Is state budget deal '2 minutes' from agreement? Time will tell
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The state Senate managed to pass two more reform bills
Saturday, and a budget deal is now said to be just “two minutes” from
agreement.
But lawmakers still must race if they want to finish by midnight Tuesday and avoid going into a second special session for the fourth time in a decade.
There still are questions about whether Senate Republicans, who are demanding passage of reform bills before they vote on the budget, have votes for their ideas in the House.
But lawmakers still must race if they want to finish by midnight Tuesday and avoid going into a second special session for the fourth time in a decade.
There still are questions about whether Senate Republicans, who are demanding passage of reform bills before they vote on the budget, have votes for their ideas in the House.
“I’m a farmer and I’m a Republican; I’ve got to be an
optimist,” said Sen. Mark Schoesler, the GOP’s floor leader, as he
headed out the door for Ritzville for the Easter holiday.
“We certainly have structurally gotten ourselves pretty close – as far as mechanically moving stuff through” the process, Senate Ways and Means chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said of the prospect of finishing by Tuesday night. “We have some agreements that have to be struck. Hopefully we can get there.”
Murray said talks on a $31.1 billion supplemental operating budget, which passed the full House on Thursday, were now within a “two-minute” conversation of being done.
The sticking points are three reforms that the Republican-led coalition in the Senate wants passed. Until members get their way, they are refusing to vote on the budget or on a $1 billion construction budget that is projected to create more than 20,000 jobs statewide in the coming construction season.
Senate Democrats don’t have the votes to get around them.
The reforms include a controversial pension proposal from Republican Sen. Joseph Zarelli of Ritzville. It would repeal early-retirement incentives for new state employees after July 1 – shaving some $1.2 billion in costs from the state’s general fund over 25 years and saving $1.5 billion for local governments.
Zarelli contends the state cannot afford the retirements, and he said it is unfair that some employees can retire before age 65 at full benefits – in effect drawing down resources for everyone.
But Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser of Thurston County and others say at least half of the new employees coming into the system after July 1 would be public school teachers. Fraser said some of the incentives were adopted in 2000 to encourage older K-12 teachers to retire and that the change would reduce the appeal of public service overall.
Another reform deals with health care benefits for employees in the K-12 school system. Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens, it would require all employees to contribute some payment to their health plans, and it is meant to make coverage more affordable – and equal – for bus drivers, teachers, custodians and administrators.
Hobbs’ bill brings family-coverage costs within a 3-to-1 ratio of costs for covering a single adult. That would mirror the system for state employees.
The reform would force the first real accounting for the roughly $1 billion in taxpayer money spent on K-12 health care. Hobbs says. Districts that failed to comply would see their workers moved automatically into the system that now serves state employees.
A third reform is the balanced-budget bill pushed by Democratic Sen. Jim Kastama of Puyallup. Kastama said two-year budgets should not add costs that the state cannot afford to pay in future years, and that his approach would require the state to live within the four-year revenues identified in the latest state forecasts.
But Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said Arun Raha warned in a letter to the Governor’s Office that a four-year forecast can vary wildly. The letter from Raha, who until recently was the state revenue forecaster, says it would be “unwise” to base a budget on four-year numbers.
Despite those objections, both the insurance and balanced-budget bills passed in the Senate. The Hobbs bill passed on a healthy 29-17 vote and the Kastama bill 30-16.
But on the pensions, Zarelli lacked 25 votes and asked to delay action until Monday.
Three members of his coalition were absent: Senate Republican leader Mike Hewitt, who is recuperating from major surgery; Democratic Sen. Rodney Tom, who was out of state with his family; and Republican Sen. Bob Morton, a minister who had commitments to his church in Eastern Washington.
It remains to be seen how far the House leadership will bend to meet demands of the Senate coalition’s three Democrats and 22 Republicans. The House is a much more liberal body than the Senate, and Democrats hold a 56-42 majority there.
Democratic leaders including House Speaker Frank Chopp, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan and House Ways and Means chairman Ross Hunter all were reported working at the Capitol on Saturday, and there were meetings and ongoing conversations with the Governor’s Office.
But Sullivan, the designated spokesman for the caucus, did not reply to requests for comment.
“I think there is going to be a lot of discussion between now and Monday,” said Jim Justin, legislative director for Gov. Chris Gregoire.
The governor plans to be in Seattle with her family Sunday, helping to cook an Easter breakfast for a charity. Justin said she and legislative leaders likely would stay in touch by phone – although no negotiations are scheduled until Monday morning.
