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May 20, 2013

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Somewhere behind closed doors in an office at the state Capitol, budget negotiators from all four caucuses are meeting. For the most part, the rest of the Legislative Building, including the House and Senate chambers, and the committee rooms across the street are empty and quiet, even though a 30-day special session began last Monday, May 13. Many of us were told to stay home because there is no budget to vote on, no action to take, and it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money for all of the lawmakers to return to Olympia just to sit around and wait for a budget agreement.

Anyone who knows me understands I’m not one to sit home and wait. I’ve been very busy back in the district with many activities and attending many events. This includes attending: the annual Armed Forces Day Luncheon in Bremerton by the Military Officers Association of America; the Navy League Armed Forces Festival Gala Dinner at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton (which is now the largest armed forces event in the nation); the Communities and Schools Spring Event in Gig Harbor, which celebrated the mentoring and tutoring programs to help children in the Peninsula schools get ahead; the Annual Kitsap County Affordable Housing Dinner; Constitution Day events in Gig Harbor, the South Kitsap School Board budget meeting;  welcoming home our men and women serving on the U.S.S. John C. Stennis; and working during the Women’s Build Day for the Bremerton Habitat for Humanity.  What I’m enjoying most is spending time meeting with citizens all across the 26th District and listening to your thoughts, concerns, comments and ideas.

Our district office has also re-opened in Port Orchard and my assistant, Debbie Austin, and I are continuing to help constituents in their dealings with the Department of Labor and Industries, Department of Social and Health Services, and other state agencies.

My mind, however, is not far from the unfinished business in Olympia. We need to reach agreement on a state operating budget that funds education first, protects our most vulnerable citizens, and provides for the public safety needs of our local communities and neighborhoods. We need to do that without unnecessary tax increases that would hurt families, employers, and jobs. That’s what the fight is about in Olympia right now – prioritizing the needs in our state operating budget while protecting jobs that feed our families, put a roof over our heads, and provide tax revenue for the budget.

Our state’s economy is still very fragile. Decisions made during the special session could mean the difference of whether our economy continues to prosper and create more jobs, or whether we send it back toward a deeper recession. I firmly believe we cannot tax ourselves into prosperity. Instead, we need to give our small businesses the ability to recover and grow. Our brightest days can be ahead so long as the Legislature doesn’t usher in the black clouds of job-killing tax increases.

I welcome your comments in this discussion. Please read on for an update of our recently-completed regular session and now, the special session.

Sincerely,

Jan Angel
State Representative
26th Legislative District

Tax increases vs. state living within its means – The reason we are in special session

Everyone seems to be asking, why didn’t the Legislature complete its business within its allotted 105 days? The primary reason is disagreement over the state operating budget. The state is expected to bring in an additional $2 billion in the next two years. That’s $2 billion MORE than the current budget cycle. The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus passed an operating budget that would put more than $1 billion in additional funding toward education – and it would do it WITHOUT tax increases. House Democrats and the governor would also put more money toward education, but to do so, they’ve proposed to increase taxes by $879 million and deplete the state’s emergency “rainy day fund.”

Here are the working people who could be affected by the House Democrats’ plan to permanently extend the business and occupation (B&O) surtax on service businesses, such as: accountants, appraisers, architects, assayers, barbers, beauty shop owners, court reporters, employment agents, engineers, refuse collectors, janitors, kennel operators, landscape architects, loan agents, music teachers, oculists, orchestra or band leaders contracting to provide musical services, real estate agents, school bus operators, stenographers, certain warehouse operators, theater operators, undertakers, veterinarians and more. This would not only affect local businesses, but would increase the cost of these services to our citizens.

House Democrats would also place a new B&O tax on travel agents, tour operators, high-tech research and development, import commerce and resellers of prescription drugs. They would repeal the non-resident sales and use tax exemptions, especially affecting our border counties, and add a sales and use tax to bottled water (the same tax that was repealed by voters in 2010). Plus, they would impose a public utility tax on truck transport of goods in state that are destined for out of state, and add new taxes for fuel.

