Gregoire’s tone draws applause

OLYMPIA – Speaking before a packed House of Representatives, Gov. Christine Gregoire on Tuesday called on state lawmakers to represent Washingtonians “in a way that is worthy of their struggles.”

Trying to set a tone on Day 2 of this year’s short session, Gregoire said she wants to build on Olympia’s achievements from last year.

“We need to continue improvements in our education system,” the Democratic governor said. “We need to make our families safer and more secure. We need to improve access to quality health care.”

Republicans were unimpressed, saying that Gregoire’s State of the State speech was long on generalizations and short on specifics. Among her points: that U.S. troops are selfless and brave, that children must learn better, that the budget must be “practical, prudent and responsible” and that the economy should grow.

“We need less bureaucracy,” Gregoire said at one point. “We need to stop falling behind the rest of the country.”

“It all sounds good,” Sen. Mark Schoesler said of the speech, “but there’s nothing to it.”

Still, the tone of Gregoire’s speech was markedly different from last year when she pressed on, ignoring the stone-faced Republicans who refused to even applaud politely, furious over Gregoire’s 129-vote victory over their candidate. It wasn’t until months later that a Wenatchee judge threw out Republicans’ election challenge.

This year, Gregoire drew standing ovations from both parties, particularly when she called for educational improvements. She introduced her family and two daughters – one of them sworn in Tuesday as an attorney – and she joked about recent press coverage of her family’s Pomeranian, Franz.

The governor peppered her 33-minute speech with examples of citizens she’d met in travels across the state: a Ukrainian mother of five who’s taking nursing classes in Everett, a family that runs a Walla Walla winery, and a Hood Canal couple trying to clean up pollution. All have similar values and dreams, she said. They value personal responsibility and service to others and want to provide opportunities for their families.

“Our work isn’t as tough as what people face back home,” she told lawmakers, citing the challenges of running a small business, raising a family and keeping a job. It’s government’s job, she said, to help.

Last year was a great start, she said. The state raised teachers’ salaries, put more money toward shrinking class sizes, added 8,000 more student slots at colleges, and provided health coverage to 73,000 more children than expected. Gregoire drew cheers from lawmakers when she said she’d like every Washington child to have health coverage by 2010.

“I believe health care is a basic right,” she said. “It is not a perk.”

She also repeated her calls for more early learning programs, to ensure that children are ready for kindergarten. She said the state cannot retreat from requiring performance standards for students, but that struggling children should get help and alternative testing.

Republicans agreed with Gregoire on the need for testing.

“The days of students graduating and not being able to read or fill out a job application, those days are over,” said Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Bothell. But he said that Gregoire, months after proposing a Cabinet-level early learning agency, hasn’t detailed costs, employees or regulatory powers.

“Where’s the substance?” he asked.

The governor also called for “Washington-grown” energy, like biodiesel, for cleanup of Puget Sound, and for stronger penalties for sex offenders who fail to register with authorities.

Lastly, the governor said that the state, facing a $1.4 billion surplus, should put much of that money into reserves instead of spending it.

The state’s leaders, she said, must “see ourselves through history’s lens.”