The co-founder of an online magazine and former legislative aide wants to serve on the Tacoma School Board.

Chris Van Vechten has announced his candidacy for director position number two, the seat now occupied by former Tacoma schools administrator Connie Rickman.

Van Vechten co-founded the community online magazine The Melon, served two sessions as an aide in the State Legislature, and briefly served as membership director of the Washington State Chiropractic Association, according to his news release. He also says he has mentored students at Foss High School through Peace Community Center, advocated funding for arts programs in schools and campaigned with the Tacoma Education Association for school bond and levy measures.

Among the supporters he lists on his Web site are: Darrick Hartman, president of the Tacoma Education Association, former Tacoma City Councilwoman Dawn Lucien and state Rep. Tami Green.

Van Vechten notes that he's the son, grandson and nephew of college professors and a distant relative of author and civil rights leader, Carl Van Vechten. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Puget Sound.

If elected, Van Vechten says he would work for personalized learning, competitive high-quality trade school programs, recession-proof arts and athletic programs, the development of greener and more sustainable schools, commitment to closing the achievement gap and "transparent government you can trust to manage your tax dollars."

(Photo from votevanvechten.com)

For more information, check his Web site VoteVanVechten.com or contact Todd Johnson at toddbarkerjohnson@gmail.com.

Kurt Miller's seat on the board, position four, is also up for election this November.
Candidates file for election the first week of June, and the primary is Aug. 18.

The vote on Senate Bill 5556 was 98-0, so you know there was nothing controversial left in the bill.

This bill, sponsored by Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, originally would only have forbid district court judges to reduce the special $12 penalty part of the $52 ticket for failure to pay the toll on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. A judge could reduce the main $40 fine, but not the $12 surcharge that goes into a fund to help pay off the bridge construction loans.

However, when it got to the House Transportation Committee, a lot more changes were made to the bill. The one of interest to Narrows Bridge commuters was a provision to make the state Department of Transportation look at installing the same toll collection system as is being considered for the Highway 520 bridge. That is going to be an open road tolling system (no toll booths). People who don't pay the toll would get a 3-day grace period to pay the bill if they don't have Good To Go transponders.

Then, DOT would send them a bill. Only if they still failed to pay after 45 days would they get a ticket.

But all the changes made by the committee were thrown out because they went too far afield and no longer fit under a bill who title had to do with using cameras to detect toll infractions.

However, Rep. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, did get her colleagues to agree to one more modest change, one that would at least give Narrows commuters some hope of eventually getting a grace period if they drive across and just forget to pay the toll.

EFFECT: Requires the department of transportation to report to
the legislature by December 1, 2009 with recommendations for
implementing a time period allowing for the payment of tolls on
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge prior to the issuance of an infraction.

That means all the people who called me to say they just plain drove past the toll booth and forgot to pay the toll may eventually get a reprieve. They might get a nice notice instead of a ticket.

As for the toll booths, they still might be removed someday, perhaps by the fall 2010. That's when toll collection on the Highway 520 bridge is expected to begin, assuming the Legislature finally gets around to passing another bill that deals with early tolling.

I found this on a Web site for prisoners' families that I read frequently. It was in a discussion of the money-saving proposal to release Washington inmates early. And while the thread is interesting, this portrait of the recession from a member named breezy1 brought me up short:

Oh Wow you all have SUCH valid points. I am so torn on this one, as my man would qualify on at least 2 of Gregoire's proposal of "who to release"! I also know he is a master craftsman artistically, and I have faith he could make $ even if very little. This is not a skill all inmates posess. My step daughter is in the same boat, can't get anyone to hire her, and she is a college student and tried McD's and Starbucks. All the laid-off CEO's of HUGE corp's have the starbucks jobs, no kidding there is a guy at the starbucks I go to on the way up to visit Larch and he wears a dress suit and told me it was the only clothes he had besides sweats and didn't feel approprieate to wear those so he wears his clothes from his exsecutive job he lost due to the economy...WOW I shouldn't have been surprised. I am Thankful everyday for my 'gig'. But I still want my hunny home.

(photo: esparta)

Another nomination for Quote of the Session.

This one came from The Rev. Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood, who made the request to "Heavenly Father."

Yes, she was asking God for protection from lobbyists who congregate outside the doors of the House and Senate each day while lawmakers are in session.

Green offered the prayer at the start of today's session of the House of Representatives.

I'll let you know if Heavenly Father answers.

(It was Rep. Eileen Cody, D-Seattle, who asked her to implore Our Lord for protection. But Green apparently left out part of the request, the part about an "electrified fence.")

(photo: Mr. Thomas)

There's never enough room in The News Tribune's print edition for me, mainly because I'm so wordy.

But I really wanted to explain where the money from the proposed 0.3 percentage point hike in the state sales tax (in House Bill 2377) would go if voters approve it.

