The opening day party of the 2017 Olympia legislative session was Monday.
It is a long session, 105 days, which includes writing a biennial budget. The ending date for the regular session is April 23.
In the past few sessions the Legislature has gone into special session to get a budget passed.
The single most intractable numbers knot for the lawmakers since 2012 has been the state Supreme Court ruling concerning basic education funding known as Mathew and Stephanie McCleary v. State of Washington.
While McCleary has sucked most of the air from the chambers over the past years, there are many more budget issues the lawmakers must grapple with including transportation, health and government services.
MCCLEARY
In 2012 the Supreme Court justices affirmed a King County Superior Court declaratory judgment in McCleary v. Washington writing, “The Washington Constitution imposes only one ‘paramount duty’ upon the State: ‘to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex.’”
Following the 2014 session the Supreme Court found the state to be in contempt for not adequately presenting a plan to fulfill the McCleary order. In 2015 the court followed the contempt ruling with a $100,000 per day fine that was to be placed “in a segregated account for the benefit of basic education.”
In Oct. 2016 the Supreme Court wrote of the contempt ruling and sanctions, “The State acknowledges that since the issuance of the order, the legislature has neither established a segregated account for the benefit of education nor appropriated any funds to be paid into such an account in accordance with the order. The State urges that sufficient reserve state funds exist to cover the sanctions that have accumulated to date…. But keeping an accounting of the sanctions as they accumulate does not comply with the court’s order to pay the sanction daily into an established account for the benefit of basic education.”
2017 SESSION
After the 2012 McCleary ruling, the Legislature set a timeline to be in compliance with the order by 2018. This two-year budget would be the one to show the necessary decisions for funding basic education.
Sen. Joe Fain, R, 47th District wrote in an email, “The 2017 Legislature will be defined by our ability to improve our existing education funding system that is highly inequitable for students, teachers and taxpayers. The more than 1 million students attending our state’s public schools deserve a high-quality education, but too often student success is more closely tied to a child’s ZIP code than anything else. As we continue to invest more in our schools we must also ensure that all students have the same access and opportunities to learn.”
Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed operating budget has $23.4 billion allotted for public funding, 50 percent of the $46.5 billion state budget.
Sen. Mark Mullet, D, 5th District, said a critical issue to him regarding the McCleary negotiations is allowing the school districts to keep local levy dollars in the districts.
“We can’t run schools without local levies,” Mullet said. “If there is one thing we have learned is people hate taxes. The only time they will support them is if (the taxes) are local.”
Mullet said if people can see how their taxes are used in the districts they will support local levies rather than a system where the state would collect and allot the taxes to all the districts in the state.
The senator said he would support a permanent local levy system if that would satisfy the court and he would like to see the approval of school bonds for construction a simple majority rather than a super majority of 60 percent as it is currently.
Rep. Mark Hargrove, R, 47th District was optimistic about Legislature coming to a meeting of the minds on the budget – on time.
“Because of our record of special sessions each year, I know a lot of people are pessimistic about the legislature coming to agreement on a responsible budget that adequately funds education and the other priorities of government in the allotted 105 day session,” Hargrove said. “But since we were able to increase education funding 34 percent in just the past four years without raising taxes, I believe we can get it done. I’m hopeful we can give our constituents a pleasant surprise.”
One of the new members in the House, Paul Graves, R, 5th District wrote,”Without a doubt the top issue this session will be education funding. It is critical that the legislature fully fund education while protecting taxpayers and reforming the many outdated and inefficient parts of the education system, so that every student in Washington has the chance to succeed.”
OTHER ISSUES
After education, transportation projects dominate a great deal of the clock in Olympia during any session.
Both Mullet and Graves underlined the importance of getting the $150 million I-90/state Route 18 interchange project started early.
Mullet called it his priority issue. He hopes to get the start date for the project moved from 2023 to 2018.
“I’m doing everything I can,” he said.
Graves also said his focus was on the interchange project and getting the work started sooner rather than later.
Fain said with the narrow margins in both chambers it will take bipartisan work to get legislation to the governor’s desk. He pointed to the bipartisan work in the past four years “to make historic investments in public education and enact the first college tuition cut in state history without raising taxes.”
The senator added that, “While education will get top billing as it must, it does not mean that lawmakers will not continue work on other important topics. One of the issues I’ll also be working on this year is improving treatment for mental health and drug addiction, which is a high priority for our community.”
