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PART II – WEEK SEVEN IN OLYMPIA

THE SCENE

Much like last week, the big news in Week Seven once again came in two parts. Part one: this time they had to finish action on bills in their “opposite house;” Part two: the budget process went into high gear with release of the House Budget. And both parts found plenty of citizens eager to be involved.

There may not be as many lobby days at this point in the Session, but those who came to Olympia made the most of this late-in-session opportunity. Day after day the Committee rooms and corridors filled up with people from across the state coming to press their case for issues they feel passionately about: part-time community college teachers (seeking fairer treatment with respect to benefits and wages), Domestic Violence advocates (pressing for stronger confidentiality protections for domestic violence information), disability advocates (making the case for Independent Living), people from Catholic parishes (joining the effort to expand health care coverage for low-income children and families), low-income housing advocates (seeking funds for one of the most basic necessities – safe, stable housing), and others.

Unquestionably the most expensively dressed were the millionaire investors and professional athletes who want state funding to upgrade the Sonic’s Key Arena. One long-time Olympia regular, an unpaid volunteer lobbyist whose concerns most often take her into Committee sessions devoted to helping people with HIV/AIDS or children needing foster homes described it. “In all the years I’ve come and attended hearings, I’ve never seen anything like it. The room was packed, packed – people stretched around the room waiting to ‘sign in’ to show their support. And they weren’t anything like the low-salary social workers or former foster youth we usually see; this was a well-dressed crowd wanting our taxes to pay for their sports.”

That wasn’t the only drama taking place this week.

One day the gallery where visitors go to watch proceedings on the House Floor was standing-room-only, with all eyes turned to a greater-than-usual degree of ceremony in the Chamber below. The occasion: Governor Gregoire was awarding the state’s Medal of Valor to four brave individuals who “saved, or attempted to save, the life of another at the risk of serious injury or death…” Each time a citation was read and a medal pinned, all of the Legislators and all of the people in both visitors’ galleries rose to their feet with sustained applause. Then everyone was invited to a gathering for family and friends of the honorees in the Capitol building’s elegant old Reception Room.

A few days later, the House of Representatives paused once again to honor Washington citizens. At the urging of Representatives Shay Schual-Berke (a Democrat) and Maureen Walsh (a Republican) they voted to pass House Resolution 4706 – to honor those who advocate on behalf of the victims of “shaken baby syndrome,” and use the third week of April to raise awareness of the issue. Among those in the gallery this time was a woman who had to wipe away a tear or two as the Representatives spoke. Her grandchild was a victim of “shaken baby” and she had turned that tragedy into a way to help others. She raised the idea of such a Resolution with her legislators, and then worked with the Washington State Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect to see it come to fruition. This time when the Legislators rose to applaud, they were honoring her … as well as a democratic process that welcomes everyone wishing to bring an idea to an elected official, and help lobby it through the process.

When the Session turns its attention to our 260-page state budget, it can be easy to forget that ours is a very human-scale, accessible legislature that wants to hear from its citizens. Even sleep-deprived Committee Chairs facing long lists of bills were careful to apologize to people who might not get a chance to testify (“I’m so very sorry,” said one Chair, “but we have too many witnesses to hear you all, so many bills to consider. If you could choose two people to speak for everyone and keep your remarks very brief, that would help a lot.”).

Anyone who spends a lot of time at the Legislature knows that there can be good days and bad, times when members are crabby from lack of sleep or abrupt because there’s simply too much going on. But that can happen anywhere. The marvel is that so much of the time, from so many of the people, there is a simple courtesy and a willingness to hear what visitors have come to say.

That point was brought home by two first-time visitors to Olympia who’d grown up elsewhere - one in Romania, the other in Japan. They marveled at things we take for granted – that anyone can meet with a legislator or legislative aide, that (time permitting) anyone can testify before a legislative Committee, that there are no metal-detectors, no guards rifling through your belongings, no one acting as though we aren’t important enough or deserving of courtesy. “I’ll never look at the legislature the same way again,” said another newly-minted citizen-lobbyist. “They just were all so very nice.”

The Process – BUDGET ACTION

We’re down to crunch time on the state’s roughly $26 billion General Fund Budget. Last week the Senate passed its version, and this week it was the turn of the House. By late Friday both bodies had expressed their respective views on how to allocate state funds - including the $1.5 billion in additional revenue that wasn’t anticipated when the Biennial Operating Budget was written last year. (There are two more budgets, one for Transportation and one for Capital projects – “bricks and mortar.”) Now they just need to reconcile any differences between the two versions and come out with something a majority of the members can agree to. After that, it’s up to the Governor to decide whether to sign, or veto, or item-veto.

