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.