I support a budget that prioritizes and funds education first, provides for our state’s most vulnerable citizens, and ensures our communities and neighborhoods remain safe – and provides for those needs without increasing taxes. Our state’s economy remains too fragile to boost taxes on small businesses and families. The Senate budget has shown we can have a responsible budget that supports education without inflicting job-killing tax increases on those who can least afford it.

• See the Moore Survey and what Washington citizens are saying about tax increases
• Read what I told the Port Orchard Independent about the proposed state operating budgets

Today, May 20 – An important date for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Two events of significance for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge are scheduled for today.

First, the governor signed the state transportation budget bill this afternoon. This is significant because it contains a provision that directs a work group to be convened to study refinance options for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Senate Bill 5024 states: “The Joint Transportation Committee shall convene a work group to identify and evaluate internal refinance opportunities for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The study must include a staff work group, including staff from the Office of Financial Management, the Transportation Commission, the Department of Transportation, the Office of the State Treasurer, and the legislative transportation committees. The Joint Transportation Committee shall issue a report of its findings to the House of Representatives and the Senate Transportation Committees by Dec. 31, 2013.”

By investigating refinancing options, it could open the possibility to prevent significant increases in tolls for the bridge. As you may be aware, I worked throughout the legislative session to find options to prevent toll increases, including several bills and amendments that would have allowed selling the bridge naming rights, extending financing, and returning toll-setting authority to the Legislature. Unfortunately, those proposals were rebuffed by the House majority party. However, I was able to successfully weave this refinancing study provision into the state transportation budget. (Read my press release on this provision.)

The second event of importance today is a final public hearing in Gig Harbor by the Washington State Transportation Commission, which is expected to vote this evening on new toll rates for the Narrows Bridge. Under the commission’s proposal, toll rates would increase by 25 cents, beginning July 1, which would bring the price to $4.25 for electronic (“Good to Go”) tolling, $5.25 at the toll-booth, and $6.25 for pay-by-mail. The tolls would increase by another 25 cents on July 1, 2014.

Your input is vital! The meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gig Harbor Civic Center, 3510 Grandview Street, in Gig Harbor. (Read the press release.)

People are still struggling in this fragile economy. I remain very concerned about toll increases and how they would affect families, workers and employers. That’s why I am looking for other options to keep those rates low.

Transportation budget keeps ferries whole

One of the reasons I supported the 2013-15 transportation budget (Senate Bill 5024) is because of its support for our state ferries. There were no reductions in ferry runs, which is important for our local commuters. The budget provides $143.6 million for completion of two new 144-car ferries (both currently under construction). It provides $35 million to fund ferry vessel fuel costs and $11.5 million to increase crew levels mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Status of my legislation

I’m very pleased the governor signed two of my prime-sponsored bills into law:

House Bill 1056 would allow a corporate officer, especially that of a very small business, to collect unemployment benefits if that officer’s wages with the corporation are less than 25 percent of his or her total wages. This bill was a result of a constituent coming to me, having her own small business of which she was the corporate officer of same.  This business was not making enough to support her, so she set it aside and went to work for someone else.  She was then laid off, and because she was a “corporate officer” of a corporation (even if it was just her), she could not claim unemployment. This was an unexpected error in legislation passed about two decades ago. It was discovered when the state’s economy began to decline. This bill corrects that error in the law.

House Bill 1074 would increase the timeline for final plat approval submissions from nine years to 10 years for qualifying plats. This measure will give developers additional time to finance and complete the platting process. It will help to create and retain jobs in our local communities.

Click here to read about all of the bills I introduced during the 2013 session and their status.

State Representative Jan Angel
26th Legislative District

E-mail: jan.angel@leg.wa.gov
Web site: www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/angel

Olympia Office (January-April)
434 John L. O’Brien Building – P.O. Box 40600 | Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7964 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000

District Office (May-December)
1700 SE Mile Hill Drive, Suite 236 (South Kitsap Towne Square Mall – Second floor)
Port Orchard, WA 98366
(360) 443-2409

 

Steve O’Ban Home    |   About Steve    |    Steve’s Newsroom    |    Sponsored Bills    |    28th Legislative District Map

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The special legislative session began May 13 and, up to now, only budget negotiators have been in town, with the exception of a couple hours of Senate work on public safety issues.

