Morning Fizz
Interests and Activities
1. Fizz was a little confused yesterday when, doing some political research on city council candidates, we found that Jean Godden challenger Maurice Classen's
top listing under "Interests and Activities" on his Facebook page was "Starburst."
Huh?
Turns out Classen's girlfriend, Sarah Adams, is the head of brand management for Starburst nationwide---a job that entails "running the Starburst brand," Classen says. Adams lives in Chicago; she and Classen travel to see each other every few weeks.
2. Rather than propose a sweeping piece of legislation to do away with all the tax loopholes on the books (more than 500, worth an estimated $6.5 billion ), lefties in the state legislature began rolling out a series of individual bills this week to start taking on the tax breaks one by one.
While an omnibus package would end up bogging down into a high-level philosophical conversation that business interests could oppose in general, the plan here is to isolate loopholes—making recipients defend them one by one—while each bill would also propose using the money for a specific social program that's otherwise on the chopping block .
Yesterday, Rep. Chris Reykdal (D-22, Tumwater) introduced a bill to end the tax exemption on cosmetic surgery and shift the money to pay for medication for seniors. (The bill doesn't come with a dollar amount, but it does mandate the state to estimate the savings and earmark it for the "senior pharmacy assistance account hereby created in the state treasury.")
Watch for two more bills to get rolled out soon : One, likely coming tomorrow, would end the sales tax exemption on memberships (like buying a membership at a country club), worth an estimated $3 million, to pay for school lunch programs; a second one would end the B&O tax exemption on corporate investment income over $500,000 and earmark the money (an estimated $100 million) for K-4 class size reductions .
All the bills will need a two-thirds majority. Given that the Republicans have made a huge deal about the K-4 cuts, forcing them—and companies that support education spending, like Microsoft—to favor business investment income of more than a half million dollars over classroom funding , is a clever ploy.
3. As Jolt mentioned yesterday, the house transportation committee rolled out the state transportation budget. The proposal would preserve $40 million in funding for the state's regional mobility grant program, which funds local programs to support transit.
The funding could come at a cost, however: With money for the grants maintained at current levels, Community Transit in Snohomish County—which still facing a big hit from local sales tax shortfall—could have a tougher time arguing that the legislature should allow allow it to pass a $20 temporary fee to pay for emergency transit funding.
The original legislation authorized King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties to impose the temporary (two-year) fee; the current version, however, only includes King County Metro .
4. While bike and transit advocates applauded the committee for preserving full grant funding, one Olympia transit lobbyist, the Cascade Bicycle Club's David Hiller, did call the state's overall allocation for non-motorized transportation (bike, pedestrian, and transit) "pretty meager"— just 3.1 percent of the budget.
In all, the budget allocates $9.8 million to all bike and pedestrian programs statewide---almost the same as the $9.4 million park & ride fund, which is buying a park and ride in Skagit County while reserving $6 million for future park & rides .
5. Additionally, Seattle Times writer Mike Lindblom reports that the legislature is likely to send a batch of road and transit taxes to voters this year.
6. Members of the city council's education committee unanimously passed out the Families and Education Levy yesterday afternoon, sending the $231 million package to the full council, where it will likely be approved and placed on the August ballot.
Though Seattle voters have a history of approving the levy, which funds things like after school programs and early-learning programs, it faces an uphill battle against a skeptical public in light of the recent Seattle Public Schools scandal—which may explain some of yesterday's testimony.
Council members repeatedly emphasized the fact that the levy dollars in question would not be appropriated by SPS, but would go through the city's Office of Education. "There is a clear line of accountability," council president Richard Conlin explained, adding that there are safeguards to replace dysfunctional programs within the legislation.
When asked by council member Sally Bagshaw about the department's process for evaluating contractors, head of the city's Office of Education Holly Miller explained that contractors "have to perform at their highest level" and that "we track these indicators on a monthly basis, and we're able to get back to our partners' about their performance"—a clear attempt to contrast city oversight with SPS. Miller added that 25 percent of every contract is determined by performance.
