| WSSDA Daily Legislative Update – 2008
Session
REPORT FOR JANUARY
16
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| On
Tuesday evening, Gov. Gregoire presented her annual State of the State
Address to Senators and Representatives gathered in a Joint Session of
the Legislature. The annual address usually sets the stage for the
Legislative Session and allows the governor to clearly articulate
priorities. In Gregoire’s 2007 address, she boldly declared, “My
number one priority this session is education. I ask you to join me
in addressing this priority. The best way to grow our economy and
secure a bright future for our children is to make significant
investments in a renewed education system right now. We must change
our education system and invest in it now.” There’s an old saying:
“That was then; this is now.” Well, last night the governor had the
opportunity to clearly articulate her vision and her priorities for
the 2008 session . . . and education did not appear to be too high on
the list. In a speech of over 4,700 words, “education” or “schools”
only appear a handful of times. And the few times education was
mentioned, it was in the past tense, for example: “We’ve helped
thousands more children attend preschool and all-day kindergarten…”;
“We’ve invested in teacher-excellence…”. There was no discussion last
night about her K-12 education priorities for 2008, which actually
does match her 2008 K-12 Supplemental Operating Budget request — a
request that includes a $6.3 million reduction in the originally
enacted 2007-09 K-12 budget. Now it’s the Legislature’s turn to
respond.
This morning, the
Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee held a public
hearing on SB 6314. Currently, a portion of lottery revenues
are being used to pay off bonds on the Mariner’s stadium. SB 6314
would transfer those revenues to an arts education program when the
stadium bonds are paid off. The Committee also held a public hearing
on several gubernatorial appointments. Among them was Lori Blanchard,
Montesano school director, who was recently appointed by the governor
to serve as the parent representative on the Professional Educator
Standards Board.
This afternoon,
the House Appropriations Committee continued a public hearing on Gov.
Gregoire’s 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget. Later this evening, the
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education will be holding a work
session and public hearing on the K-12 portion of the Supplemental
Budget. We’ll report on this hearing in tomorrow’s Update. |
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Legislative Reports are prepared by WSSDA's Governmental Relations staff team:
Dan Steele (360/252-3010) and
Sheila Chard (360/252-3011). If
you have questions, comments, or concerns, please contact us.
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