Morning Fizz
In Other Big Announcements Today
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. As we reported yesterday , Mayor Mike McGinn is expected to announce a proposal today to bring a new basketball and hockey arena to Seattle. McGinn is meeting with city council members this morning to brief them on the details of the proposal, which would be financed, in part, by San Francisco investor Chris Hansen.
The Seattle Times has an exclusive interview with Hansen here.
Seattle has lacked an NBA team since 2008, when the Sonics left for Oklahoma.
2. In other big announcements today, the latest state revenue forecast is due at 10:00 am. The numbers are expected to improve slightly from the devastating September announcement which projected a $1.4 billion shortfall in the current $32 billion budget.[pullquote]"The $500 million in cuts that the governor wanted us to send to voters goes away."—State Senate Ways & Means Chair Sen. Ed Murray[/pullquote]
Add that bit of good news to the $340 million windfall from reduced caseloads (a mixed blessing) to the $400 million in savings and cuts the legislature found during the December special session (and the GOP's shift to go with closing a couple of loopholes, such as the controversial mega-bank first mortgage interest loophole), and, as Senate Ways and Means Chair Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) tells us, "the $500 million in cuts that the governor wanted us to send to voters goes away."
There's no concrete plan yet—the committees will be drafting plans this week—but Murray calls the situation "stabilized."
3. And another announcement from Olympia: Today at noon, state transportation committee chair Judy Clibborn will announce her proposed transportation budget. The budget, a much scaled-back version of Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget proposal, will be in the tens of millions, rather than the $3.6 billion Gregoire originally requested. Among other changes, the proposal reportedly restores $10 million in funding Gregoire proposed moving out of the Multimodal Transportation Account, which (unlike the gas tax) can be spent on transit, bike, and pedestrian facilities.
4. And another: Perkins Coie attorney Cyrus Habib, a longtime Democratic Party activist, announced that he's running for state Rep. Deb Eddy's (D-48, Kirkland) open seat. (Eddy is retiring.)
Habib, who is blind, has served on the King County Human Rights Commission since 2009 where he has been the lead advocate for the disabled.
5. Erica will be on KUOW's The Conversation today at 12:30 with Ross Reynolds discussing transportation policy.
1. As we reported yesterday , Mayor Mike McGinn is expected to announce a proposal today to bring a new basketball and hockey arena to Seattle. McGinn is meeting with city council members this morning to brief them on the details of the proposal, which would be financed, in part, by San Francisco investor Chris Hansen.
The Seattle Times has an exclusive interview with Hansen here.
Seattle has lacked an NBA team since 2008, when the Sonics left for Oklahoma.
2. In other big announcements today, the latest state revenue forecast is due at 10:00 am. The numbers are expected to improve slightly from the devastating September announcement which projected a $1.4 billion shortfall in the current $32 billion budget.[pullquote]"The $500 million in cuts that the governor wanted us to send to voters goes away."—State Senate Ways & Means Chair Sen. Ed Murray[/pullquote]
Add that bit of good news to the $340 million windfall from reduced caseloads (a mixed blessing) to the $400 million in savings and cuts the legislature found during the December special session (and the GOP's shift to go with closing a couple of loopholes, such as the controversial mega-bank first mortgage interest loophole), and, as Senate Ways and Means Chair Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) tells us, "the $500 million in cuts that the governor wanted us to send to voters goes away."
There's no concrete plan yet—the committees will be drafting plans this week—but Murray calls the situation "stabilized."
3. And another announcement from Olympia: Today at noon, state transportation committee chair Judy Clibborn will announce her proposed transportation budget. The budget, a much scaled-back version of Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget proposal, will be in the tens of millions, rather than the $3.6 billion Gregoire originally requested. Among other changes, the proposal reportedly restores $10 million in funding Gregoire proposed moving out of the Multimodal Transportation Account, which (unlike the gas tax) can be spent on transit, bike, and pedestrian facilities.
4. And another: Perkins Coie attorney Cyrus Habib, a longtime Democratic Party activist, announced that he's running for state Rep. Deb Eddy's (D-48, Kirkland) open seat. (Eddy is retiring.)
Habib, who is blind, has served on the King County Human Rights Commission since 2009 where he has been the lead advocate for the disabled.
5. Erica will be on KUOW's The Conversation today at 12:30 with Ross Reynolds discussing transportation policy.
