Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said these town hall meetings are the kind of "polling" legislators do. They ask their constitutents what they want the Legislature to do.

Here's the complete list of House Democrats who are holding town meetings NEXT weekend.

I will update this list later. I need to get the Senate to send out a similar list. Here are the meetings for Democrats Eide, Keiser and Kauffman.

Here is the House Republican list:

Rep. Dammeier – District 25:
Tele-town hall meeting
Thursday, March 12
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Please join in a community conversation over the phone. Call in by dialing 1-877-229-8493 and entering PIN number 14660.

Traditional town hall meeting
Saturday, March 14
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Puyallup Public Library
324 South Meridian

=> Read more!

There apparently is no special consideration given to a former member of the Washington State Senate, not after he takes out full-page ads in multiple newspapers and attacks his former colleagues.

That's what former state Sen. Brian Weinstein, Mercer Island lawyer, has learned after he and his law partners paid for ads in The News Tribune, The Olympian, Skagit Valley News, Everett Herald and a lot of smaller newspapers. The ads accused Sens. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island and Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, of blocking a bill that Weinstein and his colleagues at Bergman Draper and Frockt really wanted to get passed.

For the record, Hargrove had not signed onto the amendments that Kastama and Haugen were promoting, changes that Weinstein's firm did not want. But he apparently was targeted in his local papers, too.

(Confidential to B.W. in M.I.: It was Hatfield, not Hargrove.)

Here is a link to my blog post of yesterday. But let me get to the retaliation first.

Not only is the Senate not going to vote on that asbestos liability bill that Weinstein and Co. wanted (SB 5964) -- "It's terminal," Haugen said. -- they also apparently have killed off SB 5895, more commonly known as the Homeowners Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was Weinstein's pride and joy when he was in the Legislature and he got the Senate to pass it, and almost got it through the House. So killing that bill this year, even though it is now sponsored by Rep. Rodney Tom, D-Mercer Island, was more of a symbolic message than anything else.

"My caucus is totally outraged," Haugen said this afternoon. "The bills are terminal - dead."

Here is the letter of disavowal signed by both of the lobbyists for the Washington State Association for Justice (formerly the Trial Lawyers Association) as well as president John Budlong and past president Janet Rice. (Rice's firm, I'm told, is very, very active in asbestos litigation.)

"We are writing on behalf or our organization to express our sincere regret for the advertisements in your papers regarding your alleged positions on Senate Bill 5964," the letter begins.

=> Read more!

Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson sent an e-mail to council members this morning telling them he doesn't believe now is the time to increase his salary.

He asked them to pull a resolution from the Tuesday council agenda that would have raised his salary 14.5 percent over the course of two years.

The move would have raised his salary from $200,450 to $215,779 this year, and raise it to $229,611 next year. Anderson also receives a $6,600 car allowance.

Anderson said he's heard back from a couple council members who said they understand the decision.

"I presume they will" pull the item from the agenda, Anderson said.

Anderson said he made the decision last night after talking about it with his wife "for quite some time." Although the City of Tacoma is in better financial health than many other governments, Anderson said it was better "fiscally and symbolically" if he did not receive the raise right now.

"If I'm going to be in a position to lead this organization this year and next, I need to be able to do that," he said. "I wouldn't be if I accept this now." Anderson said earlier that he planned to give half of the raise to charity.

Mayor Bill Baarsma said he spoke with Anderson about the decision, and expressed his appreciation -- both for the decision to forgo a raise, and for decisions Anderson has made that have put Tacoma in relatively good shape financially.

=> Read more!

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

There will be about 2,000 more students in public schools and about 8,700 more people on welfare over the next three years, which will drive up state spending.

Overall, the growth in people in programs for which the state covers the cost, will add $175 million to state spending in the 2009-11 biennium.

That means the current budget shortfall for the next 28 months has risen from roughly $7.5 billion to $7.7 billion. That assumes the Legislature leaves about $400 million in savings, but Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, is talking about socking away $1 billion in savings to hedge against an uncertain economy. So, the shortfall could still be above $8 billion.

