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WSDOT Awards SR 520 Widening Contract in Redmond!
Here’s a press release from WSDOT on the 520 project in Redmond. This is a great thing, as is the inclusion of the 36th street bridge over 520 in Redmond, adding another crossing and exit off the freeway, further reducing traffic congestion in Redmond. REDMOND — Relief is in sight for commuters stuck in daily…
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Important Bills
The Legislature is a cyclical activity. We go through a phase where everyone creates proposed new laws and files them. This is call “dropping” bills, because you drop the signed pieces of paper into a basket called the “hopper.” The bills are heard in committee, and the ones that are not patently ridiculous are passed…
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Education Financing Update
For the entire 6 years I’ve been in the legislature I’ve worked on school funding. I’ve tried to improve the amount and the efficacy of use of the money. This year a bipartisan group of six legislators introduced a package of reforms coming from the Basic Education Financing Task Force report. I’ve written about it…
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Local Government Financing Plan
Final Report of the Washington State Local Governance Study Commission. …the underlying structural problem for King County budgeting is the mismatch between tax base and service costs in the unincorporated areas. The solution to this, which is encouraged by the Growth Management Act, is to ensure that the remaining unincorporated areas within the urban growth…
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Open Letter to Teachers about HB 1410
I’ve had a lot of questions from teachers on HB 1410 that seem to indicate some misunderstanding of our intent and I believe a misreading of the bill. 1410 is a serious attempt to address school funding inadequacies and the structural problems that have built up over 30 years since the last major revision. The…
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Possible Budget Choices – Criminal Justice Costs
For the past 15 years we’ve been on a trend of increasing the number of incarcerated people. We now lead the world in the percentage of people in jail. It costs the state an average of about $30,000 per year to put someone in prison, plus all the costs of the courts and police/sheriff. Sometimes…
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February Revenue Collections Report
We got more bad news on the economy last week – another $63 million decline in the collections data. This was the month of Dec 10 – Jan 10, a very important period in our retail sales data. Our total decline for the 2nd quarter of fiscal year 2009 (Oct, Nov and Dec 2008) is…
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WACOPS Legislator of the Year
For some reason the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs has named me their “legislator of the year.” I’m always happy to be recognized for the work I do, and these guys are an important part of the fabric of our community. I’m receiving the award from Mike Pentony and Steve Lynch, two of Bellevue’s…
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The News Tribune covers Basic Ed plan
Peter Callaghan wrote about our tremendous hearing in the House yesterday. We had 120 people testify, of whom only 13 were opposed. The most amusing juxtaposition was when a panel of 4 superintendents delivered a letter from all 35 school district superintendents in the Puget Sound region endorsing the bill was followed by the director…
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Urban Legends – Emissions based on engine displacement
In 2006 a senator introduced a bill (SB 6900) that would have charged a vehicle registration fee every year based on the size of your engine and not on the use of the vehicle. The bill did not receive a hearing, did not come up for a vote, and never passed. It does not even…
