Lawmaker Likes TVw Reception

Rep. John Pennington says he learned the value of publicly funded TV coverage of government when a woman stopped him in a Kelso supermarket to ask him about something she had heard about on public affairs network TVW.

“She wanted to talk to me about the property intangibles tax,” he said Tuesday with a laugh, referring to one of the more mind-bending issues to come before lawmakers last year.

Sitting in her Kelso living room, the woman had watched a hearing on the issue and had some thoughts about the proposal, later approved, to exempt business intangibles from the property tax, Pennington said.

Pennington, R-Kelso, said Tuesday that after experiences such as that one, he has no qualms backing legislation this year to continue financing TVW now that the nearly $5 million appropriated by a past legislature is about to run out.

The network carries unedited live and taped coverage not only of the Legislature and governor, but also of the state Supreme Court and of various state and local government functions. It also carries live audio of all legislative committee hearings through the Internet, and provides an audio archive of past hearings, also available through the Internet.

Its TV programming, carried via cable, reaches 2.5 million, TVW officials say.

Pennington’s view of TVW is generally shared by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Signs are that the public affairs network, led by former lawmaker and gubernatorial aide Denny Heck, will win new financing in a year when Republican lawmakers are squeezing every penny.

Heck himself isn’t so sure. “We are still young and vulnerable,” he said. “It could turn out we don’t get funding and close our doors in July.” Not likely, legislative leaders say. “This Legislature is not going to let TVW die,” said Rep. Brian Thomas, R-Renton, head of the House Finance Committee.