Special session update

In the fall of 2010 the governor refused to call the Legislature into a special session unless she got assurances from the leaders of the four legislative caucuses that they could finish such a session within 48 hours.

The reason, according to this published report: “I can’t call a special session and get nothing done,” she said. (The governor eventually did call us back, after a tentative cost-saving agreement was reached; that session lasted one day, almost exactly a year ago.)

This year Gov. Gregoire called the Legislature back without having first extracted any similar commitment. Keep reading for how that’s working out.

What will the special session produce?

The second week of the year’s second “special” session is over today (Friday, Dec. 9), and the Senate has yet to take a vote on a single bill beyond the resolution passed Nov. 28 to formally convene.

So far the Senate Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, has held a series of public hearings on the governor’s proposed budget, and on a bill that could help the Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center Public Facilities District recover from defaulting on bonds sold to build the events center. That’s it.

Behind the scenes Sen. Joe Zarelli and I have been wearing our budget-negotiator hats in meetings with our counterparts across the aisle. As part of our caucus leadership team I’m also involved in the reform part of our “reform before revenue” approach, planning how we can reduce the cost of government while maintaining core programs and services.

Also, I’ve had plenty of worthwhile and often high-level meetings these past two weeks – with the Ecology director, Fish and Wildlife, the governor’s budget director, Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark and representatives of some of our “Main Street” employers, to name several.

But if the question is, could those meetings have waited until January, or could I have worked on reforms through phone calls and e-mails with my colleagues, the answer is yes.

The governor had made it clear she wanted two things from this special session: a revised budget, and a revenue package that would go before voters. Her budget director told me, during our meeting last week, that her office had already provided the package of legislation the majority party would need to do both things. However, the governor has just acknowledged in this report today that she won’t get either a full budget or a tax package from the Legislature.

It’s more likely this special session will produce (at best) a modest effort to reduce spending. That’s not what I had in mind when I arrived here late last month, and hopefully the slow progress being made now is not indicative of what will happen during the 60 days of the 2012 regular session. Washington taxpayers simply can’t afford the cost of inaction.

More questionable spending

Last month, in explaining that we should pursue reforms before revenue, I noted how a perfect example of a reform opportunity is the wasting of millions on things like cell phones that are bought for but aren’t used by bureaucrats (as a Seattle newspaper reported).

Well, as they used to say on the radio, the hits just keep coming. The state Department of Transportation has dropped close to $500,000 on a museum about the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a stretch of Old Highway 99 along the Seattle waterfront that is being torn down and replaced with a tunnel underneath downtown Seattle. Yet the head of the DOT division in charge of the state’s ferry fleet is talking about wanting a tax increase to cover ferry-system costs!

It’s not just the executive branch of state government, either. Members of the House of Representatives are moving back into the John L. O’Brien Building, the House’s primary office building, after the completion of retrofitting intended to make the building safer in case of another earthquake.

Safety improvements are one thing, but according to a news report the $49.4 million spent includes new doors, and furniture.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the door to my legislative office is original to the building, which dates to the 1930s, and it works just fine. Is this really the time for the House administration to buy custom-made desks that are “in keeping with the neo-classical revival style” of the building?

I don’t think so.

Bill would allow Discover Pass to be transferable between vehicles

Earlier this year the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5622, creating a “Discover Pass” that citizens could purchase to access state parks and lands owned by other state agencies.

The pass costs $30 a year or $10 per day, and majority of the funds go toward keeping state parks open.

Since then many people who bought these passes discovered an unfortunate shortcoming in the law – that the pass was issued for a specific vehicle and could not be transferred to another vehicle.

This week I co-sponsored Senate Bill 5977, which would make the Discover Pass transferable between two vehicles.

The measure has been referred to the Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee.

Ecology wants input… let’s give it some!

Your 9th District legislative delegation has been going back and forth with the Department of Ecology over its regulations related to stormwater. As I’ve mentioned before, the agency seems unwilling to acknowledge that it should be less concerned about polluted stormwater runoff in areas where there is less rainfall – like ours.

I’m planning to take advantage of the public comment period Ecology has opened for comments about its draft municipal stormwater permitting proposal. If you’re concerned that your community or county will become subject to these permitting regulations, and tap you for the cost of complying with them, I encourage you to comment as well. The information you need is available.