Jolt
Afternoon Jolt: The Legislature is Not Good for Children, the Environment, and Other Living Things
Today's Afternoon Jolt is a bit of a follow-up to today's Morning Fizz where we wrote about A) a bill that was going to mess with the Growth Management Act and B) how the state house was queuing up an unemployment insurance bill that messed with labor.
And so, today we ended up with two losers: A) the Growth Management Act. And B) Labor (and children of unemployed workers).
Loser #1: The GMA
We noted this morning that a bill allowing allow cities to delay implementation of the Growth Management Act, as well as density goals, fuel-efficient fleet standards, shoreline management plans, and stormwater guidelines was stalled in committee yesterday by environmentalist Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34, W. Seattle, Vashon).
The house environmentalists weren't as successful today. The house version, sponsored by Rep. Larry Springer (D-45, Kirkland), passed out of committee on a 7-2 vote.
And an amendment to at least save the stormwater guidelines proposed by stalwart environmentalist Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33, Des Moines) lost; Upthegrove's green colleagues, Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34, Burien, W. Seattle) and Rep. Steve Theringer (D-24, Clallum and Jefferson), voted with him in the losing effort right before the anti-GMA bill passed with just Upthegrove and Fitzgibbon voting no.
Loser #2: Labor
While the unemployment insurance bill passed by the state house today gives about $68 million directly to workers (the senate bill does not), the money is temporary federal money—a reward for making it easier for workers to get retraining.
Labor has been lobbying, instead, for a permanent children's benefit (another option to trigger the federal reward), but business, which got a permanent tax break out of the bill (starting with $300 million this year), didn't like the idea of higher benefits.
So rather than going with the children's benefit, the bill, which passed 98-0, makes it easier for workers to get UI checks while going to college for retraining. No money to pay for school, though.
Washington State Labor Council spokeswoman Rebecca Johnson says, "It's unfortunate they didn't take a balanced approached. We're happy for the immediate relief to families, but it was our second choice."
And so, today we ended up with two losers: A) the Growth Management Act. And B) Labor (and children of unemployed workers).
Loser #1: The GMA
We noted this morning that a bill allowing allow cities to delay implementation of the Growth Management Act, as well as density goals, fuel-efficient fleet standards, shoreline management plans, and stormwater guidelines was stalled in committee yesterday by environmentalist Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34, W. Seattle, Vashon).
The house environmentalists weren't as successful today. The house version, sponsored by Rep. Larry Springer (D-45, Kirkland), passed out of committee on a 7-2 vote.
And an amendment to at least save the stormwater guidelines proposed by stalwart environmentalist Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33, Des Moines) lost; Upthegrove's green colleagues, Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34, Burien, W. Seattle) and Rep. Steve Theringer (D-24, Clallum and Jefferson), voted with him in the losing effort right before the anti-GMA bill passed with just Upthegrove and Fitzgibbon voting no.
Loser #2: Labor
While the unemployment insurance bill passed by the state house today gives about $68 million directly to workers (the senate bill does not), the money is temporary federal money—a reward for making it easier for workers to get retraining.
Labor has been lobbying, instead, for a permanent children's benefit (another option to trigger the federal reward), but business, which got a permanent tax break out of the bill (starting with $300 million this year), didn't like the idea of higher benefits.
So rather than going with the children's benefit, the bill, which passed 98-0, makes it easier for workers to get UI checks while going to college for retraining. No money to pay for school, though.
Washington State Labor Council spokeswoman Rebecca Johnson says, "It's unfortunate they didn't take a balanced approached. We're happy for the immediate relief to families, but it was our second choice."