That word came this morning from the state Caseload Forecast Council. The council is meeting right now to inform legislators how many more students they will have to pay to educate and how many more people will need Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which replaced the old welfare program.

The prison population is expected to drop slightly.

=> Read more!

Another day, another stimulus program rollout. Today it's $2 billion for Justice Assistance Grants (JAG). Washington's share is $36.7 million, which will be split 60-40 between state and local governments.

The list of eligible programs is wide-ranging: "hiring and support for law enforcement officers; multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces; crime prevention and domestic violence programs; and courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives," according to the press release.

The local money is being divvied up using a formula based on population and violent crime statistics. This seems to help the City of Tacoma, which is eligible for nearly $1.4 million. Meanwhile, Pierce County gets about half that. If it were based only on short-term need, you could argue that the county, which is having a budget crisis and runs the jail, sheriff's patrols and part of the court system ought to have a bigger share. Tacoma is one of the few local governments that seems to be weathering the economic storm.

Here are the eligibility numbers for local jurisdictions.

TACOMA CITY	       $1,394,464
PIERCE COUNTY	         $773,319
LAKEWOOD CITY	         $340,124
FEDERAL WAY CITY	 $211,276
AUBURN CITY	         $185,913
PUYALLUP CITY	          $83,106
UNIVERSITY PLACE CITY	  $63,179
SUMNER CITY	          $32,835
FIFE CITY	          $27,853
BONNEY LAKE CITY	  $26,268
EDGEWOOD CITY	          $12,228
GIG HARBOR CITY	          $11,322
FIRCREST CITY	          $10,643
YELM CITY	          $10,190
	
Local statewide total $14,304,690
	
State of Washington   $22,401,901

Total for Washington  $36,706,591

Click here to see the entire spreadsheet for the state.

We're working on a story for tomorrow's paper. Key questions:

=> Read more!

That's what the state Senate decided Thursday night by passing Senate Bill 5391. The bill takes effect on July 1, 2010, apparently to give state agencies a chance to figure out what those folks should know before they get a license.

What a lot of parents really want is to force kids to get their parents permission before they pierce their eyebrows, lips and more intimate body parts. Good luck with that.

It's easier for the state to regulate artists than it is to raise other people's children, although lawmakers do try from time to time.

Sen. Jim Kastama's bill is headed for the House.

Oh yes. The vote was 47-1, with Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, casting the lone dissenting vote. Hmmmmmmm. Well, she does have a tattoo (or so I'm told) and she probably is about 40 years younger than the average senator. But I missed the floor debate, so I'm not sure why she voted as she did.

Maybe Moses Lake is like Ground Zero for tattoo artists and body piercers. Ya think? Or maybe they're just into branding cattle over there and the ranchers are afraid they'll have to be licensed to do that. Ya gotta vote your district or your conscience or both, right?

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Sometimes asking one more question just ruins an otherwise good story. Such was the case today. I caught up with Holmquist over by the sundial today and she said she voted "no" on the bill solely because of Initiative 960. The bill imposes a fee to get the tattoo license. Kinda of a buzz kill on the humor.

(Oh, and her tattoo is a rose, according to everyone who saw her in the low-cut sleeveless gown she wore to Gregoire's 2nd Inaugural Ball.)
CORRECTION: Holmquist said it's a stargazing lilly.

Here is the bill report for SB 5391.

Senate Bill 5340, which was requested by state Attorney General Rob McKenna, is intended to stop teenagers from buying cigarettes, chewing tobacco and snuff online. It also is aimed at the teenagers' moms and dads who buy tobacco products on line and get them shipped to them and don't pay taxes on them.

SB 5340, which was passed by the Senate Thursday night on a 47-0 vote, says that tobacco products purchased online must be shipped to a retailer or wholesaler, not to homes.

Violations carry a possible 5-year prison sentence and $5,000 fine, although more than likely McKenna would use the $5,000 civil fine provision.

