Lawmakers To Peer Over Cascades E. Washington Issues Likely To Get More Scrutiny, Leaders Say

Like a bunch of farmers when one crop outperforms the rest, legislative leaders vow this year to improve the state’s bounty outside financially fertile Puget Sound.

From economic development to rural health care to prison reform, legislators convening a 105-day session Monday say they’ll be working the far fields to bridge the gap between booming Seattle and the rest of the state.

“Interstate 5 can’t become a line that separates rich from poor,” said Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach.

But in a year when power is divided, money is tight and much of Eastern Washington’s Republican cluster sits on the minority bench in the Senate, don’t expect dramatic reform.

In 1999, moderation is the mantra as lawmakers trumpet “coffee shop” issues, “kitchen table” issues, and “what-people-think-about-when-they-lay-awake-in-bed” issues.

“I don’t see people coming in with grandiose schemes,” said Spokane Sen. Lisa Brown, the region’s only Democratic committee chair. “People are being realistic. It’s a sign of the times.”

And the times are dominated by the Legislature’s political structure, particularly in the House.

That chamber is so evenly divided that the five Eastern Washington members who chair committees - all Republicans - will have to share the duty with Democrats from outside the region. With the Senate and governor’s office held by Democrats, House Republicans become a traffic light with no green bulb.

“We’ll have the ability to stop things, or let things pass,” said Rep. Brian Thomas, R-Renton. “We just won’t have the ability to make things go.”

As a result, lawmakers and Gov. Gary Locke have kept their goals modest.

In the last budget-writing year of the millennium, both parties hope to build and repair some highways, give teachers a raise and keep control of the state’s salmon from Uncle Sam.

That, Democrats said, means protecting waterways.

This year, “water and fish are almost the same word,” said Sen. Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco, chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee.

The two parties and the governor share some ideas to draw new technology businesses to struggling communities by improving infrastructure like roads and sewers. They agree they won’t burst the state’s voter-approved spending cap.

Then it gets complicated.

Locke wants to boost college enrollment with scholarships for middle-income families and by adding teachers and classrooms.

He also wants to dedicate $150 million from a tobacco settlement to an anti-smoking endowment and boost teacher salaries 4 percent in two years.

Democratic lawmakers propose bailing out a state health plan for the working poor that’s now operating in the red, and restructuring insurance for people who aren’t covered by their employers.

Senate Republicans, left in the role of sniper, want more money spent raising the low end of teachers’ salaries and are urging a phase-out of the state’s share of property taxes - roughly one-third of a homeowner’s bill.

Democrats and the governor already have panned that idea, but House Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, offered an ominous warning.

“If the public doesn’t believe we’re doing the job on taxes, the public will use the initiative process,” he said. “We have to be very, very responsive.”

And those are just the statewide issues.

Two Spokane House Republicans propose ending the flood of ex-convicts to Spokane County by returning those released from prison to the county where they were convicted. Locke, meanwhile, proposes boosting monitoring of ex-prisoners.

All three legislators from northeast Washington’s 7th District propose dumping a voter-approved ban on hunting cougars with hound dogs.

Rep. Jeff Gombosky, D-Spokane, hopes to persuade rural Republicans in Eastern Washington to let Spokane appoint a member to an air-quality advisory board with influence on grass-burning issues.

Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane, has said he would look for long-term financing for a bicycle safety bill he helped pass last year.

And the proposed building projects are plenty: $19 million for a Cheney Cowles Museum reconstruction; $36 million for a Washington State University Health Services building; money for a similar building for Spokane Community College and a child-care center at Eastern Washington University; authority to raise money to expand Spokane’s convention center.

And “finally, the north-south freeway is going to happen,” predicted West, who recalled it being an issue when he ran for the Spokane City Council nearly 20 years ago.

Through it all, budget writers warn that a March forecast likely will show the state has less to spend than they had hoped.

That prompted Snyder to predict any final spending package will be a sort of “hold-the-nose budget” that’s is slightly unsatisfying to all.

HIGHLIGHTS MAJOR ISSUES FOR 1999 SESSION 1. Sharing the wealth Expanding Puget Sound’s booming economy statewide 2. Legislative gridlock With the House equally divided and the Senate barely held by Democrats, how much will get done? 3. Transportation Over the next six years, legislators will divvy up $2.4 billion for highway projects 4. Education Locke pushes college scholarships, teacher salary increase 5. Eastern Washington projects $19 million for a Cheney Cowles Museum reconstruction; $36 million for WSU construction in Spokane