Huh?
Turns out Classen's girlfriend, Sarah Adams, is the head of brand management for Starburst nationwide---a job that entails "running the Starburst brand," Classen says. Adams lives in Chicago; she and Classen travel to see each other every few weeks.
2. Rather than propose a sweeping piece of legislation to do away with all the tax loopholes on the books (more than 500, worth an estimated $6.5 billion ), lefties in the state legislature began rolling out a series of individual bills this week to start taking on the tax breaks one by one.
While an omnibus package would end up bogging down into a high-level philosophical conversation that business interests could oppose in general, the plan here is to isolate loopholes—making recipients defend them one by one—while each bill would also propose using the money for a specific social program that's otherwise on the chopping block .
Yesterday, Rep. Chris Reykdal (D-22, Tumwater) introduced a bill to end the tax exemption on cosmetic surgery and shift the money to pay for medication for seniors. (The bill doesn't come with a dollar amount, but it does mandate the state to estimate the savings and earmark it for the "senior pharmacy assistance account hereby created in the state treasury.")
Watch for two more bills to get rolled out soon : One, likely coming tomorrow, would end the sales tax exemption on memberships (like buying a membership at a country club), worth an estimated $3 million, to pay for school lunch programs; a second one would end the B&O tax exemption on corporate investment income over $500,000 and earmark the money (an estimated $100 million) for K-4 class size reductions .
All the bills will need a two-thirds majority. Given that the Republicans have made a huge deal about the K-4 cuts, forcing them—and companies that support education spending, like Microsoft—to favor business investment income of more than a half million dollars over classroom funding , is a clever ploy.
3. As Jolt mentioned yesterday, the house transportation committee rolled out the state transportation budget. The proposal would preserve $40 million in funding for the state's regional mobility grant program, which funds local programs to support transit.
The funding could come at a cost, however: With money for the grants maintained at current levels, Community Transit in Snohomish County—which still facing a big hit from local sales tax shortfall—could have a tougher time arguing that the legislature should allow allow it to pass a $20 temporary fee to pay for emergency transit funding.
The original legislation authorized King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties to impose the temporary (two-year) fee; the current version, however, only includes King County Metro .
4. While bike and transit advocates applauded the committee for preserving full grant funding, one Olympia transit lobbyist, the Cascade Bicycle Club's David Hiller, did call the state's overall allocation for non-motorized transportation (bike, pedestrian, and transit) "pretty meager"— just 3.1 percent of the budget.
In all, the budget allocates $9.8 million to all bike and pedestrian programs statewide---almost the same as the $9.4 million park & ride fund, which is buying a park and ride in Skagit County while reserving $6 million for future park & rides .
5. Additionally, Seattle Times writer Mike Lindblom reports that the legislature is likely to send a batch of road and transit taxes to voters this year.
6. Members of the city council's education committee unanimously passed out the Families and Education Levy yesterday afternoon, sending the $231 million package to the full council, where it will likely be approved and placed on the August ballot.
Though Seattle voters have a history of approving the levy, which funds things like after school programs and early-learning programs, it faces an uphill battle against a skeptical public in light of the recent Seattle Public Schools scandal—which may explain some of yesterday's testimony.
Council members repeatedly emphasized the fact that the levy dollars in question would not be appropriated by SPS, but would go through the city's Office of Education. "There is a clear line of accountability," council president Richard Conlin explained, adding that there are safeguards to replace dysfunctional programs within the legislation.
When asked by council member Sally Bagshaw about the department's process for evaluating contractors, head of the city's Office of Education Holly Miller explained that contractors "have to perform at their highest level" and that "we track these indicators on a monthly basis, and we're able to get back to our partners' about their performance"—a clear attempt to contrast city oversight with SPS. Miller added that 25 percent of every contract is determined by performance.
