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Today at noon, the 2010 Legislature convened its
Special Session. The Regular Session adjourned as
scheduled after 60 days of business on Thursday, March
11; however, because the House and Senate were not able
to adopt a 2010 Supplemental Operating Budget, Gov.
Gregoire called lawmakers back to town for a Special
Session. In her
official proclamation, Gregoire requested the
Legislature to focus on the completion of the
Supplemental Operating Budget, the Supplemental Capital
Construction Budget and a job creation package.
She also stated that the Special Session should last no
more than seven days. While legislative leaders
have said they agree with the governor’s short list of
issues, the governor’s direction is not binding. Under
the provisions of the state constitution, when the
governor calls a Special Session, she cannot limit the
topics to be addressed, nor can she limit the length of
the session. The only real parameter is the
maximum length of the Special Session, which is 30 days.
This past weekend, all legislators returned home to
catch their breath and reenergize for the Special
Session. It is our understanding that leadership
and key budget-writers also left town. We have heard
that budget negotiators did communicate with one another
in the past few days, but apparently did not meet
face-to-face. We have not heard any news of any
progress in budget negotiations. The many details
of a final budget need to be agreed upon, which will
certainly take some time; however, broadly, negotiators
are hammering out a compromise on three things:
- The total amount of spending in the budget (that
is, the “size of the box”);
- The total amount of new revenue to fund the
budget; and
- The total amount of money left in an ending fund
balance.
For K-12 education, the major points of disagreement
between the House and Senate are around class sizes.
The Senate drastically reduces funding for K-4 class
size enhancements ($102.9 million) and cuts funding for
classified staffing ratios ($15.3 million). The
House, meanwhile, makes a fairly “modest” cut to K-4
staffing levels and does not impact the current
classified staffing ratios. Additionally, while
both the House and Senate provide for an increase in
Local Effort Assistance (following the final adoption of
HB 2893), the Senate reduces the current “per pupil
inflator” from four percent to one percent, while the
House maintains current funding for a four percent PPI.
The reduced funding in the PPI from four percent to one
percent “saves” the state between $7-8 million.
The proposed reduction would have a much greater impact
to local districts, however. A lower PPI would
negatively impact Local Effort Assistance funding for
some districts and would negatively impact how much some
districts could collect in additional local funds that
were previously approved by local voters.
This week, many legislative observers (and
legislators) will feel a bit of déjà vu. That is
because many bills that have passed one house or the
other will have to be re-adopted. In the
legislative process, at the end of a session, all bills
are returned to their original house at its last highest
order. As an example,
SB 6444, the 2010 Supplemental Operating Budget, was
adopted by the Senate, then an amended version of the
budget was adopted by the House. The bill was on
the Senate’s Concurrence/Dispute Calendar when the
Regular Session adjourned. SB 6444 will now have
to be re-adopted by the Senate, then sent back to the
House for its further action. Another example:
Rep. Dunshee’s “Jobs Act” (HB
2561) was adopted by the House very early in the
Regular Session, but received no action in the Senate.
At the end of the Regular Session, the bill was returned
to the House and awaits action in the House on Third
Reading (that is, it is eligible for final debate and
passage). HB 2561, a major House priority, is
expected to be one of the first bills acted upon by the
House. House and Senate leadership have publicly
agreed to limit action on the 2010 Supplemental
Operating and Capital Construction Budgets and a job
creation package; however, all bills that died upon last
Thursday’s Sine Die are automatically brought back to
life and could move at any time.
On Monday, the Senate re-adopted SB 6444,
jump-starting the process for the final adoption of a
budget. They also acted on a handful of other
previously adopted Senate bills. The House,
meanwhile, only held a “pro forma” session today (no
action) and is scheduled to resume floor action
tomorrow. Presumably, they also will quickly take
action on the budget and continue to wait for
negotiations to be completed.
As the Legislature continues to meet, there is still
an opportunity to impact the legislative process.
Be sure to continue your contacts with legislators,
reminding them of your thoughts and concerns regarding
education issues, in particular those K-12 issues being
negotiated within the Operating and Capital Budgets.
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