So much money was poured into newspaper ads attacking the three senators that it's now being referred to my some senators as "the newspaper stimulus package."

I posted a couple blog items on this earlier in the week, and combined them for a story that will run in Sunday's print edition. And it also appears below.

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

The strategy of using full-page newspaper ads to pressure three state senators apparently has backfired on a group of lawyers who were trying to change the Washington laws that apply to asbestos liability lawsuits.

Senate Bill 5964, the measure that would have made the sought-after changes, is now dead -- retaliation for what Sens. Jim Kastama, Mary Margaret Haugen and Jim Hargrove and many of their their colleagues considered attack ads that went over the top.

The advertisements suggested the trio were denying justice to families of people who died from exposure to asbestos and accused Kastama, D-Puyallup, Haugen, D-Camano Island and Hargrove, D-Hoquiam of blocking passage of the bill.

The advertisements ran in several newspapers in the legislative districts of the three senators -- The (Tacoma) News Tribune, The Olympian, The (Everett) Herald and The (Aberdeen) Daily World -- and cost tens of thousand of dollars.

=> Read more!

Curt Woodward at the Associated Press scooped all of us with this little gem. But since the TNT is a member and AP is a co-op, I'm stealing it.

Thanks, Curt.

By CURT WOODWARD
Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ Voters might support higher "sin taxes" to take the edge off deep state budget cuts, but they seem to recoil at tax hikes for businesses, according to polling by political interest groups pushing for a statewide tax referendum.

Washingtonians also prefer a temporary tax increase that "sunsets" after helping the state get through its present budget crisis, according to the poll of about 800 likely voters across the state.

An across-the-board sales tax increase of 1 percent was initially unpopular, but voters seemed more willing to accept sales tax increases if they were presented as an average monthly cost of around $20 or less, the polling showed.

The research, conducted earlier this month by Goodwin Simon Victoria Research, a national Democratic polling firm, is part of a growing effort among left-leaning political interests to blunt the effects of the state's budget deficit, presently about $8 billion and growing through mid-2011.

=> Read more!

State Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, took issue with an earlier posting in which I let House Republicans complain that they were being shut out of the "bipartisan" process.

Joe,
This is unfair and somewhat deceptive. I don't think the measure of bipartisanship is how many bills are left in the Rules Committee as we head for the cutoff. Instead, you should really be reporting how many bills have passed out of the House that are sponsored by members of each party.

As of now, we have passed 270 bills out of the House, 52 of which have Republican prime sponsors. That's about 20%. Another way of looking at it is that Republicans have been able to get 52/62 (over 80%) of their bills out of Rules, while Democrats have gotten roughly 220/440 bills out of Rules (about 50%).

You could also look at the percentages of bills that people introduce that actually pass. In any case, I think both the statistic that you chose and the headline that you gave it are misleading.

Jamie Pedersen

Fair enough. I'm not about to do all the leg work required to verify this kind of stuff, but I'm glad that you have.

House Republican Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, you've been served!

Here is my original post from Thursday, to which Pedersen was reacting.

I see your schedule says you'll be watching the Huskies play the Cougars today, so I'm urging you to restrain yourself just a tad.

It's because I heard you at the bills-signings early this week, and your voice was just above a whisper. Save youself. Get healthy. Recover from that bug most of us have gotten. Let First Mike cheer.

You're holding a news conference on Monday and we'd like to hear you.

(This is the news conference where Gov. Chris Gregoire will announce the program that will allow citizens to sign up and be notified by e-mail when a sex offender moves into the neighborhood.)

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday will hold a media availability to give an update on the success of the sex offender address verification program during its first six months, and the launch of the updated statewide online sex offender registry, Offender Watch. She will also answer questions about this issue and the legislative session.
Joining Gregoire will be Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Executive Director Don Pierce, King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum, Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball, Pacific County Sheriff Jon Didion, Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick and Port of Seattle Police Department Chief Coleen Wilson.

Here's the guv's schedule:

Gov. Gregoire’s Schedule March 7 - 13, 2009

Saturday, March 7
2:30 p.m. Gov. Gregoire attends WSU-UW Basketball game
University of Washington
Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmondson Pavilion
3870 Montlake Blvd
Seattle

=> Read more!

It's true. The House did vote unanimously on Friday night in favor of a bill that would forgive $40 million in sales tax that tollpayers are supposed to start paying off in 2012 and continue through 2022, paying 10 percent each year.

The tax, so far, has just been deferred. (Also, if it's only the $40 million referred to in the news release below, only the state's 6.5 percent sales tax would be forgiven. Tacoma, Pierce County and Pierce Transit could keep their shares of the tax. That's because the total amount of tax owed is about $59 million.)

