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

Advocates for a 100-mile trail system that would connect to every city and town in Pierce County are asking the Legislature to let county voters raise the local sales tax to provide a steady stream of money for parks, trails and open space.

The 1/10th percent increase, which would boost the overall sales tax in Tacoma to 9.4 percent after April, would raise almost $13 million a year. April is when the Sound Transit 1/2-cent sales tax takes effect.

The new parks tax would be in addition to the sales tax hike that voters approved in 2000 to pay for parks. Most of the money from that earlier 0.1 percent park tax goes to support the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville. A portion goes to the smaller cities and towns in Pierce County.

Senate Bill 5545 would authorize the Pierce County Council to put the parks tax proposal on the ballot if Tacoma and the Metropolitan Park District made such a request.

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