Ross Hunter

Month: December 2008

  • 2009 Legislative Agenda

    This year will be particularly difficult due to the national economic disaster. Unlike the federal government, Washington is required to have a balanced budget. Our budget situation is dire, and will require dramatic measures. I try to be organized about how I approach a legislative session, particularly one as difficult as this is likely to…

  • Global Warming – Cap and Trade?

    Last year the legislature instructed the governor to negotiate our entry into the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and come back with a plan we would have to approve. She has, and now we get to make some very big choices for Washington and the rest of the country. The WCI is a “cap and trade”…

  • Unwinding the Stadiums

    Lo these many years ago the Kingdome was created, and it was good… but only if you liked watching baseball in a concrete mausoleum. Since then we’ve built Safeco Field, Qwest, the remodel of Key Arena, and a convention center. The Kingdome was blown up, but the taxes that paid for its new roof are…

  • Initial Thoughts on the Budget

    At the time I write this the national economy is in free-fall, with banks and other businesses failing right and left. The car companies may be next. So far the two biggest employers in WA — Boeing and Microsoft — are still in good shape, but there are concerns if the overall economy is in…

  • Seat Belts in School Buses

    I reacted the same way many of you did when I heard from my son about the Bellevue High School football team bus rolling over – I was horrified. We followed the news all afternoon via phone from the Tacoma dome where he was waiting to photograph the game. (Check out his pictures at www.jackhunterphoto.com.…

  • Basic Education Funding Task Force

    I’m a member of the Basic Education Financing Task Force (BEFTF,) a group appointed by the legislature and the governor to try to re-write how K-12 education is funded in Washington. This is the reason I originally ran for the legislature in 2002, and has been a very long term project for me. The current…