April 1, 2011
Hello and welcome to week 12 of the 2011 Legislative session. The last committee cut-off was reached Friday, meaning that all bills not necessary to implement the budget had to be voted out of committee or be declared dead for the session. The last three weeks of session will be devoted to finishing two-year operating, transportation, and capital budgets, and debating Senate bills on the House floor.
It may seem like the budget is taking a long time this year, although in reality it is only a few days behind the” normal” schedule. But we aren’t facing “normal” circumstances this session and want to be sure we are making the most responsible decisions we can in these tough times.
I’ll be sending out another E-memo as soon as the House budget proposal is announced. In the meantime, I will use my position on the Ways & Means Committee to be an advocate for education and our other top local priorities. As you know, Washington is facing a serious revenue shortfall that will require hard choices in order to balance the budget. This makes it even more important to keep our focus on essential priorities such as education, which is the main driver of job growth and a strong economy.
Thanks for Visiting!
I recently had the pleasure of visiting with students from North Seattle Community College. If you have a group you’d like me to meet, please let me know!
Transportation budget means jobs and commerce
Last Friday the House approved the 2011-13 transportation budget with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 89-6. I joined dozens of my colleagues in supporting this plan because it better connects Washington, generates construction jobs, promotes commerce and provides opportunities across the state. The $8.9 billion budget will finance hundreds of highway, rail, ferry, transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects over the next two years. As we climb out of this recession, we need to make sure that people can get to work and goods can travel rapidly and efficiently. Investing in our transportation network helps us do that.
The budget is expected to create or sustain more than 43,000 jobs for contractors and construction workers across Washington. From repaving highways to improving safety to building new facilities, construction workers will be busy improving our state’s infrastructure. These projects help not only employment but also everyone’s ability to get where they need to go, so it’s a win all around.
We’re also maintaining our commitments to the projects approved in the 2003 and 2005 gas-tax packages. Nearly 300 of those projects are complete, with many more nearing completion or underway. The House budget provides about $3.9 billion to continue these projects in the 2011-13 biennium. This includes putting finishing touches on the I-5 noise reduction wall in the Green Lake and Licton Springs neighborhoods. It also includes preliminary planning on a long-term project replace 40-year-old concrete pavement from Tukwila to Northgate, which will preserve our infrastructure investments and provide for a smoother ride.
You’ve probably heard about the financial challenges facing the state operating budget; I’m pleased to report the transportation budget is in better shape because it has a different revenue stream, which is why we’re able to continue making these strong investments. But we do face some bumps on the long-term horizon. As people cut back on mileage or choose more fuel-efficient and alternative-power vehicles, our fuel-tax revenues will go down. In fact, the revenue projection for the next two years is down $100 million compared to the projection last year. That’s why our budget contains many cost-saving measures, including trimming operating expenses by nearly $70 million.
One area of personal concern is transit funding. Our state constitution requires all gas-tax revenues to be used for highways, but this does not include funding for transit—even though public transit is essential for reducing highway and road congestion. Seattle lawmakers are discussing options for funding public transit, but nothing has been decided yet.
For more information about the House transportation budget, click here. A handy budget summary is available here.
Keeping more drunk drivers off our roads
Public safety is a key function of state government. Again this session, we are looking for more ways to keep our highways and neighborhood roads safe from drunk drivers. Here are three bills that were heard in committee this week:
· SB 5000 – would require police to impound the vehicle operated by a person arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and requires that the vehicle be held for 12 hours if the person arrested is the only registered owner of the vehicle.
· HB 1167 – creates a “DUI court” option for counties where punishment and treatment can be integrated to help DUI offenders. The bill raises the DUI fine by $25 for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to give out as grants for DUI prevention. Lastly the bill gives guidance to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission for organizing victim impact panels.
· HB 1789 – makes our roads safer for all by boosting accountability for drunk drivers. Instead of the current choice between one day in jail or an ignition interlock device on a drunk driver’s car, this legislation boosts the jail time to three days. This should lead more convicted drunk drivers to choose an ignition interlock device, which they have to pay to install.
National health care reform turns one
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed by Congress in 2010 recently turned a year old. A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey revealed that Americans remain confused about the law. But it is clear that Americans are already reaping the benefits of this landmark legislation. According to Consumer Reports:
· Medicare recipients now receive free preventive care and an annual wellness check-up.
