Tackling some chores, visitations closer to home

Little by little I’m working off the backlog of duties around the farm that was one of the consequences of the Legislature’s overtime sessions – at least I like to think I’m catching up on things – and that’s allowed time for getting out and about our legislative district.

A past weekend’s trip to the St. John community fair/stock show and Asotin County fair were, as I anticipated, time well spent. At St. John, I had a great conversation with a fairgoer about the work I do on behalf of conservation districts, and reconnected with two young people whom I had sponsored as pages in the Senate. In Asotin, one of the superintendents showed me around as we talked about my effort to head off the proposed elimination of funding for fairs (a successful effort, I’m glad to report).

I was on a tractor seat last Tuesday afternoon, but earlier that day I’d gone over to Rosalia for the “commemoration” (not quite a ground-breaking) of the big “Palouse Wind” wind-turbine project coming to the area between there and Oakesdale.

I offered a few remarks about some of the project’s attributes – the partnership with local utility Avista, how it’s the lowest-cost wind power contract in the U.S., the benefits it offers in terms of broadening the tax base for schools and creating jobs in the area, and so on. As a conservation advocate, I’m also impressed with the way the developers plan to minimize soil erosion.

Thursday, I left the farm again, this time to loop through Colfax and Cheney to participate in National Day of Prayer observances, at noon and 7 p.m. respectively. It made for a long but inspiring day. This weekend, I’m happy to report, the plan is to remove both the farmer and legislator hats for a bit; Dad and I are going to take to the water for the first time this year and see if it’s really true what the bumper stickers say – that “the worst day fishing is better than the best day working.”

Reforms, budget signed – and already, tax talk?

Traditionally the operating-budget bill is the final bill signed by the governor after each session, and that held true this year.

She did the honors last Wednesday afternoon after signing 14 other measures, three of which are the major state-government reforms adopted this year. Because she is not seeking another term in office, they were the last bills she will sign as governor.

So instead I’ll weigh in on what Gov. Gregoire said to the assembled news reporters afterward – specifically in response to questions about future funding for education, and whether she will call for a revenue package (that’s typically code for “tax increase”) later this year, in proposing a new budget for the next two years.

Gregoire began her reply by explaining the state is obligated to put an additional $1 billion for basic education into the 2013-15 budget that will be developed next year (this is due to a bill that was passed in 2009 without the benefit of a frank legislative discussion of the price tag).

The Legislature isn’t going to cut a billion dollars in other spending to meet that commitment, the governor continued, nor is it realistic to believe Washington’s economy will turn around soon enough to generate those billion dollars through the state’s existing tax structure.

After dancing around the question a little longer with generalities such as “we have to have a long-term, sustainable source of funding” (for K-12 schools), Gregoire finally tipped her hand with this declaration: “The state of Washington has got to step up and understand we cannot meet our constitutional mandate on K-12 in the McCleary case (referring to the state Supreme Court’s January ruling that legislators must appropriate more for basic education), our moral mandate for early learning and our economic mandate for higher education if we are not going to look at new revenue.”

I won’t join the governor in speculating about what the next Legislature, which will be seated in January, might do about spending, nor am I going to play economic forecaster. But even though Gregoire denied thinking about whether her final (as “lame duck” governor) budget proposal will include a revenue package, I fully expect she will make yet another call for a massive set of tax hikes on her way out the door.

Looking out for Main Street…still!

Last Monday, the National Federation of Independent Business announced that, based on certain votes I took during the Legislature’s 2011-12 term, I had again earned its Guardian of Small Business award.

NFIB/Washington looked at legislation concerning contractors, health insurance, industrial insurance and other employer-related proposals. My voting record on those measures translated to a 100-percent pro-small business rating.

As I indicated in last week’s commentary, I go into each legislative session looking to create economic opportunities. That typically means supporting ideas that make sense for our independent employers and opposing proposals that make it more difficult and costly to do business in our state.

Without looking back through the files, I believe my continued support for policies that protect and encourage small businesses – like those on every Main Street in Washington – has been recognized by the NFIB at the end of each two-year term since I became a lawmaker. I don’t seek the awards, but it is nice to be reminded that I’m doing my part to keep people working in our state.

Other news of interest

• So long, Senator Brown – One of Washington’s other longtime legislators, Sen. Lisa Brown, announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election to the 3rd Legislative District (downtown Spokane) Senate seat. We served together in the House of Representatives before she became a senator in 1996, so I’ve known Senator Brown for a long time. Although our political philosophies differ, and as recently as a month ago I was questioning her public attempt to make the Senate Democratic Caucus seem relevant following the formation of our bipartisan Senate coalition, her dedication to Spokane and the surrounding area cannot be questioned. I wish her the best going forward.

What committee was that?

As mentioned above, outgoing Gov. Gregoire gets to propose one more budget at the end of this year–which will be after her successor, has been elected. However, the governor’s parting gifts to the Legislature and taxpayers don’t end there, according to the Washington Policy Center. As the WPC put it:

“When it comes to determining the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with state employee unions, there is no such thing as a lame duck Governor in Washington. Even though Governor Gregoire is not running for re-election and come January 2013 we’ll have either Governor Inslee or McKenna at the helm, Gregoire will finalize the state’s 2013-15 CBAs by Oct. 1 of this year - a month before the next Governor is chosen. Based on the 2002 law that granted state employee unions exclusive bargaining rights with the Governor, a CBA is to be submitted to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) by October 1.”

The WPC notes that the state’s 2002 collective-bargaining law requires Gregoire to talk with the “Joint Select Committee on Employee Relations” but that this committee “has never met and thus not been consulted by the Governor on the CBAs.” I had to do some poking around to learn anything about this committee, but yes, it does exist.

Now the question is whether she will follow the part of the law that says she “must consult” it. Considering the Legislature is saddled with appropriating the money to uphold whatever labor agreements the governor makes, it would be nice if lawmakers had some measure of influence on the position Gregoire takes at the bargaining table over these next few months.

Commentary is about to take a break

Under state law, legislators whose seats are up for election (which includes mine this year) have to comply with restrictions on how they use public resources to communicate with constituents. So next week’s commentary will be my last until after the November election.

The law doesn’t restrict me from taking phone calls or receiving letters or responding to individual e-mails, so please keep those coming!