“We’re still working to get things done by Tuesday midnight. It’s getting tougher and tougher, but we’re not giving up,” he said. “The (two) bills that left the Senate floor are going to be really tough sells in the House. We haven’t seen a pension bill come off the Senate floor yet. We’re not sure what’s going to happen there yet.”
Gregoire said Friday she was focused on getting a package agreement to end the special session and had thought about calling a second one.
She did call two special sessions last year – one last spring that led to an unusually bipartisan budget and another that went 17 days in December. The latter was a first step toward whittling down a $2 billion budget gap, which now stands at about $600 million – or $1 billion with a reserve.
SECOND – AND THIRD – SPECIAL SESSIONSHAVE HAPPENED BEFORE
Sunday marks the 28th day of the special legislative session that began March 12 and the 88th day this year that the Legislature has been in session. The 30-day special session followed a regular session that went 60 days and ended March 8.
History shows special sessions are common – and are more apt to occur when the Legislature’s control is split between the parties or when economic times are tough.
This year, Democrats control the state House 56-42, but a Republican-led coalition that includes three Democrats seized control of the Senate on March 2 and is demanding passage of reforms before it votes on a budget closing a budget deficit.
Since 1981, lawmakers have met for two or more special sessions in 12 separate years and for three sessions in five separate years. That includes the three sessions in 2001 and three in 2003. The numbers are taken from the Legislature’s publication “Members of the Legislature, 1889-2011.”
The House was in its third year of a touchy 49-49 tie in 2001 when lawmakers still were in session in July. The long sessions were held in search of a bipartisan agreement on gas-tax increase.
In 2003, Republicans controlled the Senate and Democrats had the House. Lawmakers battled over a budget as well as unemployment insurance and tax incentives meant to lure Boeing’s next-generation jet-assembly plant to Washington.
The most time spent in legislative session in a single year appears to be 163 days – achieved in 1963 and again in 2001. Lawmakers spent 150 days in session in 2011– including the 17-day session on the budget held between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Before the Legislature began meeting yearly in 1979, the longest Legislature tallied 229 days over two years, in 1975-76, when Republican Dan Evans was governor and the state was emerging from a recession.
Costs for the 2012 special session are expected to land as high as $125,000 for the Senate and no more than $100,000 for the House. Those are estimates provided by the House Chief Clerk’s Office and secretary of the Senate. They were based on individual lawmakers’ claims for reimbursement of expenses – they are allotted $90 per day – plus some anticipated travel costs and temporary staffing including security officers.
Costs have been kept down by keeping rank-and-file members at home, with only leaders and negotiators at the Capitol.
Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
bshannon@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/politicsblog
“We certainly have structurally gotten ourselves pretty close – as far as mechanically moving stuff through” the process, Senate Ways and Means chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said of the prospect of finishing by Tuesday night. “We have some agreements that have to be struck. Hopefully we can get there.”
Murray said talks on a $31.1 billion supplemental operating budget, which passed the full House on Thursday, were now within a “two-minute” conversation of being done.
The sticking points are three reforms that the Republican-led coalition in the Senate wants passed. Until members get their way, they are refusing to vote on the budget or on a $1 billion construction budget that is projected to create more than 20,000 jobs statewide in the coming construction season.
Senate Democrats don’t have the votes to get around them.
The reforms include a controversial pension proposal from Republican Sen. Joseph Zarelli of Ritzville. It would repeal early-retirement incentives for new state employees after July 1 – shaving some $1.2 billion in costs from the state’s general fund over 25 years and saving $1.5 billion for local governments.
Zarelli contends the state cannot afford the retirements, and he said it is unfair that some employees can retire before age 65 at full benefits – in effect drawing down resources for everyone.
But Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser of Thurston County and others say at least half of the new employees coming into the system after July 1 would be public school teachers. Fraser said some of the incentives were adopted in 2000 to encourage older K-12 teachers to retire and that the change would reduce the appeal of public service overall.
Another reform deals with health care benefits for employees in the K-12 school system. Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens, it would require all employees to contribute some payment to their health plans, and it is meant to make coverage more affordable – and equal – for bus drivers, teachers, custodians and administrators.
Hobbs’ bill brings family-coverage costs within a 3-to-1 ratio of costs for covering a single adult. That would mirror the system for state employees.
The reform would force the first real accounting for the roughly $1 billion in taxpayer money spent on K-12 health care. Hobbs says. Districts that failed to comply would see their workers moved automatically into the system that now serves state employees.
