Legislative Commentary

As a farmer whose wheat crop gets water only from the heavens, I like to say that when it comes to rain, there’s no such thing as “bad” rain.

But I almost had to rethink that earlier this month, when rain arrived while we were out cutting wheat.

Fortunately, we were just about at the tail end of harvest, so it was still a successful year with yields that were significantly above average.

It’s been great to wear my farmer hat more than my senator hat for the past month, since our third overtime session of the year ended.

However, the big picture hasn’t changed since we adjourned July 20. There are two things still left on the Legislature’s to-do list for 2017, starting with a remedy for the Supreme Court’s Hirst decision.

As Senate majority leader I have continued to keep close track of the situation, even from the seat of a combine.

Speaking of combines, I had a passenger for part of a day during harvest: Scott Yates, director of communications and producer relations for the Washington Grain Commission.

We’ve known each other for probably a quarter-century, about as long as I’ve been an elected official, and Scott just posted some of our conversation as a podcast on the Washington Grain Commission’s website.

It’s not so much about the 2017 session but a broader look at the intersection of farming and policy-making.

Would Democrats stall Hirst solution because of upcoming election?

In an editorial this week the Walla Walla newspaper raised a question that should fall into the “That can’t be!” category – except that it involves partisan politics.

As I’ve stated in previous reports, the Legislature needs to approve a new capital budget to fund a long list of school-construction and other community-level projects around the state. No one questions the value of those investments, and negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed on a final proposal that should win approval once it’s brought to a vote.

But first, I want the Legislature to agree on a permanent solution to the situation the Hirst court case has caused in the many parts of Washington where water systems don’t exist.

It should be a remedy that is based on the long-standing tradition of relying on Department of Ecology data to decide where wells can be put in to support home construction. Our majority’s lead negotiator, Senator Judy Warnick of Moses Lake, is continuing to talk with her House counterpart in an effort to find a common-sense compromise.

However, the Union-Bulletin editorial brings up the idea that Democrats who have dragged their feet on a Hirst fix so far might stall until after the November election, to see whether our Majority Coalition Caucus retains three seats that are filled by appointed senators and are on the ballot.

To repeat what the Spokane newspaper editorialized recently, lawmakers can and should address all of this now.

Even though members of the House majority literally walked out on their most recent opportunity to resolve the Hirst situation, it’s hard to believe they would leave the affected families hanging in hopes that Democrats will gain a majority in the Senate, returning Olympia to one-party rule.

Survey says: Washington
 college grads carry less debt

It shouldn’t be a surprise that 2016 graduates from Washington colleges rank toward the bottom of the national scale when it comes to average student-loan debt.

This is according to a survey by a company that offers student-loan refinancing, as reported in the Seattle Times recently:

Washington’s lower student debt makes sense, given that, in 2015, state lawmakers cut the cost of going to school for in-state students studying at public universities.

Tuition dropped 5 percent in 2015, and as much as 20 percent, depending on the school, in 2016.

It’s too bad that the newspaper story didn’t specify which “state lawmakers” were behind the tuition cut, so I will: the members of our Senate majority coalition.

Three Republican senators deserve a particular mention. Senator Michael Baumgartner, from the neighboring 6th Legislative District, proposed a tuition cut in 2013.

Senator Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, was out front on the tuition question and other college-access issues as chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee.

And Senator John Braun of Centralia, our budget leader, was prime sponsor of the College Affordability Program, the actual legislation that cut tuition for the first time in state history and then put controls on its ability to grow.

Having led a successful effort in 2007 to cap annual tuition increases – until Democrats undid the cap just two years later – I rank the tuition freeze/cut of 2013-17 near the top of the list of good things that have occurred since our Republican-led coalition took charge of the Senate.

College students and their families have had no better friend in Olympia since 2013.

WSU medical school to open doors

Classes will take up for the first time Wednesday at the new Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine in Spokane. The Spokesman-Review newspaper’s coverage this week included details about the school and how WSU came to open a medical school a century after it was prohibited from doing so.

As I said in 2015, when we authorized the creation of the state’s second medical school, it will create many slots for Washington students who previously had to leave the state to attend medical school.

Also, graduates of a medical school east of the Cascades are more likely to do their residencies and eventually practice east of the Cascades, which should help alleviate the acute shortage of physicians in rural areas.

This new institution will always be a tribute to Dr. Elson Floyd, my late and dear friend, who became WSU president in 2007 and sadly succumbed to colon cancer barely two months after seeing the WSU medical-school bill reach the governor’s desk.

October deadline for seeking college internships with Senate

The Legislative Intern Program is continuing to take applications for the 2018 session from college students who will be juniors or seniors next January.

The application deadline is Oct. 18, and you don’t have to be a political science major – just interested in public policy.

If you or someone you know who would be interested in seeking an internship with our Senate majority, working either for our caucus or a specific senator, please share this website with them: http://leg.wa.gov/Internships/Pages/InternshipApplication.aspx.