As-it-happened updates: State legislators’ Town Hall in West Seattle

From left, State Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon and State Sen. Sharon Nelson are leading a “Town Hall” meeting at High Point Community Center right now. Rep. Fitzgibbon opened by saying “The biggest challenge in Olympia right now is the budget,” and Rep. Cody warned, “Everyone’s going to feel the pain.” We’ll make notes here as this goes; you have time to get here if you’d like to be part of it – 34th just north of Myrtle, till 11:30 am. More than 100 people are here.

In-progress updates, topic by topic:

BUDGET OUTLOOK/JOBS: The next revenue forecast from the state is expected next Thursday, and the legislators say it’s expected to get uglier. As Sen. Nelson put it, the average recession since the Great Depression has lasted 18 months; this one is 36 months old, she said, and we’re “still scraping bottom.” She says that of the 195,000 jobs lost in our state so far, barely a tenth have been recovered. She also noted that our state’s unemployment-insurance fund is still healthy, unlike some states. And later, while answering a question, she talked about meeting with people who are directly feeling “the pain we are causing” by having to cut, and she declared, “This budget will be immoral, no matter how we look at it.” Moments later, asking a question from the audience, an attendee named Anastasia said, “This whole budget-cutting thing is insane.”

IF YOU ARE UPSET ABOUT THE BUDGET TOO … Rep. Cody remarked toward the end of the event that she’s hopeful they’ll see more “enough is enough” rallies in Olympia because so far, in her view, “people don’t seem to be all that upset about the cuts.” This Thursday, there’s a rally about tax loopholes, Rep. Fitzgibbon noted.

TRANSPORTATION: Rep. Fitzgibbon noted that legislators opposed the governor’s proposal to create a regional district to handle state ferries: “They’re part of the state highway system.” He said major challenges will include helping local transportation agencies like Metro Transit find ways to find additional funding to avoid deep service cuts as traditional revenue sources run short. (11 am note – Interestingly, we are an hour into this event and there has not been a question about transportation yet … 11:30 update: STILL no transportation questions.)

EDUCATION: Sen. Nelson is vice chair of an education committee in the Senate. She talked about decisions that have to be made regarding early-learning programs, and also about higher-education funding – fielding a question about South Seattle Community College, she said there will be some cuts to community colleges, even though “We know they are the ones right now helping folks get back to work” (because of retraining programs). Rep. Fitzgibbon said that further tuition increases are “a dangerous road to go down” and could price more people out of college. The legislators were asked toward meeting’s end about “common core standards” for education; Rep. Cody says she supports it – “If we don’t adopt them and join together (with other states), the textbooks we buy are determined by California and Texas.” She acknowledges there are questions because of the math standards that are being proposed.

ENVIRONMENT: Sen. Nelson recapped the recent vote to crack down on the state’s one coal-burning energy plant, in Centralia, and also noted with regret that she had not been able to get enough votes to pass her proposal to get toxins out of children’s toys. She said she will keep trying.

HEALTH CARE: Rep. Cody, a nurse by trade, has long had an emphasis in that. She said they are working on funding to keep 60,000 more people from losing basic insurance that currently is provided through the state.

WORKPLACE SAFETY: Rep. Fitzgibbon mentioned a bill to make sure dangerous conditions in workplaces are fixed faster. Sen. Nelson discussed the “compromise” regarding workers’ compensation insurance – which results in relatively speedy settlements to get people off insurance – saying that in her opinion, it creates “a two-tiered system … where the poor get poorer” if they cannot hire a lawyer to get a better settlement in case of serious injury. She also says that there are Democrats siding with Republicans on even more-major changes that she says the Washington Business Association is pushing for.

INCOME TAX? Asked by one attendee if a temporary income tax could be implemented to help with the budget, while saying, not really, Sen. Nelson pointed out that the 34th District is one of only five out of 39th that voted in favor of 1098, the income-tax measure.

LEGISLATORS’ SALARIES, AND HAVE THEY FACED CUTS? Answering that question, Rep. Fitzgibbon said their salaries are set at $42,000 and it’s been frozen for a few years. Rep. Cody added that they have dealt with cuts in everything from their travel to printing/postage to staff budgets.

11:37 AM UPDATE: Sen. Nelson reiterated that it will make a difference if people attend the aforementioned rally this coming week – and that it’s important for people to contact them with questions and issues. (Though replies may take a while – Rep. Cody answered a written question earlier in the event by noting that her legislative assistant already has answered 1,800 e-mails this year and “a few hundred more” come in every day – “We’ll get to you, it just might take a while.”

5 Replies to "As-it-happened updates: State legislators' Town Hall in West Seattle"

  • Herman March 12, 2011 (12:07 pm)

    Why is adopting a responsible budget immoral, Senator Nelson? I think it’s the inflated budgets of prior years that were immoral.
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    Bad managers overhire and then are forced to lay people off. That makes people sad. But don’t apply morals to the budget as if it were a person that we should despise. It’s just a byproduct of the leaders that preceded you. Those are the morals at issue.
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    So, blame the leadership that created the problem in the first place. Then stand up and fix it with a more conservative, sustainable budget.
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    You will make some cuts and you will have to tell some people that they are out of a job. That will require some courage and good leadership. Good luck, we are behind you.

  • redblack March 12, 2011 (1:53 pm)

    herman: the problem is that conservative budgets are not sustainable. like it or not, people rely on government, mostly because the private sector is bleeding them dry with bills and interest rates.
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    we can’t cut our way out of budget deficits, no matter how finely you slice it. just ask the GOP in the u.s. congress. they are in the process of proposing draconian cuts – yet they amount to barely 5% of the total budget deficit.
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    the answer is stable, sustainable revenue streams for governments, not cuts in expenditures.

  • Kris March 12, 2011 (3:42 pm)

    Thank you WSBlog for doing an excellent job of covering this event. I hope others will attend the Rally in Oly on March 17th. It’s very important to make our voices heard now and not wait until more of a crisis happens – like in Wisconsin.

  • Noah March 12, 2011 (9:03 pm)

    For those at the meeting who read through the yellow budget worksheet that was prepared by LEV, don’t you wish options like a 1098-like tax on the wealthiest earners were included to show people what their potential impact on the budget would be? Even if an income tax bill is unlikely to get 2/3 of the vote, shouldn’t it still be introduced as a possible solution? If they want people to consider slashing education and health care, all solutions should be on the table, even if they are politically unlikely.

  • Bruce March 13, 2011 (11:45 pm)

    Wish I could have attended to ask a few transportation questions:
    Has anybody considered canceling the deep bore tunnel; building just a surface road and reallocating the almost $2billion in savings to pay down the forecast $5billion deficit?
    If the tunnel is built, any ideas on how it might survive an earthquake and tsunami like the terrible tragedy in Japan?
    Looking at Vancouver, BC, how do they survive without a single freeway through their downtown (when we have two)?
    Is the state cutting health and education budgets the same percentage as the transportation budget?
    Why do drivers, businesses and the state think cars and trucks should be able to drive at 60 mph (posted speed limit on I-5) through Seattle?
    Looking at the WSDOT budget webpage, it appears heavily focused on expensive mega projects (roads and bridges), yet only seems to spend 1/100th the amounts on public transportation–is that because it started as the Department of Highways?
    Thanks for reading!

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