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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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