Because this is an election year there is a bit more rhetoric than usual, with each party painting the budget in terms they think likely to resonate with their voters. So - Democrats tended to see using a portion of this year’s “surplus” revenues as a responsible way to make up for the many deficit years when health and social welfare programs were cut, while Republicans tended to see any restorations or additions as creating bigger, more bloated government, a budget run amok.

Rhetoric aside, even those who claim to want smaller government tend to find something they want from the budget process. Both budgets provide $45-50 million in new or expanded tax breaks, for activities ranging from bio-tech to salmon canning to trail grooming and the handling of farm manure. And as Appropriations Committee Chair Helen Sommers has been heard to say, the “Member request list” of additions to the budget (including tax breaks) is always long, but “…I have not gotten even one request for reductions.”

There are other clear points of agreement - like the importance of education, or the need to add to the state’s reserve fund, shore up the state’s pension system, and establish an “Energy Freedom Program,” to help move the state from its dependence on foreign oil. That isn’t to say there are no differences on these issues, but the larger point is conceded – e.g., Members differ over how education funds are spent, but nobody wants to tamper with the fact that over half of the state’s spending goes to education at all levels.

Some highs and lows . Just as in past years health and human services advocates are pleased about some of this year’s budget decisions, disappointed about others. One or both budgets included some additional funding for: expanding affordable housing and related services, reducing the shortfall in the Mental Health system, closing the gap in the “welfare box,” providing for some eldercare needs, funding some services for people with disabilities, a new Department of Early Learning, and some small but significant items like school breakfasts and services for people with Limited English. Every health and social service that made it into one of the budgets is a victory, and advocates were careful to say “Thank You” to the legislators who made each of them possible. But note the word “some.” Neither budget makes up for years of cut-backs, and both budgets leave many activities severely under-funded.

One of the biggest disappointments came in the area of health. This year’s $1.5 billion “surplus” raised hopes that the legislature might restore 10,000 slots to the Basic Health Plan – a program that offers many low-earning working people their only chance for health coverage. Back when the state faced deficits, it cut 30,000 slots from the BHP; this year was seen as an opportunity to redress about one-third of that. Plus, there was considerable news attention paid to the growing numbers – now estimated at close to 800,000 – of Washingtonians with no health coverage. Instead, despite the surplus, the legislature appears poised to provide enough funding for only about 5,000 workers -- a missed opportunity with long-range consequences.

But one of the year’s best advocacy success stories also comes from the health arena. Earlier in the week the House budget only included enough money to cover a fraction of the children on a waiting list for the Children’s Health Program. A call went out for advocates to contact their legislators. In less than 7 hours, 400 members of the Children's Action Network contacted their Representatives, asking them to support an amendment to the budget when it came to the House Floor. On Friday the amendment was offered and passed with strong bi-partisan support. (PW is pleased to note that once again it was two women – one Democrat, one Republican – who led the fight.) The result: if the Senate agrees to accept the House amendment, 3,000 more children will get health coverage. Not bad for contacts that took each of those 400 constituents mere minutes.

One thing that should never be forgotten is the simple fact that budgets are more than lists of programs and numbers, they are reflections of community values and priorities. As one supporter of the Children’s Health Program amendment put it: "It is our duty to take care of children. Not only is it the right thing to do and the smart thing, it is the moral thing to do."

TIP: Three considerations are now key. If an activity is mentioned in both the House and Senate budgets, it probably doesn’t need any more advocacy; it’s in. The reverse is also true: anything not mentioned in either budget probably isn’t going to make it through the process this year – though it never hurts to try. If there is money for an activity mentioned in at least one of the budgets, supporters/opponents of that item know it has at least a fighting chance to be in the final product – they need to speak up ASAP. (Check with the advocacy groups following specific areas to learn whether an item you care about is in at least one budget, or both, or none.)

The SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET – Following the process

From now until the end of Session there will be meetings to reconcile any differences between the budgets passed by the House and Senate. Often that is done in a Conference Committee composed of members from the two budget-writing committees. If the conferees declare it to be a “free conference” they may draw on provisions from the Governor’s budget (including those not included in the Budgets passed by either House or Senate).

Information and analyses about the various budgets is available from advocacy groups. Plus: The Senate version of the Supplemental Budget can be read by going to www.leg.wa.gov and typing 6386 into the box under BILL SEARCH.

Information on the House version appears on the website of the House Appropriations Committee: http://www1.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/APP/

The Governor’s budget is available at: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget/highlights/default.htm

USEFUL TERM: Budgets are large, complex, and inevitably a product of countless compromises, but passing a balanced budget is the one thing the legislature must do. Plus, budgets affect everyone, so legislators sometimes feel tempted to showboat a bit – offering amendments they know can’t pass but would give them bragging rights back home. These are known as “hero amendments.” To make sure that doesn’t happen too often, rules were adopted decades ago requiring a supermajority vote for any Floor Amendment to the budget.

