Bill would let cities finance candidates

Things got spun up quickly on the Senate floor Tuesday when Democrats brought up Senate Bill 5278, a bill to allow cities – if they want – to provide public money to political candidates campaigning for city office.

The idea is similar to one being floated by Gov. Chris Gregoire and various campaign-reform proponents for judicial races. The goal is to even out the impact of big-money interest groups and corporations by allowing candidates – typically in exchange for eschewing large donations – to get a public subsidy for their election bid.

“Businesses have long learned that investing in candidates is a good investment, and what public financing allows is for the actual community to invest in their candidates and to get some of that value to stay in the community,” said Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland.

Seattle has experimented with public financing of local campaigns, but the policy was torpedoed by 1992’s Initiative 134.

Republicans blasted the idea. “This is one of the worst things we could be doing for elections in this state,” said Sen. Pam Roach, D-Auburn. She said public financing would do away with the critical process of hitting up one’s community for election help and hearing about community concerns concerns in the process.

Roach also said that with no protections against fraud written into the bill, people could declare candidacy as a way of helping pay for college. “File for office, go out and buy yourself a computer, buy yourself a desk, and make sure you have all the programs,” she said.

Instead of voting on it, Democrats parked the bill temporarily.

Property taxes

The Senate’s hard-charging Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday approved SB 5187, one of four bills this year that revive an idea floated a few years ago by www.horsesass.org blogger David Goldstein and sometime political ally Steve Zemke.

The idea is to exempt the first $75,000 of a home’s value from state property taxes, as long as it’s your primary residence. The exemption would require a constituational amendment. Proponents say the change would grant some tax relief from huge increases in home values. It would also, they say, help level out the recent trend that the tax burden is increasingly falling on residential, rather than commercial properties.

Republicans on the committee were unimpressed. “All we’re doing is moving that tax,” said Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, who pointed out that business and owners of valuable homes would be left paying more.

The local delegation

Some of the legislation pushed for Eastern Washington lawmakers is on the move. Here’s a quick rundown:

“Sen. Chris Marr’s bill to dramatically expand health coverage of poor and some middle-income children in Washington passed the House and could be signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire as early as Monday.

“The Senate has passed Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown’s SJM 8012, asking the federal government not to “federalize” – i.e. mobilize as federal troops – the state’s National Guard so that the soldiers and airmen can be available for state or local emergencies. (A recent federal law amended the Federal Insurrection Act to allow the president to impose federal control without notice, consultation or consent of the governor or Congress in the event of a natural disaster, epidemic or other serious public emergency.)

“Also in the Senate, lawmakers approved Marr’s SB 5092, a widely backed bill that’s a big deal for local economic development associations. It doubles the state’s contribution to such groups, or, as one proponent put it at a hearing back in January, “puts us back into the big leagues.” Various economic development groups throughout the state now split less than $3 million every two years from contracts with the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development. This bill would boost that to about $6.5 million.