February 25, 2012
Legislative Update
Hello Friends,
My apologies for not communicating more during this short and very intense session. As we enter the final two weeks of the 2012 regular legislative session, I want to give you an update on our state budget and proposals that are advancing and provide you with some detail about each.
As I reported to you back in December, legislators made cuts to state spending equal to nearly half a billion dollars when we took early action during the special session that month. This amount was about one-third of the total shortfall for the current budget cycle. Budget writers have been working on how to close the remaining gap since the special session adjourned. Last Tuesday, our proposed budget was released.
Although work on the budget has been ongoing, House budget writers held off releasing our proposal until we knew the latest state revenue forecast. This quarterly forecast tells us how much money the state can expect to take in during the current budget cycle. The past 14 forecasts have shown decreasing revenue, and the result has been deep cuts to the state budget that have increased class sizes in our public schools, raised tuition at our colleges and universities, and cut services to our most vulnerable citizens.
While we are certainly not out of the woods yet, the February 16 forecast brought a much-welcome glimmer of hope. For the first time since 2008, the forecast was up slightly rather than down. Combined with the savings already realized from cuts and efficiencies made in December, our budget shortfall shrank and the House budget proposal saves programs that help protect children, families, and disabled adults. For example:
- The state’s Basic Health Plan will continue to provide coverage to thousands of low-income Washingtonians who would otherwise join the ranks of the uninsured.
- Adults whose disability makes them unemployable will continue to receive housing assistance through the state’s Disability Lifeline, preventing them from becoming homeless.
- Low-income families can continue to receive subsidized child care so they can remain employed or further their education.
While I am pleased that some of the most devastating budget cuts can be mitigated this time, the fact is that cutting public education, health care and human services over the past several years hasn’t been without consequences. As chair of the House Early Learning and Human Services committee, I hear heart-wrenching testimony in my committee from the people represented by numbers in our state budget. Behind every dollar cut is a human being who slips further into poverty or homelessness as a result of that cut.
A truly balanced approach to closing a budget shortfall includes some cuts, some efficiencies and reform, and some revenue. Unfortunately, revenue has not been part of the approach for the past several years. Voter-approved initiatives requiring a two-thirds majority for raising revenue (including closing tax loopholes) have presented a threshold that legislators have not been able to reach. But that appears to be changing.
I am pleased to report that the House budget proposal includes closing a state tax loophole that only benefits large, out-of-state banks. This is significant because it means that enough legislators – from both sides of the aisle – are finally agreeing that revenue is part of the solution.
The state Supreme Court recently ruled that the legislature is not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education. However, it also said that recent reforms put us on the right path.
For 30 years, Washington had over a dozen complicated, overlapping, and dysfunctional education funding formulas. That changed in 2009 and 2010 when legislators passed HB 2261 and HB 2776, which tossed out the old, broken funding system and replaced it with a new student-focused, transparent one. We remain committed to moving forward with the reforms in these bills so that our basic education system is fully funded, but we do not have the revenue to do it now. The budget creates a task force to make revenue recommendations to fully fund education. The Supreme Court’s decision assures that this effort will be more focused and productive than past task forces as we must find a funding solution.
Our early learning efforts continue to pay off, literally and figuratively. We received good news at the end of last year that our state was awarded a $60 million Early Learning Race to the Top grant. Each year, 70,000 Washington children start Kindergarten, but nearly a third of them are not prepared to learn. A child who starts school behind often never catches up to his or her peers. That’s why early learning is so crucial – it’s an investment in our children to help start them off on the right path, so they are less likely to drop out of high school or enter the criminal justice system as they get older.
One reform that is moving forward is improving teacher and principal evaluation. Legislators and the governor’s office are in agreement on a proposal to implement a statewide school teacher and principal evaluation system. We heard this bill in Ways and Means and there was no opposition.
Our efforts to improve early learning are also making progress. As a result of our successful Race to the Top grant, the House passed a bill I sponsored (HB 2586) to change the implementation schedule for a preschool-to-Kindergarten transition process called WaKIDS. What’s wonderful about WaKIDS is that it helps teachers find out each child’s particular learning style, and it gets parents involved in their child’s educational journey from the get-go.
Every child has the right to live in a safe, loving home environment. Our child welfare system exists to protect children from abuse and neglect. I have sponsored several reform measures this year to improve Washington’s child welfare system so that it better serves children and families, and to ensure caseworkers have the tools and resources they need to do their jobs:
- The current funding formula for child welfare is based on the number of kids the state places in foster care. Over the past two years, Washington’s foster care caseload has gone down 18 percent, but in the process we’ve lost nearly $3 million in federal dollars and $8 million in state funds. This loss of money threatens the intervention programs that are keeping families together. I’ve sponsored legislation (HB 2263) that holds the state’s funding formula level for the next five years, allowing us to reinvest any savings into these much-needed intervention programs. Our state is also applying for a federal waiver that would allow us to do something similar with our federal funding. The waiver was made possible last fall when President Obama signed the Children & Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act which Congressman McDermott and Senator Cantwell strongly supported in Congress. I wrote a guest editorial for the Seattle Times about the importance of this federal legislation and waivers for states like ours.
- Requiring performance based contracting for child welfare services is another bill that I am sponsoring this session (HB 2264). This important bill is moving forward with bipartisan support.
- I am also sponsoring a bill (HB 2289) to reform our Child Protective Services, and allow caseworkers to help those families where a child is not at risk of harm, rather than investigating them to determine if the CPS complaint is founded. Other states that have implemented this approach have seen better engagement by families, and better outcomes for children.
A few weeks ago, Washington witnessed a horrific crime when Josh Powell set fire to his home, killing himself and his two young sons. Whenever a tragic death of a child occurs, we all look at what happened, and whether or not the state handled the case appropriately. A fatality review committee has been convened to review the Powell case. I look forward to reviewing their conclusions and recommendations to determine if our laws or policies should change in response to this terrible tragedy. What I do know, after talking with the Governor and Secretary Arnold-Williams, is that the staff acted thoughtfully and responsibly, and that they are truly devastated by the violent death of these children.
One of the major accomplishments of this legislature is the passage of the marriage equality bill. The Governor signed legislation this month (SB 6239) to give all couples in our state marriage equality. I was honored to speak on the House floor in favor of this measure and how important it is for children and families in our state. You can watch a video of my floor remarks here. Washington is now the seventh state in the nation (plus the District of Columbia) to grant same-sex couples the right to marry.
Your feedback is important
As we head into the hectic last two weeks of session, I hope you will contact me with your questions and concerns. My legislative assistant, McKinzie Strait, communicates your messages to me. Hearing from you on bills that are important to you is important because it helps me make informed decisions on how to vote on bills.
Thank you for taking the time to read this update. After the legislative session has ended, I will be sending out a newsletter to households in our district together with my seatmate, Rep. Cindy Ryu. Doing a joint newsletter saves resources and limits the volume of mail you receive. I will also post an electronic copy of the newsletter on my website.
I welcome your emails and phone calls about the topics covered in this newsletter, or any other issues before the legislature.
Sincerely,
Rep. Ruth Kagi