The Process – REMAINING ACTION ON BILLS

Next week the action moves back to the House and Senate Floors for final votes on any bills still alive: surviving House bills will be voted on in the Senate; surviving Senate bills will be voted on in the House. But that only lasts until the end of WEEK EIGHT; Friday, March 2 marks the end of Floor Action on “opposite House” bills. (A few bills will get a few more days’ grace if they are deemed “necessary for the budget.”)

Anyone who cares about a bill that is still in play has one more chance to get that bill through the process and out to the Governor's desk. If there is a bill you care about, speak up, and start now to let the Governor know how you feel.

TAKING ACTION

• If a bill you care about “appears dead,” check with either the bill sponsor – the first legislator listed at the top of the bill, or with an advocacy group that is following the issue (there’s a list in the last pages of every POLICY WATCH). Ask whether there is any chance the issue may be kept alive in the budget, and if so, whether citizen voices are needed.
• If you care about something in the budget, speak up now.
• Above all: Be sure your Senator, both Representatives, and the Governor know which bills you care about, and how you want them to vote on budget items. Once a bill gets to the Floor, EVERY legislator is equally important, EVERY Washingtonian can influence how they vote. Plus, every bill that survives Floor Action will need to be signed by the Governor.

The Governor, your Senator, and both your Representatives can be reached in a single, brief message, left with an operator at the Toll-Free Hot-Line: 1-800-562-6000.

THREE KEY DATES:

The NEXT CUT-OFF is Monday, FEBRUARY 27. This marks the last day for bills to get a Public Hearing and vote by a Fiscal Committee in the "opposite house" - meaning, House-passed bills with cost implications must be voted out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, and Senate-passed bills with cost implications must be voted out of the House Appropriations Committee by the end of the day on Monday.

From FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 3both the House and the Senate will be devoting all their time to FLOOR ACTION.

The 2006 SESSION ENDS on MARCH 9, 2006.

So -- if there is a bill or budget item you care about, send a brief note or email, or use the TOLL FREE HOT-LINE and contact your legislators:

1-800-562-6000.

** SNAPSHOTS

** A visitor from Skagit County stopped to leave a message at her legislator’s office on the 4 th Floor of the Capitol building. Moments later she was one flight down, trying to decide whether to send him a Floor Slip asking him to step out in the lobby for a chat. Suddenly, the Representative’s aide came down the stairs looking for her. The aide had recognized her last name and thought they might know some people in common – which they did. Said the constituent, “I thought the Capitol would be intimidating, but it’s more like a small town.”

** On Wednesday of next week Senator Rosa Franklin will declare Red Hat Day for members of the Red Hat Society. They should be easy to spot.

** With some Senators’ offices temporarily back in the area just off the big cafeteria, the “No Lobbying” sign is back in its place on the wall of the Pritchard Building ladies’ room.

** A visitor wondered aloud why the colored panels in the Capitol dome are a soft, rosy-pink. The answer (according to a Capitol Guide): because they wanted a color that would warm and glow in the early morning and late afternoon as sunlight streams in through the dome windows.

** House Rule 17 – A member shall confine all remarks to the question under debate and avoid personalities. No member shall impugn the motive of any member's vote or argument.

** At Christmas time Rep. Eric Pettigrew plays Santa for the families in his district made up of grandparents and others who are raising their young relatives. This year he got Rep. Bill Hinkle to come over from Yakima to be one of his elves. Apparently the only part of the costume causing Mr. Hinkle to balk – the shoes. No pointy toes and bells for him.

REMINDER :

House Bill numbers begin with 1, 2, or 3;

Senate Bill numbers begin with 5 or 6.

Thus a bill identified as SB 6264 is the 1,264th Senate Bill introduced in the session; HB 1058 would be the 58th bill introduced in the House. More recent bills have higher numbers.

KEEP the LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR IN MIND .

The 2006 Legislative Session in Olympia runs from January 9 – March 09.

Every day – including Saturdays, Sundays, and all holidays – is counted in setting the 60-day Session. The legislature may be in session on weekends later in the Session. The “cut-off dates” below control the action on bills. Bills that fail to get action before “cut-off” usually die.

…here are the remaining critical dates in the 2006 Session:

• 2/27 – last day for bill consideration in the Fiscal Committees of the "opposite house"
• 3/03 – last day for bill to be considered on the floor of the opposite house
• 3/09 – 2006 Session adjourns for the year.

 

 

 

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