Posted on December 14, 2011 by dougnelson
The second special session of 2011 is quickly coming to a close. Surprising to just about everyone, including the press who were reporting yesterday that the legislature would conclude possibly by Friday or Saturday, it looks to me like it will end today.
The agreed to cuts/changes/fund transfers, the most significant of which is the $50 million delay of school bus purchasing payments by 10 months, have not faced a serious challenge on either the House or Senate floor. Yes there were those who argued that not enough was done to cut, and those who argued not enough was done to raise revenue, however in the end, the sentiment at the outset that not much would get done, turned out to be accurate. A final note is that higher education escaped without any cuts!
I’ll update this once the final gavel goes down and the bills are sent to the Governor.
Update: Sine die at 3:45 pm. Now we get to enjoy the holiday break and recharge our batteries for the upcoming 2012 session which begins on January 9. Enjoy your holidays!!!
Posted on December 12, 2011 by dougnelson
It appears that the House and Senate have reached a general agreement on initial cuts/fund transfers/caseload changes so that they take care of $500 million of the $2 billion budget shortfall. There are no cuts to higher education but one change will affect the purchase of school buses: a 10 month delay on the state’s payments for new bus purchases (this delay saves the budget $49 million).
Otherwise not much to get too excited about. However, those who would like more details, here they are.
The House Ways and Means committee will be hearing the agreement today. You can expect there will be small changes to the agreement along the way as it makes it through the House and Senate and then to the Governor’s desk. The hope is that they will conclude their work no later than this coming Saturday, the 17th.
UPDATE: The public hearing consisted of approximately 5 individuals with very few critical comments. Chairman Hunter commented that he was surprised there was so little comment (he took that as a positive silent statement of support for the changes).
Posted on December 6, 2011 by dougnelson
I went into the Capitol today and found the place relatively quiet. Gone were the demonstrators who only one week ago were passionately advocating for their causes. And with a few exceptions, the lobbyists were also gone. It’s really hard to see any sense of urgency to get something accomplished even though there are only about two weeks to go of the special session.
What did happen today was minimal action.
The House voted out a Wenatchee convention center bill and then went home for the day (they did have a caucus but there was little indication anything else was decided).
The Senate came in to work soon after lunch and went into caucus. Again, it was unclear if they resolved anything in their caucus meetings.
It is looking more and more like not much will be accomplished in this Special Session other than preparation work for the 2012 legislative session that begins January 9.
Posted on December 1, 2011 by dougnelson
Less than 15 minutes ago at the House Education Appropriations committee hearing, I testified about Governor Gregoire’s supplemental budget and revenue package. I don’t have the footage from the hearing yet, but will update this entry when I get it.
Basically, I testified the same as I did yesterday:
1. Higher education has suffered enough cuts and the legislature should reduce the Governor’s cuts;
2. We oppose levy equalization cuts since they don’t hit all school districts;
3. If the legislature is going to cut 4 days, we urge them to cut all employee groups the same. That means the superintendents, assistant superintendents, teachers, and classified;
4. We support the Governor’s revenue and buyback package;
5. The insurance decrease will only increase the problem our members are having paying for insurance coverage for their children and families. That increases our interest in the consolidation plan that the HCA will be introducing on December 15 and debated in the 2012 session. And on another related subject, the legislature has the right to know how the $750 million they are funding for K 12 insurance is being spent.
Well, the WEA lobbyist focused the last part of testimony on Doug Nelson and opposed what I said. You need to know that it is very unusual for a fellow lobbyist to personally identify a lobbyist for another organization when describing their organization’s position. It is basically a slap in the face, in public, and on TV.
More on this when I get the link to the testimony.
Update #1: Here is the link to the testimony.
Posted on December 1, 2011 by dougnelson
If you are interested in the testimony PSE provided on Governor Gregoire’s supplemental budget, go to this link.
Some of you may wonder if it’s worth the effort to testify when there are so few members of the Senate Ways and Means committee still sticking around to hear what I have to say (after all this hearing had been underway for 2 and 1/2 hours when I finally got a chance to speak). Simply put, we are getting our position on the official record. Yes, we say these things to legislators on an individual basis, but when we say it on TVW, it is heard by State agencies (e.g., Governor’s office) and the general public. I am frequently stopped by people who see the testimony and either express support or opposition to our position.
Posted on November 30, 2011 by dougnelson
By now, most classified school employees have already made their decisions about what they are going to do with the ever increasing cost of the insurance premiums they have to pay for themselves and/or their spouse and children. Premium inflation is causing classified employees to use more of their hard earned (and quickly disappearing) paycheck to continue their insurance, or, they are faced with reducing their insurance coverage by accepting higher co-payments, deductibles, and, in the worst case, dropping family members off their insurance coverage.
Over the next several years it is extremely unlikely that the state will be funding the ever increasing costs you will be facing. Unless we do something now, more classified employees will be facing continuously smaller and smaller paychecks and dropping dependents from their insurance coverage.
It is time to reform the insurance benefit system before our members drown in premium payments and financial bankruptcy because they can’t afford to provide insurance for their dependents.
What is PSE doing about this situation? We are promoting the consolidation of all K 12 health insurance plans and having a Board, the Public School Employees Benefit Board, come up with insurance plans, and insurance premium changes that reduces the cost of dependent insurance coverage. However, it must be noted that the most effective way to do this is for all employees with insurance paying their fair share of the cost of insurance. Right now, employees who sign up for single coverage pay 4% of their insurance premiums, while employees with families pay up to 73% of the premiums. In contrast, state employees pay 15% of their premiums whether they are in family coverage or singles.
This situation cries out for reform and we are glad to be leading the effort. Stay tuned as we provide you information over the coming weeks about this new concept: the Public School Employees Benefit Board.
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Doug Nelson
Not surprisingly, as legislators gathered for another special session (the second one of the year), they were greeted by numerous advocacy groups and their followers. Seeking to create as much noise as possible, some of the demonstrators got carried away with their point of view and ended up in the back seat of a police car.
The House Ways and Means committee hearing on the budget cuts was interrupted by their protests but nonetheless picked up and listened to 150 advocates talk about the impact of the cuts and the reasons to seek more revenue.
PSE’s position regarding the budget cuts in the special and regular session in 2012 is:
1. limit the size of the cuts to early, K 12, and higher education;
2. ensure the cuts are equally felt by all employees groups; and,
3. seek revenue to restore as much of the education cuts as possible.
Specifically, we are focusing on avoiding the 17% budget cuts to WWU (Western Washington University) and WSU (Washington State University), the 16% cut to CWU (Central Washington University), levy equalization cuts, K 12 insurance cuts, and the reduction of 4 school days.
On the other hand, we support the Governor’s proposal to buy back these education cuts by seeking a temporary 0.5% sales tax increase.
Stay tuned as we chart the progress of these issues over the next three weeks.
Next up: tomorrow the HCA (Health Care Authority) will release its draft proposal for the consolidation of K 12 employee insurance plans.
