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.

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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:

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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.

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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.