This Washington
Best of Olympia, Week 2
What happened in Olympia this week and what I think about it: Best legislator; best lobbyist; this week's Eve Harrington Award?; biggest surprise; and what's in store for next week.
1. Best Defensive Player of the Week: The ACLU
While they were definitely playing some offense (an ACLU-backed bill to create medical marijuana dispensaries was in the spotlight this week), the civil liberties group and its brainy, Yale-law-school-educated lobbyist Shankar Narayan were also playing some tenacious defense this week, stepping up to point out why they think AG Rob McKenna's gang bill—giving elastic leeway to law enforcement to issue injunctive orders—jeopardizes civil liberties.
Narayan also D'd up another McKenna bill—one that would prevent inmates from filing lawsuits.
2. Best Offensive Player of the Week: Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36, Ballard, Magnolia, Queen Anne)
In a session where everyone is talking about the need for fundamental and systemic change (rather than bandaid fixes) to deal with this year's dramatic budget crisis, Rep. Carlyle is actually making stuff happen.
First, he's cueing up a bill that would sunset more than 500 corporate tax loopholes and reclassify all tax breaks as budget spends, mandating that the legislature treat loopholes just like social service, transportation, law enforcement, and education budget items, vetting them and voting on them every biennium.
Second, he unearthed some important data to frame any larger debate on budgeting, asking the state Office of Financial Management to crunch the numbers and compare the tax dollars counties put into state coffers vs. how much they get back in services. Rural, anti-tax Republican counties, it turns out, are being heavily subsidized by urban Democratic counties.
3. Busiest Legislator of the Week: Republican Rep. Charles Ross (R-14, Yakima)
For someone in the minority party, assistant Republican house whip Rep. Ross was on the move this week, introducing and testifying on behalf of two major bills, AG McKenna's request bills to fight gangs and limit frivolous lawsuits by inmates (the two bills the ACLU is lobbying against that we noted above.)
Ross' busybody bidding for Republican team captain McKenna may also put the young rep in contention for one of PubliCola's famous Eve Harrington Awards.
Rep. Ross, by the way, retroactively gets the Quote of the Week award for Week 1 (we didn't do a wrap up last week) for this provocative statement .
4. Surprise of the Week: Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-37, S. Seattle) Takes Up Controversial Education Reform Agenda
It's no surprise that State Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue) is the senate sponsor of a bill being pushed by the Waiting for Superman types—a bill that would A) make upcoming teacher layoff decisions (1500 teachers' jobs are in jeopardy due to devastating budget cuts) based on principal teacher evaluations rather than seniority and collective bargaining agreements and B) prevent schools from being forced to take underperforming teachers who are traditionally moved from one school to another.
After all, education committee member Tom got more than $6000 from Stand for Children, the national group that's at odds with the teachers unions over issues like this.
However, the house side sponsor, Rep. Pettigrew, who didn't get any money from SFC, is neither on the education committee nor on SFC's go-to list. Pettigrew supports the bill because strong teachers played a pivotal role in his youth.
And bravery points to both Tom and Pettigrew for putting their necks out—this can be a nuclear issue for Democrats.
Other highlights from this week in Olympia:
Republican bill threatens Growth Management Act; Democrats threaten hazardous site cleanup fund; public employees actually make less on average than private sector employess; house ways & means chair Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) unveils the supplemental budget (and then quietly kills the Basic Health Plan); and the Seattle City Council heads to Oly to lobby to preserve social service and transit funding.
And looking forward to next week:
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington's top priority bill to regulate "Limited Service Pregnancy Centers" or "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" (depending on which side of the contentious abortion debate you're on) gets its first hearing on Monday in the house health care committee.
1. Best Defensive Player of the Week: The ACLU
While they were definitely playing some offense (an ACLU-backed bill to create medical marijuana dispensaries was in the spotlight this week), the civil liberties group and its brainy, Yale-law-school-educated lobbyist Shankar Narayan were also playing some tenacious defense this week, stepping up to point out why they think AG Rob McKenna's gang bill—giving elastic leeway to law enforcement to issue injunctive orders—jeopardizes civil liberties.
Narayan also D'd up another McKenna bill—one that would prevent inmates from filing lawsuits.
2. Best Offensive Player of the Week: Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36, Ballard, Magnolia, Queen Anne)
In a session where everyone is talking about the need for fundamental and systemic change (rather than bandaid fixes) to deal with this year's dramatic budget crisis, Rep. Carlyle is actually making stuff happen.
First, he's cueing up a bill that would sunset more than 500 corporate tax loopholes and reclassify all tax breaks as budget spends, mandating that the legislature treat loopholes just like social service, transportation, law enforcement, and education budget items, vetting them and voting on them every biennium.
Second, he unearthed some important data to frame any larger debate on budgeting, asking the state Office of Financial Management to crunch the numbers and compare the tax dollars counties put into state coffers vs. how much they get back in services. Rural, anti-tax Republican counties, it turns out, are being heavily subsidized by urban Democratic counties.
3. Busiest Legislator of the Week: Republican Rep. Charles Ross (R-14, Yakima)
For someone in the minority party, assistant Republican house whip Rep. Ross was on the move this week, introducing and testifying on behalf of two major bills, AG McKenna's request bills to fight gangs and limit frivolous lawsuits by inmates (the two bills the ACLU is lobbying against that we noted above.)
Ross' busybody bidding for Republican team captain McKenna may also put the young rep in contention for one of PubliCola's famous Eve Harrington Awards.
Rep. Ross, by the way, retroactively gets the Quote of the Week award for Week 1 (we didn't do a wrap up last week) for this provocative statement .
4. Surprise of the Week: Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-37, S. Seattle) Takes Up Controversial Education Reform Agenda
It's no surprise that State Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue) is the senate sponsor of a bill being pushed by the Waiting for Superman types—a bill that would A) make upcoming teacher layoff decisions (1500 teachers' jobs are in jeopardy due to devastating budget cuts) based on principal teacher evaluations rather than seniority and collective bargaining agreements and B) prevent schools from being forced to take underperforming teachers who are traditionally moved from one school to another.
After all, education committee member Tom got more than $6000 from Stand for Children, the national group that's at odds with the teachers unions over issues like this.
However, the house side sponsor, Rep. Pettigrew, who didn't get any money from SFC, is neither on the education committee nor on SFC's go-to list. Pettigrew supports the bill because strong teachers played a pivotal role in his youth.
And bravery points to both Tom and Pettigrew for putting their necks out—this can be a nuclear issue for Democrats.
Other highlights from this week in Olympia:
Republican bill threatens Growth Management Act; Democrats threaten hazardous site cleanup fund; public employees actually make less on average than private sector employess; house ways & means chair Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) unveils the supplemental budget (and then quietly kills the Basic Health Plan); and the Seattle City Council heads to Oly to lobby to preserve social service and transit funding.
And looking forward to next week:
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington's top priority bill to regulate "Limited Service Pregnancy Centers" or "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" (depending on which side of the contentious abortion debate you're on) gets its first hearing on Monday in the house health care committee.