In this brief legislative update, I am going to remove the “Olympia speak” out of what you read in the media about the special session and explain what it is and how it impacts you.

Special session: What is it and what does it mean to you?

The 30-day special session of the Legislature began May 13. A special session can be called by a vote of the Legislature or ordered by the governor when the Legislature has not finished its business within the constitutionally allotted timeframe, which was 105 days this year. In the case of this special session, it was called by the governor. The special session lasts 30 consecutive days and is typically very narrowly focused; in this case we are tasked with working on the state operating and capital budgets.

Currently, we are in what is called a “rolling session.” This means that only those legislators involved in the budget process and are part of negotiations are in Olympia. This has a two-fold benefit to taxpayers: First, it saves taxpayers a lot of money. And, second, it ensures that those involved in the budget negotiations stay on track.

So, what is going on during the special session right now? Budget negotiations. Getting everyone to the table without the distractions of other policy issues and concentrating on the budget is critical to getting it done. When a deal is struck, the rest of the lawmakers will be called to Olympia to take part in public hearings and vote on the final budget proposal.

Budget discussions during the regular session

To recap, during the scheduled 105-day regular session, which ended April 28, a 2013-15 budget compromise was not reached. The governor and House Democrats want to add roughly $1.3 billion in new and higher taxes to pay for their increased spending plans. The bipartisan Senate Majority Coalition Caucus presented a budget balanced within expected tax collections, which are up $2 billion from the 2011-13 budget cycle, while spending an additional $1 billion on K-12 education, without raising taxes.

In short, the Senate budget would increase spending 6.6 percent and applies $1 billion more to K-12 education, without raising taxes on job-creators. The House Democrats’ and governor’s budget proposals increase spending by 10 percent to use on largely non-education related expenditures that would require $1.3 billion in new and higher taxes.

The philosophical division on the budget, in my view, boils down to this: Do we fund education first and live within our means? Or, do we fund everything else first and then hold out K-12 education as a reason to increase taxes?

This budget impasse potentially impacts you in several ways: Tax increases on small businesses, bottled water (rejected by voters when they tried this in 2010), and other middle-class necessities create uncertainty in the business community, which only serves to stall hiring and jeopardize this fragile economic recovery. Tax increases, when Pierce County has a higher unemployment rate than the state average, is the wrong approach.

In a recent poll by Moore Information, 61 percent of voters do not support tax increases. You can read an article and see the poll results here.

Transportation

We all know that our roads and highways are key to our economy and personal mobility. Maintaining and building new roads is one of the core functions of government. You may have heard that there is a proposal to raise the gas tax an additional 10 cents per gallon to finance new road and highway projects, including the completion of SR 167 link to the Port of Tacoma. Many business leaders believe the completion of SR 167 is important to keep port jobs here and remain competitive with other ports in the U.S. Others, including myself, want SR 167 completed but are concerned that the Washington State Department of Transportation has not spent our gas tax dollars carefully. We are reluctant to give this agency an additional $9.5 billion until fundamental reforms have been enacted.

Let me know what you think about the gas tax increase proposal to pay for SR 167 and other transportation projects, and the budget negotiations and tax proposals, or anything else that is on your mind. I am here to be your voice in the Legislature.

Sincerely,

Steve O’Ban

State Representative Steve O’Ban
28th Legislative District

E-mail: steve.oban@leg.wa.gov
Web site: www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/oban

424 John L. O’Brien Building – P.O. Box 40600 | Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7890 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000

 

Susan Fagan Home    |   About Susan    |    Susan’s Newsroom    |    Sponsored Bills    |    9th Legislative District Map

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The special legislative session is now underway having started Monday, May 13. Up to now, only budget negotiators have been meeting, with the exception of a couple hours of Senate work on public safety issues. I have been both in district and back in Olympia for a couple of meetings regarding charter schools and an endangered species listing in our district.

I have also been traveling throughout the 9th District. My goal has always been to listen to you – I want to hear what you think about new and higher taxes, the budget, transportation issues and road tax package proposal, and K-12 education.

Below is a brief update on the status of budget negotiations and a little bit about my meetings around the 9th District and in Olympia.

Please contact me with questions or ideas!

