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Eye On Olympia

Roundup…

Stuff's moving quickly, so here's a quick overview of recent developments, etc:

-The polling came back Friday on a proposed third-of-a-cent sales tax hike, and the numbers prompted an on-again, off-again Saturday, with groups and lawmakers weighing whether to press ahead with a public vote on the plan.

"We weren't sure (the numbers) were strong enough to go forward," said Cassie Sauer, who's part of a coalition of health groups (hospitals, nursing homes, a nurses union, SEIU). She wouldn't give out numbers, although she said that the number of people supporting a tax increase was higher than those opposed. And the numbers were "through the roof" as far as public disapproval of cuts to pediatric health, hospitals, nursing, etc. But many people are clearly very worried about the economy, she said.

So is the health coalition still willing to back a campaign to win public support for the temporary tax increase, which would add $1.1 billion over three years? "We're thinking about it," said Sauer.

-The Washington Policy Center's Jason Mercier has posted two video clips, less than three weeks apart, in which a) Rep. Eric Pettigrew is praising the House budget as a responsible document and b) he says that the budget will result in people dying.

-David Goldstein, at horsesass.org, reports that momentum for an income tax on high earners is faltering: "`Next year,' income tax advocates are being told. `Maybe next year.' Yeah. Right."

Goldstein argues that if ever there was a moment of opportunity for such a plan, it's now. Not next year, when most House lawmakers will be running for re-election. Writes Goldstein:

By “next year,” of course, the powers that be mean “some other year,” which really means “never.”

-The Homeowners' Bill of Rights has apparently died, for the third year in a row.

-With Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Sen. Chris Marr standing in the House wings Friday, there was some high drama Friday night involving SB 5840, which was intended to ease some of the renewable-power rules for power companies, easing the cost to ratepayers. Environmentalists say the bill largely guts Initiative 937, which set those standards.

In a rare alliance, environmentalist House Democrats joined Republicans to pass an amendment that seems likely to kill the bill: declaring all hydropower renewable, which would largely render I-937 meaningless. From the Olympian's Brad Shannon:

“We put a poison pill in it,” said Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, who voted for the amendment and then voted against the final bill.

TVW's Niki Sullivan adds this: "It might be working: The Senate rejected the House's amendments yesterday. It now heads to a conference committee."

-The Seattle Times' Jennifer Sullivan has an update on a proposal to privatize some child-welfare services. (The short form: it's now a pilot project instead of the original sweeping reform.)

-Publicola's Josh Feit has the blow-by-blow in the continuing tussle between education advocates over whether a bill redefining basic education. And here's a long statement from House education chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe, who calls the struggle over HB 2261 "one of the most difficult and bittersweet weeks in my time in our Legislature."

-Lawmakers have agreed to defer $430 million in state pension payments.

-Lastly: lawmakers have, in fact, banned novelty lighters (those that could be mistaken for a toy or that have flashing lights) out of concern that they attract children who end up starting fires with them.



Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.