Locke Pays First Visit To Legislative Panel Governor Urges Education Committee To Back Schools Plan
For the first time since taking office, Gov. Gary Locke on Thursday made the short walk from the Capitol to a hearing room to testify before a legislative committee on behalf of one of his own proposals.
Locke told the Senate Education Committee his $1billion plan to let school districts keep a greater share of the state’s property tax to be used to reduce class sizes was a major step toward making sure “no child is left behind.”
“Kids will get more individualized attention, and that’s the bottom line,” Locke told committee members.
It was an odd first for a governor who has been accused in the past - even by some supporters - of hoarding political capital. He made his pitch before a committee of legislators who all voted last week in favor of a property tax cut that ultimately could make his education plan impossible.
Still, the senators, particularly those in his own party, greeted Locke’s testimony with reverential enthusiasm.
“This is a great day for education,” said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Education Committee chairwoman. “I think it reflects on how very important this issue has been to him.”
Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, told Locke she’d followed his career and then added, “I would like to say this is your finest hour. When you talk about the kids … you blossom.”
Even Republicans complimented the governor for making the rare personal visit, but were quick to raise questions about his proposal.
“I think it speaks a lot about what you believe you’re doing here,” said Sen. Joseph Zarelli, R-Vancouver, before asking the governor about the apparent “collision course” between property tax cuts and his new education initiative.
Locke’s response: “I think it’s early in the session, and I hope we can do both of these.”
Locke’s class-size proposal would come in the form of a tax credit to local school districts geared toward lowering class sizes in grades kindergarten through six. It’s money that otherwise would likely have wound up as part of the state’s surplus.
But that’s the same source the Senate tapped in passing a $200 per home property tax credit last week that would cost the state about $588million a year. At the time, Sen. Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco, that body’s chief budget writer, said it would eliminate the possibility of Locke’s education tax credit.
Loveland’s tax cut faces uncertainty in the House, where Republicans contend it doesn’t go far enough and Democrats suggest it might be too costly. And because the tax cut requires a constitutional amendment, it would need votes from two-thirds of a House now split evenly between the parties.
Senate Minority Leader Jim West, R-Spokane, said he suspected Locke’s willingness to testify in the last year of his term on behalf of a struggling initiative was part of new overall budget strategy. Rather than propose a conservative budget, as he did last year, West said he believed Locke was aiming high, expecting to have to negotiate downward as the session wears on.
“He’s laid out expectations that an experienced person should realize can’t be achieved,” West said. “He can’t expect to get all the things he’s asking for, though I’m sure he’d like to.”