For one, it's for 3 years. That means it raises about $975 million to $1 billion. (The 2-year proposal was about $650 million.)

I can't figure out where all the money would go. I mean, the bill says it all goes into either the state General Fund or this newly created Health Trust Fund. But the earmarked spending covers only the first two years, the 2009-11 biennium, and even then there apparently would be money left over.

And certainly, money is not committed to specific stuff in that third year.

Anyway, here's my rough tally of how money would be spent for 2009-11:

$105 million for the tax refunds to working families.
$167 million for the Basic Health Plan.
$77 million for nursing homes.
$75 million for hospitals.
$24 million for mental health spending.
$13 million for child health care.
$19 million for Healthy Options.
$3 million for public health (to be divvied up among counties)

TOTAL: $483 million.

UPDATE: I'm told the authors of the bill were authorizing spending for only 18 months of the 24-month 2009-11 biennium because the taxes would not take effect until 6 months into the budget cycle. And they can't tell a future legislature what to do.

Even so, not saying where the remaining $167 million for those first two years would go, and not indicating their "intent" for the 3rd year, could pose a problem with voters. They'll want to know what's supposed to happen with the $375 million in the third year.

I was told the final language of this bill probably won't be settled until Tuesday. Maybe then there will be more answers. There's a hearing Friday at 8 a.m.

This story moved after our deadline for the print edition of The News Tribune, but The Associated Press was kind enough to let me post the story here.

Washington Legislature approves measure to bypass Electoral College

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ Washington could enter a compact with other states to cast its 11 presidential electoral votes for the national popular vote winner, under a measure approved by the Legislature.

The House passed the bill on a 52-42 vote Wednesday night. It now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has expressed support for the measure.

The compact has been ratified in Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey and is moving ahead in several other states. It wouldn't take effect until enough states sign on to account for 270 electoral votes -- the number it takes to win the White House.

The loser of the popular vote has won the Electoral College and become president four times, most recently in 2000, when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore.

The state Senate is set to take up a sweeping education reform bill this afternoon, a day before a self-imposed deadline. The bill, thought dead several times this session, would broaden the definition of basic education and begin to require the state to pick up more of the tab for public schools.

Once the definition is phased in, the state would be obligated under the state constitution to pay for it. The hope is that once the state pays its legal share, local levy money could be used for enhancements rather than basics.

The bill has the support of most education groups, both within the school system and without. All major parent groups have been pushing for the bill. The state teachers union is opposed but unions representing building staff are in support as is state schools chief Randy Dorn.

House Bill 2261 is the much-changed remnants of the report of the Basic Education Finance Task Force which met for 18 months to look at how the state pays for schools.

A new version will be attached to the bill today. If it passes, the House would have to approve the changes. House leaders, as well as Gov. Chris Gregoire, have been involved in writing this version.

The bill was given a boost when the Obama Administration set aside a pool of stimulus money for states that began reforming their schools. In a letter to governors, new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said states should take steps to make sure all schools have highly qualified teachers, move toward increasing standards for graduation, have rigorous assessments, and improve achievement in low-performing schools.

The bill would:

– increase minimum instructional hours.
– phase in funding so high schools could offer students the chance to get 24 credits and six classes per day;
- include transportation in the definition;
– include highly capable in the definition;
– include early learning for at-risk kids in the definition;
– create a prototypical school model for funding schools and school districts, replacing an outdated method that has been found unconstitutional by a King County judge;
– create work groups to look into changes in how local levy money is spent, how teachers are hired and paid and how early learning will be expanded;
– assign the state Board of Education to create a system to deal with schools and districts that continue to fail to improve;
– assign the Professional Educator Standards Board to create performance standards for teachers.

The changes would be phased in and fully implemented by 2018. That date has continued to move into the future as the economic crisis has worsened.

House Bill 2377, the bill that would boost the sales tax and put it on the November ballot, is scheduled for a hearing at 8 a.m. Friday before the House Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee. It also is set for a committee vote at 5 p.m. Friday.

State Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, is the prime sponsor of the tax measure. He also is chairman of that committee.

Here's the agenda.

Here is the story I posted yesterday. It has a link to the full text of the tax bill.

That would be the bill that imposes tolls on the Highway 520 bridge before the replacement actually is done.

A lobbyist and sometime reader of this blog forwarded to me the word and the definition because he's seen me make mention of the "misery-loves-company" crowd in Gig Harbor that feels put upon and singled out because they alone are paying tolls.

They can't wait until someone else in the state has to pay tolls to cross a bridge, too.

Oh, you want the definition?
"Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others."
Hey, if the shoe fits....

For a further explanation of the word, go to this link.

BTW, We'll find out next Wednesday (April 22) whether tolls on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will be increasing in July. Stay tuned.

Here's the news release about the Transportation Commission meeting:

State Transportation Commission to consider bridge tolls and transportation revenue forecast

=> Read more!