A third reform is the balanced-budget bill pushed by Democratic Sen. Jim Kastama of Puyallup. Kastama said two-year budgets should not add costs that the state cannot afford to pay in future years, and that his approach would require the state to live within the four-year revenues identified in the latest state forecasts.
But Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said Arun Raha warned in a letter to the Governor’s Office that a four-year forecast can vary wildly. The letter from Raha, who until recently was the state revenue forecaster, says it would be “unwise” to base a budget on four-year numbers.
Despite those objections, both the insurance and balanced-budget bills passed in the Senate. The Hobbs bill passed on a healthy 29-17 vote and the Kastama bill 30-16.
But on the pensions, Zarelli lacked 25 votes and asked to delay action until Monday.
Three members of his coalition were absent: Senate Republican leader Mike Hewitt, who is recuperating from major surgery; Democratic Sen. Rodney Tom, who was out of state with his family; and Republican Sen. Bob Morton, a minister who had commitments to his church in Eastern Washington.
It remains to be seen how far the House leadership will bend to meet demands of the Senate coalition’s three Democrats and 22 Republicans. The House is a much more liberal body than the Senate, and Democrats hold a 56-42 majority there.
Democratic leaders including House Speaker Frank Chopp, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan and House Ways and Means chairman Ross Hunter all were reported working at the Capitol on Saturday, and there were meetings and ongoing conversations with the Governor’s Office.
But Sullivan, the designated spokesman for the caucus, did not reply to requests for comment.
“I think there is going to be a lot of discussion between now and Monday,” said Jim Justin, legislative director for Gov. Chris Gregoire.
The governor plans to be in Seattle with her family Sunday, helping to cook an Easter breakfast for a charity. Justin said she and legislative leaders likely would stay in touch by phone – although no negotiations are scheduled until Monday morning.
“We’re still working to get things done by Tuesday midnight. It’s getting tougher and tougher, but we’re not giving up,” he said. “The (two) bills that left the Senate floor are going to be really tough sells in the House. We haven’t seen a pension bill come off the Senate floor yet. We’re not sure what’s going to happen there yet.”
Gregoire said Friday she was focused on getting a package agreement to end the special session and had thought about calling a second one.
She did call two special sessions last year – one last spring that led to an unusually bipartisan budget and another that went 17 days in December. The latter was a first step toward whittling down a $2 billion budget gap, which now stands at about $600 million – or $1 billion with a reserve.
SECOND – AND THIRD – SPECIAL SESSIONSHAVE HAPPENED BEFORE
Sunday marks the 28th day of the special legislative session that began March 12 and the 88th day this year that the Legislature has been in session. The 30-day special session followed a regular session that went 60 days and ended March 8.
History shows special sessions are common – and are more apt to occur when the Legislature’s control is split between the parties or when economic times are tough.
This year, Democrats control the state House 56-42, but a Republican-led coalition that includes three Democrats seized control of the Senate on March 2 and is demanding passage of reforms before it votes on a budget closing a budget deficit.
Since 1981, lawmakers have met for two or more special sessions in 12 separate years and for three sessions in five separate years. That includes the three sessions in 2001 and three in 2003. The numbers are taken from the Legislature’s publication “Members of the Legislature, 1889-2011.”
The House was in its third year of a touchy 49-49 tie in 2001 when lawmakers still were in session in July. The long sessions were held in search of a bipartisan agreement on gas-tax increase.
In 2003, Republicans controlled the Senate and Democrats had the House. Lawmakers battled over a budget as well as unemployment insurance and tax incentives meant to lure Boeing’s next-generation jet-assembly plant to Washington.
The most time spent in legislative session in a single year appears to be 163 days – achieved in 1963 and again in 2001. Lawmakers spent 150 days in session in 2011– including the 17-day session on the budget held between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Before the Legislature began meeting yearly in 1979, the longest Legislature tallied 229 days over two years, in 1975-76, when Republican Dan Evans was governor and the state was emerging from a recession.
Costs for the 2012 special session are expected to land as high as $125,000 for the Senate and no more than $100,000 for the House. Those are estimates provided by the House Chief Clerk’s Office and secretary of the Senate. They were based on individual lawmakers’ claims for reimbursement of expenses – they are allotted $90 per day – plus some anticipated travel costs and temporary staffing including security officers.
Costs have been kept down by keeping rank-and-file members at home, with only leaders and negotiators at the Capitol.
Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
bshannon@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/politicsblog
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