Short session, basic issues as Washington lawmakers convene

OLYMPIA – After a banner year in which they broke deadlocks on long-stalled bills, launched new programs and enjoyed a treasury flush with cash, Statehouse Democrats are looking at a more modest 2008 legislative session when it opens Monday.

“I think the goal will be to make it as boring as possible,” state Rep. Bill Fromhold, D-Vancouver, joked to a crowded Greater Spokane Inc. legislative forum last month. “And we’re pretty good at that.”

After all, it’s a short-session year: just 60 days. It’s also an off year between two-year budget cycles, so there’s not a lot of money to fight over.

Lastly, it’s an election year, with the governor, half the Senate and all of the House facing voters in November. That tends to ratchet up the rhetoric and “hero bills” that will play well with voters back home. But it also makes legislative leaders doubly cautious about political missteps.

Still, there are a few major issues that lawmakers must wrestle with, plus a long list of smaller issues they’d like to move forward.

“Our goal is to help people with those very basic checkbook issues that they are struggling with or may be concerned about,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane. House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, sounded the same note, saying the focus will be “kitchen table issues.”

As in the past three years, most of the decisions will be made by Democrats, who hold a 32-17 majority in the Senate and 63-35 in the House.

And for the embattled Republican minority, the numbers tell only part of the story. Particularly in the House of Representatives, GOP leaders endured one snafu after another last fall:

“A Tri-Cities lawmaker on the hot seat for allegedly trying to steer state business to her daughter’s tire-recycling company.

“A Vancouver-area lawmaker publicly stripped of much of his legislative powers for an alleged sexual comment to a woman after a legislative hearing.

“And the case of now-resigned Rep. Richard Curtis, a Vancouver Republican, who inadvertently made international headlines when he had sex with an alleged male prostitute in Spokane, triggering a police investigation and publicity when the man allegedly tried to blackmail him afterward.

Then, last month, moderate Republican state Rep. Fred Jarrett thinned the Republican ranks even further. He became a Democrat.

Local Republicans say they’re determined to speak up in Olympia, even if they’re mostly powerless right now.

“If we just sit there saying, ‘Our numbers are too small, so we’ll just sit idly by,’ we do a disservice to those who elected us,” said Lynn Schindler, R-Otis Orchards. “People need to know both sides of the story.”

Here’s a look at some of the issues likely to come up this session:

“Transportation. In November, central Puget Sound area voters rejected an $18 billion proposal to raise local taxes and fees to help pay for major transportation projects and public transit in some of the state’s most congested areas. But the needs remain. Lawmakers will spend much of this session trying to find a way to pay for critical work.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the state that doesn’t agree that we have a transportation crisis,” said Schindler.

“Budget. Gov. Chris Gregoire last month laid out her plan for this year’s supplemental budget: Save most of the money. She wants to set aside $1.2 billion in a state savings account and add just $234 million this year to the two-year, $33 billion state budget passed last year.

“My priority for the session is to come out fiscally responsible … with a good, prudent budget,” Gregoire said at an Associated Press forum last week.

Republicans, with an eye on Election Day, are watching closely. They’ve repeatedly criticized Democrats for letting the state budget rise 33 percent in the past three years.

“We are on track to squander the largest surplus in state history,” said state Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley.

“Family leave. Last year, Brown and Democrats proudly passed a new family leave law. Starting next year, parents who take time off from work to bond with a newborn or adopted child can get a $250-a-week stipend for up to five weeks.

But lawmakers have yet to agree how to pay the expected multimillion-dollar annual cost of those payments. Senate Democrats are leaning toward a 1-cent-an-hour “payroll charge” paid by all workers. An advisory task force tried to reach agreement on a proposal but couldn’t.

“I’m not so concerned that they didn’t come up with a consensus,” Brown said. “That’s our job.”

If lawmakers settle on the 1-cent tax, Gregoire wants to put it on the ballot.

“Housing security. You’ll hear this term a lot out of Olympia. It refers to a range of proposals, from reducing homelessness to helping middle-class homeowners avoid foreclosure. Gregoire has also proposed a $50 million expansion of the state’s Housing Trust Fund.

“WASL. This is the year that passing the reading and writing parts of the high-stakes test becomes a graduation requirement. Lawmakers in both parties are deeply split over whether the test is truly bringing the accountability and the intended results. Gregoire says she’s sticking by the requirement, but some lawmakers may still push for a delay or repeal of the test.

“Health care. Look for a lot of discussion this year, but maybe not much big action. Some lawmakers and state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler plan to propose universal health coverage plans patterned after efforts in Massachusetts and Wisconsin.

Such major proposals are likely to be an uphill fight in a short session. Other health care proposals: banning drug companies from finding out who prescribes what, and forcing the firms to disclose their marketing costs.

“At the state level, we really are looking at significant reform efforts,” said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines. “I’m not waiting for Congress.”

“Environment. After major victories last year, environmental groups are pushing a smaller agenda in 2008: more urban trees, standards for greenhouse-gas pollution, land-use planning that takes global warming into account, and making it easier for schools and food-stamp recipients to buy food from local farmers. “This is sort of a no-brainer when you think about it,” the Washington Environmental Council’s Mo McBroom says about the farm-food proposal.

“Local items. After winning a lot of state money for local projects last year, Greater Spokane Inc., as well as officials from area colleges, cities and Spokane County, are this year pushing for a smaller wish list that includes more construction money for two new local YMCA/YWCA facilities, design money for a Washington State University veterinary research building, expansion of economic development zones, job training money and progress on the North Spokane Corridor and widening Interstate 90.

“We’re not trying to create a huge insatiable appetite in a year that the state is really trying to tweak its budget,” said the group’s CEO, Rich Hadley.

“Sex offenders. Working with prosecutors, state Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, is proposing a bill to allow a judge or jury to take into account a sex offender’s prior sex crimes. Marr clearly expects some resistance from defense attorneys, but says the proposal “strikes a fair balance with victims’ rights.”

“Consumer protection. Attorney General Rob McKenna is proposing bills to reduce identity theft, protect desperate homeowners from mortgage-help “schemes” and ban companies from selling lists of cell-phone numbers.

“Open government. Several state officials, including McKenna and Gregoire, want to require government agencies to tape-record confidential “executive sessions” to deter them from making public decisions illegally behind closed doors. A judge could listen to the tape privately and rule on any allegations of impropriety.

“Property taxes. Late last year, Gregoire called a rare one-day legislative session so lawmakers could hurriedly reinstate a court-tossed 1 percent annual limit on property tax increases, unless voters approve more. Sen. Brown also spearheaded a new law allowing struggling homeowners to delay paying their property taxes.

Lawmakers vowed to revisit the issue this session, but short of a constitutional amendment, it’s unclear how much substantial relief they can provide to low- and middle-income taxpayers.

“Working Families Credit. Although probably a long shot this year, some progressives are floating a plan for a 10 percent state match to low-income people claiming the federal earned income credit. It would immediately help people, particularly poor rural families. Annual cost: $60 million.