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How Much is Enough?
A constituent asked me the following questions in email this week and I think the answers are worth pointing out. 1) Can you show me the studies that indicate there is a correlation between money spent per student and student achievement? It would be good to know that spending more money would get better results.…
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Taxing Gold Bullion?
One of the first things new legislators say to me when they review the “Tax Exemptions 2008” report from the department of revenue is that we should eliminate the tax exemptions for gold bullion and bull semen sales. They stick out as crazy exemptions. NPR even did a story on the bullion loophole. Governor Gregoire…
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School Funding post-McCleary
I have not yet completely read the long opinion Judge Erlick issued yesterday in a court case brought by school districts, parents, and educator groups but I’m excited by the summary and the implications for a positive impact on school funding in Washington. The judge ruled that the state does not adequately fund public education…
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Court rules against state on school funding!
Today Judge John Erlick of King County Superior Court ruled that the state not met its constitutional requirements for “ample” funding of schools. I’m still working my way through the ruling, but released the following statement earlier today. Statement from Rep. Ross Hunter on King County Superior Court’s school funding ruling “Today’s court ruling doesn’t…
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520 Generates Controversy
As usual, every time we take a step forward on the 520 Bridge project we generate a bunch of controversy. In December the 520 Legislative Workgroup released its recommendation for the “A+” design option. I’ve written extensively abou tthis and you can read my blog of search local news sites for news about the 520…
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Town Hall Meeting Thursday Jan 7th
On Thursday Jan 7th Sen. Tom, Rep. Eddy and I will host yet another of our regular town hall meetings. This one will be held in the Peter Kirk room at Kirkland City Hall, starting at 6:30 in the evening. We have the room for 90 minutes. Rodney, Deb and I will offer opening remarks…
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EPA Response to Industry Phase-Out of DECA-BDE
I worked hard (successfully) to eliminate the use of this chemical in Washington. The ban spread to other states. The companies have finally thrown in the towel and are switching to a presumably better product. It’s nice to win one every now and then. DECA-BDE is incredibly bad for children and more than a million…
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Thanks for attending my telephone town hall
We made almost 30,000 calls to people in the 48th district tonight. Over 6000 attended part of the town hall, with about 500 people on the call for most of the time, and 160 die-hards who stayed until the end. I’ve never had more than 200 people at a town hall before, so this reached…
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New Newsletter Available
I emailed out a newsletter today. I’m attaching a link to the PDF version of it – this is somewhat easier to print out and read if you’re a print person. 2009-12-15 Newsletter I expect to produce much more regular newsletters now that we are approaching the session. Please let me know if there is…
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Telephone Town Hall
I’m trying a new thing this year – a “telephone” town hall. I sit with a headset and we have an autodialer call as many of you as we can. We give you the opportunity to stay on the call if you want to participate. Others who have done this have had thousands of people…