· Provisions are already in place to provide financial assistance to Medicare recipients who reach “doughnut hole” in prescription drug coverage.
· Young adults up to age 26 may remain on family coverage, regardless if they are in school or living at home, providing peace of mind for families all over the nation.
· Small businesses are already eligible for tax credits to offset health care coverage costs for their employees.
Here in Washington, we are also seeing concrete benefits from the national health care reform:
· More than 110,000 small businesses in our state are eligible for that tax credit for helping provide employee health care coverage.
· State taxpayers have saved $287 million, with more savings to come as the federal government continues to increase matching funding for state programs like the Basic Health Plan, the Health Insurance Partnership and Apple Health for Kids.
In the first five years, national health reform will bring a total of $3.9 billion to Washington state
State lawmakers are currently considering a number of bills to further implement ACA. Here’s a sample:
· Health Benefit Exchange (House Bill 1740 / Senate Bill 5445). This is the first step in achieving coverage for all Washingtonians. The exchange will be established as a public-private partnership, providing access to affordable health care plans with tax credits and subsidies for individuals and small businesses when fully implemented.
· Medicaid Waiver (House Bill 1312 / Senate Bill 5148) Access to a federal Medicaid waiver could spare tens of thousands of vulnerable Washingtonians from losing two essential public services – the Basic Health Plan (BHP) and the Disability Lifeline (DL). Elimination of these two programs would result in increased emergency room visits and more costly care.
· Medicaid single state agency (House Bill 1738 / Senate Bill 5477) Consolidates two agencies into one agency, to better position us to increase the quality and affordability of health care.
You can find much more information about health care in Washington state, its effect on the budget, and what we are doing to transition to ACA in this Budget Brief.
Helping the homeless in Washington
One of my top priorities as the Chair of the new Community Development & Housing Committee is to prevent homelessness and help those of our neighbors who are currently homeless. Unfortunately, the deep recession—the worst in 80 years—has pushed many families into homelessness, including families who had never experienced housing problems before.
We recently saw more sad evidence of the impact that homelessness is having on children and families.
A new survey of Head Start and Washington’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program found that since 1997 homelessness has increased by 37% among the preschool children being served. In fact, the survey found that 1 of 12 children in these programs is homeless. That is an average of one or more homeless child in every one of the program’s classroom. We cannot turn our backs on this tragedy.
Even though our economy is slowly improving, the problem of homelessness in Washington could actually grow far worse in two years. This is because we rely heavily on document recording fees to fund our homelessness prevention programs, and much of this funding is scheduled to sunset in 2013. We must not allow that to happen. I’ve just introduced a proposal (House Bill 2048) to extend and expand this vital source of funding for our efforts to help the homeless. I’ll discuss this effort further in future E-memos.
Free help for electronically filing your federal income taxes
If you haven’t filed your federal income tax, yet, maybe this will help. The IRS has teamed up with 20 tax software providers to offer a free way to electronically prepare and e-file your taxes.
Called Free File, it does the hard work for you with brand-name software or online forms. If you made $58,000 or less in 2010, you are eligible for a free tax software product. If you made more than $58,000 or you are comfortable preparing your own tax return, you can use Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic versions of IRS paper forms.
The software provides a step-by-step guide to get your taxes done quickly and accurately. It helps you get the tax breaks you are due, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. Providers use the latest technology to keep your tax information safe and secure. For information: www.IRS.gov/freefile
Looking ahead
The 2011-13 House budget proposals will very likely be released next week, so I hope to provide you with information on that in my next E-memo. In the meantime, please feel free to contact my office with any suggestions, questions or comments you may have on legislative matters. Hearing from you and serving you is a pleasure as well as an honor.
In This Issue
Cutoff info
North Seattle Community College Visit
Legislation updates
Health Care
Income tax assistance
Looking ahead
Contact
MAIL
MOD F 110
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
PHONE
(360) 786-7818
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EMAIL
kenney.phyllis@leg.wa.gov
WEBSITE
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Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney
State Representative
46th Legislative District
P.O. Box 40600, MOD F 110
Olympia, WA 98504
Serving on:
Chair – House Community Development & Housing Committee
Labor & Workforce Development Committee
House Ways & Means Committee
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