Anyway, the reason I say "Don't get your hopes up" is because it's highly unlikely the Senate will go along with this proposal. It takes money out of the general fund, even though it's still several years off.

Still, it was nice of Rep. Larry Seaquist's colleagues to make him look good to his Gig Harbor constituents by passing the bill. And Republican Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, too.

Here is the news release.

House unanimously votes to remove Narrows Bridge sales tax
Measure would save toll payers $40 million

OLYMPIA – Legislators in the House have again voted to exempt the Tacoma Narrows Bridge project from having to pay sales tax, currently being deferred. Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, introduced the legislation receiving a unanimous vote off the House floor.

“This is a taxpayer fairness issue,” Seaquist said. “We’re being asked to pay tolls to build our own bridge—fine. But asking us also to kick in sales tax that will end up in the general budget is not right.”

=> Read more!

CORRECTION: The headline that first appeared on this item was wrong! The bill does not delay the start of coverage for children whose families earn as much as three times the federal poverty level.

The bill they passed, HB 2128, instead delays a plan for people whose income is HIGHER than 300 percent of FPL. That was done because the House decided to change the benefit package to something less generous than that afforded to folks under 300 percent of poverty. Otherwise, it would have been so expensive that probably nobody would have bought it.

For a family of four, three times federal poverty level is $63,600 a year. Children in those families can now get state subsidized health insurance, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2009. (Thanks to President Obama, who reversed Bush Administration directive that blocked that program.)

The Washington state House of Representatives vote was 68-28. A few Republicans joined majority Democrats voting in favor.

The programs is just for the kids, not their parents. The delay to the program for kids above 300 percent of poverty level is until Jan. 1, 2010.

The state Department of Social and Health Services has until then to design that program and, if HB 2128 passes, it won't have to be as generous in benefits as the ones below that threshold.

Families whose income falls between 2.5 and 3 times Federal Poverty Level will have to pay a modest co-pay on premiums to cover their children. I think it's a sliding scale with a max of $30 or $40 a month.

Minority Republicans say Democrats aren't really making health care coverage available to more kids because such coverage already exists in the private sector. They are just expanding how much the state pays for. Here is Rep. Doug Ericksen's rebuttal.

House Bill 2128 also would rename the Children's Health Insurance Program, which has the snappy acronym CHIP, to the Apple Health for Kids Program, which henceforth shall be known as AHKP.

It's part of the Legislature's long-term plan to give all state programs unpronounceable acronyms. Lawmakers briefly considered calling Apple Health "WASL" but that has become sorta pronounceable. It will, however, soon be available for use because school chief Randy Dorn is getting rid of the WASL. (That last paragraph was a joke, by the way.)

House Bill 1362 would let cities and counties impose harsher penalities on prostitutes, pimps and johns if prostitution occurs in particular areas designated by the councils or commissioners.

If the vehicle were used somehow in the act of prostitution or promoting prostitution or some other related offense, law officers could impound the vehicle. Besides having to pay all the towing and impound fees, the hooker, pimp or customer also would have to an extra $500 "administrative fee" to the city or county.

Imagine coming home and trying to explain why you no longer have the family.

"Honey, I lost the car!" or "Honey, our car was stolen and I gotta go down to the towing yard and reclaim it. Can I borrow the checkbook?"

I suppose for pimps and hookers it would just be an additional cost of doing business.

Rep. Roger Goodman's bill was passed by the House Friday on a 91-4 vote and was sent to the Senate for consideration.

Senate Bill 5556 would prohibit district court judges or commissioners form reducing any of the $12 toll surchage that is part of the current $52 traffic ticket for failing to pay the toll to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

That $12 goes to help pay off the bridge. The remaining $40 fine still can be reduced by the court.

The Senate passed Sen. Derek Kilmer's bill Friday on a 42-3 and sent the Gig Harbor Democrat's measure to the House.

The Senate on Friday passed a change to the state Consumer Protection Act that will allow private citizens, as well as local governments, to collect up to $50,000 in damages if they win civil cases.

Senate Bill 5531, sponsored by Sen. Debbie Regala (D-Tacoma) was approved on a 28-17 vote and was sent to the House.

The bill report suggests the bill is designed to give private citizens more of an incentive to lodge consumer protection complaints by giving them the possibility of a reward if they win. Supporters of the bill said few private cases are brought now because there is not enough of an incentive.

The $50,000 amount would replace the current $10,000 and $75,000 damage limits in superior and district courts. The bill also appears to make it easier to prove a consumer protection violation.

The state Attorney General's office is the main enforcer of consumer protections today.

The bill was opposed by a coalition that includes the insurance industry and the defense trial lawyers.

The House on Friday passed a simiar measure, House Bill 1683, on a partyline 59-36 vote (with Democrats in the majority), but it appears to be more narrowly written and has lesser amounts for damages.