In service to you,

Susan Fagan

Special session, budget status

According to all reports, negotiations are ongoing, but the debate over whether to raise taxes by roughly $1.3 billion is the sticking point. The bipartisan Senate coalition has a budget that balances within current tax collections, which are up $2 billion over the 2011-13 budget, and the governor’s plan and House Democrats’ budget relies on an additional tax hike of roughly $1.3 billion to match their spending.

One positive note is that the governor appears to have backed away from his stance that a list of controversial policy bills, which have nothing to do with the state operating budget, must be passed during the special session. This is good news and I hope leads us to a bipartisan compromise on the 2013-15 state operating budget that does not further burden struggling Washingtonians with new and higher taxes.

More details to come as I have them.

Jobs, economy

While there were many great job creation policies introduced by House Republican and bipartisan Senate Majority Coalition members, the majority of them have stalled in the House. I wish we had done more this year because I fear that without giving people more opportunities to find work, we will continue to see our economy limp along.

Here are few recent headlines that illustrate the need for solid policies that encourage businesses to stay and expand in Washington state:

• Boeing to shift 600 information-technology jobs to South Carolina (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Labor-backed Initiative at SeaTac targets airport, hotels (Washington State Wire)
• COLUMN: Is our jobless rate high or low? There’s a stat for that (Peter Callaghan/The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Hold off on celebration: Jobless rate has dropped, but economy still faces challenges (The Columbian)

Potential endangered species identified in Franklin County

At the invitation of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, I attended a Franklin County Commissioners’ meeting in Pasco Tuesday. The topic of discussion was a United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposal to designate the White Bluffs Bladderpod, a yellow-flowering plant, as endangered. The agency says the plant grows exclusively on the White Bluffs area overlooking the Columbia River in western Franklin County.

Witness after witness expressed concern the USFWS didn’t alert landowners and asked that a 60- to 90-day comment period be opened so their views can be made known through an official process and considered by the federal agency. The USFWS proposal identifies 2,861 acres in Franklin County as critical habitat, including 419 acres of private property. One of the witnesses, Sally Cottrell, talked about her family who lives and has farmed above the White Bluffs area for four generations. She was critical of USFWS for using an old map to designate critical habitat and said the agency promised not to include farmland.

Private landowners are concerned that the management and use of their property could be diminished, and in some cases eliminated altogether, with this designation. They want to make sure the USFWS knows what kind of impact it could have on them, their operations and their private property rights.

Ken Berg, USFWS’s state manager from Lacey, took comments and said he would provide an answer to the commissioners’ request by Monday, May 20. The commissioners voted Tuesday to hire outside counsel to review the case. Congressman Doc Hastings has written a letter to the director of the USFWS requesting that a comment period be reopened, as well. You can read his e-mail update on this issue and the letter he sent to the USFWS on his Web site by clicking here.

Charter school rulemaking progresses

Jack Archer, State Board of Education’s senior policy analyst, briefed me this week on the status of the implementation of Washington’s charter school initiative. Jack told me it’s hard to find a state that “authorizes” charter schools in quite the same manner that Washington will under the new law. In most states, there are a multitude of entities that do so – school boards, universities, cities, counties, nonprofit foundations, etc.  It varies widely by state. In Washington, the law created two eligible authorizers: The Washington Charter School Commission for schools located anywhere in the state; and a school district board of directors, with approval from the State Board of Education, for schools located within the district’s own boundaries.

The rulemaking process is ongoing, Jack said, and because that process has many steps each with public review, Washington will not likely be ready to initiate a charter school before the 2014-2015 school year. Washington is the 42nd state to allow for charter schools. 

To learn more about charter schools in Washington and the progress being made, here are some Web sites that can assist you:

• Washington State Board of Education Charter School site: http://sbe.wa.gov/charters.php (see Frequently Asked Questions)
• Stanford research on charter school performance: http://credo.stanford.edu/index.html
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers: http://www.qualitycharters.org/
• National Alliance for Public Charter Schools: http://www.publiccharters.org/law/

State Representative Susan Fagan
9th Legislative District

E-mail: susan.fagan@leg.wa.gov
Web site: www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/fagan

406 John L. O’Brien Building – P.O. Box 40600 | Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7942 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000