Of course, cigars, are exempt from the bill, as they often are. Cigars are not really made of tobacco. Didn't you know that? They're made of rolled up hundred dollar bills and stuffed with tarragon or marjoram leaves. Otherwise, I'm sure the Legislature wouldn't exempt them from tobacco enforcement and taxation laws all the time.

(Yes. That was sarcasm. The cigar folks just have a very good lobby.)

The bill now goes to the House. I don't know how many of the 98 representatives smoke cigars.

Senate Bill 5540 was approved last night by the state Senate on a 30-17 vote.

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, is the prime sponsor. The measure would let the locals create a high capacity corridor to pay for transit stuff - aka light right or buses across the Columbia River to Portland -- and use a 0.9 percent sales tax to do so.

Clark County would become like Pierce, King and Snohomish.

Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, was Pridemore's chief adversary on the bill, which passed pretty much along party lines. I say "pretty much" because one Mason County Democrat, is considered a Republican in some quarters. Right, Tim Sheldon?

Here is the bill report.

Just what I needed for next week, the loss of another hour.

I think this is the first year that Daylight Savings Time starts so early, a few weeks ahead of when it used to start.

Just a reminder.

Jennifer Sullivan at the Seattle Times blogged on it yesterday.

That's when the House approved a bill.

I know the Community Corrections (aka 'parole') officers wanted broader authority to do random, unannounced searches of the offenders under their supervision, including their homes and apartments. But it looks as if the Legislature is going to approve such searches only when ex-cons show up at Department of Corrections reporting centers or before an offender gets into a CCOs vehicle.

That's the figure we reporters have been using since the Feb. 19 "preliminary" revenue forecast, which said the state is going to collect $2.3 billion LESS than what its chief economist thought back in November.

That "$8 billion" isn't quite accurate, but it's close and it's mostly a placeholder in the ever-changing financial picture of the state.

For instance, later today, the Caseload Forecast Council will meet to give all of us an idea of what the other side of the ledger (the spending side) looks like. The council, a combination of governor's top staff and legislative leaders from both parties, will see just how many more students are expected to enroll in school, how many more (or fewer) inmates will be housed in Washington prisons, how many more Medicaid-eligible citizens will sign up for health care, etc.

Right now, I put the "budget gap" at $7.5 billion. I subtracted about $220 million of new spending that Gov. Chris Gregoire had in her budget proposal (to lessen the impact of even bigger cuts to health programs) and I also chopped off $290 million in cuts made by the Legislature when it passed the "belt-tightening" bill.

But today, even that $7.5 billion figure is going to change because Victor Moore, the guv's budget director, will give us a quick estimate of how much more it will cost to pay for those higher (or lower) caseloads.

=> Read more!

It's a blank slate right now. As blank as Senate Bill 6117, which most likely will be the main vehicle to give Boeing most of what it wants to keep the company from moving its "second line" of production for 787s to Kansas or China or something.

To keep the "first line" of 787 production here, mostly in Everett, then-Gov. Gary Locke and the Legislature gave Boeing (and some smaller players in the aerospace space) a $3 billion tax break over 20 years. They also made some changes that Boeing wanted to the state unemployment system, and other stuff.

This time?

"We are wanting to put the best case forward to have the next line of the 787 built in Washington," Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, told reporters yesterday.

=> Read more!

That's what Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, told reporters at noon Thursday during her weekly news conference.

"By the time the budget comes out . . . major pieces of it should already be agreed to," she said.

That would be a departure from years past, when an entire $70 billion two-year budget has been dumped on rank-and-file lawmakers, reporters, stateholders and lobbyist, then hurriedly voted on before most of us even understood it.

"This isn't like any other year," Brown said.

If this does, indeed, come to pass, I'd have to give credit to Democratic sympathizers who have been complaining about "shadow boxing" with rumored cuts. And I have to give Brown credit for taking some risks. Majority Democrats' job of writing a budget in the face of an $8 billion deficit (25 percent of state revenues) is going to be that much more difficult if stakeholders get early warning on how deep cuts will be for their particular programs.

=> Read more!