Snowed in and bogged down in Olympia

It’s been “snow week” here at the Capitol. There was a good dusting in the Olympia area a week ago when I returned from a hunt with a dear friend and former fellow legislator on the Olympic Peninsula (no ducks, but two geese in the bag). On Wednesday, a foot or so of additional snow fell – a record for that particular day and about as much as Olympia ever sees at once – and Thursday brought an ice storm and widespread power outages.

The place where I live south of Olympia was among the many that lost power, which not only meant no heat, but also no pump for the well. Fortunately, I was able to bunk in my office the past three nights, although that option even looked iffy Friday when the Capitol campus lost power for several hours. Anyway, now you know why you’re receiving this update later than planned!

All the disruption means there isn’t the usual amount of legislative news to share, but keep reading for information that includes a generous offer that many organizations in our area may find attractive. The weather forecast for the coming week calls for a return of the rain, which should mean a return to a regular meeting schedule. I hope it also brings the sense of urgency that has been lacking so far this session.

Reforms, no – but there’s always time for marijuana?

This week, the Senate Ways and Means Committee finally had its first meetings of the 2012 session. On Tuesday, in fact, we took action to fix a flaw with the Discover Pass that prohibited purchasers from using it in more than one vehicle – a flaw that probably explains why sales of the pass have been well below expectations.

Senate Bill 5977, which I co-sponsored, would allow the Discover Pass to be transferred between two vehicles. It’s interesting that the agencies who benefit from the Discover Pass proceeds are figuring they will on one hand lose revenue, because someone with two vehicles would no longer have to buy two passes, but on the other hand gain revenue because more people will buy the pass if it’s transferable between two vehicles. The loss and gain would pretty much cancel each other out, making SB 5977 a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, the Discover Pass change was the only action taken by Ways and Means so far in 2012. The agendas for Monday and Tuesday were otherwise limited to an economic outlook from the outgoing state chief economist, a presentation regarding tax preferences and a summary of the recent state Supreme Court decision concerning support for K-12 education.

On Wednesday the budget committee meeting was canceled, presumably because of the record snowfall – yet the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee’s morning hearing on a medical-marijuana measure went ahead as planned, as did a Senate Environment Committee hearing on legislation concerning flame retardants in children’s clothing. The Thursday budget-committee meeting was canceled also.

Ways and Means could have met Wednesday and Thursday to consider reform legislation carried over from the 2011 session.

I’m doing what I can to move things along, having met later Thursday with a Democrat counterpart on the budget committee to discuss natural resources-related spending.

But it concerns me that six of the budget committee’s eight meetings have been canceled so far this year. The budget process certainly seems to be moving at a slower pace than in 2011, even though the 2012 session is 45 days shorter.

Spokane-based foundation offers help to local organization

A senior representative from the Spokane-based Empire Health Foundation visited a few days into the session. I was impressed by the information she later forwarded about the foundation’s grant program and I believe it would be of interest to institutions and organizations in our area. Imagine a grant that helps a school with student nutrition, helps a senior center purchase blood-pressure monitors or other wellness supplies, or helps our emergency medical technicians maintain their aid units. That would be a welcome resource at any time, but especially these days given the economy and organizational budgets.

Grants will be awarded in each half of this year. Applications for the first round of grants will be taken during March, with awards made no later than June 30. I encourage you to go online and read about the grant programs yourself.

Washington’s history of tax votes

It’s pretty common knowledge by now that the voters of our state have long opposed efforts to impose a state income tax (most recently, in 2010). But with just a few exceptions, Washington voters have turned down all tax increase proposals – a fact that has either been forgotten or is being ignored by the governor and others who support placing a half-billion-dollar sales tax increase on the 2012 ballot.

The Washington Policy Center, a frequent source of useful information, has compiled a history of statewide votes related to taxes – increases, repeals and limits. For instance, the WPC found, tax-increase proposals earmarked for education failed by wide margins in 2010 (64% no vote), 2004 (60% no), 1989 (66% no), 1975 (67% no) and 1973 (77% no). Meanwhile, voters have shown strong support for placing limits on taxation. The WPC list shows popular measures requiring a two- thirds vote threshold or voter approval to raise taxes received consistent approval in 2010 (64% yes vote), 2007 (51% yes), 1999 (56% yes), 1998 (57% yes) and 1993 (51% yes).

The director of WPC’s Center for Government Reform concludes with this:

“If history is any guide, lawmakers would be wiser to act quickly to balance the budget within the existing state revenue forecast rather than drag out the session (or go into special session) while haggling over legislative vote trading on a tax increase proposal the voters are probably going to reject.”

I couldn’t agree more. That’s why the approach being taken by the Senate Republican budget team (Sen. Joe Zarelli and me) calls first for prioritizing, or reprioritizing, how we budget the revenue the state is already collecting. Education, public safety and services for our most vulnerable Washingtonians should be supported with existing dollars, not put on the ballot as the governor has proposed.

After that, we would pursue reforms that free up more dollars. Only then would we discuss sources of new revenue (particularly sources that don’t involve raising taxes). That’s the best path to the sustainable budget Washington taxpayers deserve.