OLYMPIA-When the 2003 legislative session gets underway in Olympia on Jan. 13, one thing is certain. Good news from Olympia will be a rare commodity.
The state is facing a $2.6 billion revenue shortfall. The myriad of constituent groups and their armies of lobbyists all want their portion of the pie to stay the same or grow at the expense of someone else.
Governor Gary Locke has proposed a “cut to the bone, no new taxes” budget that threatens to eliminate class size and teacher compensation packages passed by large margins in recent elections.
The Republicans control the Senate by a 25-24 margin while the Democrats control the House with a 52-46 edge.
This session has all the marking of being a record setter. Legislators may get home barely in time for Independence Day.
While the governors’ budget proposal stunned many local Democratic legislators, it actually pleased the lone Republican legislator from south Snohomish County, Senator Dave Schmidt of Mill Creek.
“I think the governor did a good job,” said the newly elected senator. “His process was one that should have been tried long ago.”
His Democratic colleagues were less supportive of the proposed budget, but all know it is only the opening salvo in a battle that most likely will not end until late June.
“I was disappointed,” said Senator Paull Shin of Edmonds. “We need to fund programs that will give us economic development.”
For Senator Rosemary McAuliffe, who represents parts of Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood and Brier as well as the Bothell and Woodinville areas of north King County, it is also a matter of a budget that leaves the essentials of future economic development underfunded.
“It comes down to education, environment and traffic,” she said. “If we don’t have quality of life, the people we will need in the future will not be here.”
Traffic, which has been the overwhelming topic of discussion for Snohomish County legislators for the past decade, was not as quick to be mentioned in the wake of voter rejection of Referendum 51.
Representative Mike Cooper of Edmonds, a member of the House Transportation Committee, is quick to point out that it is not a forgotten topic and most likely will become a major issue in this session.
“I am sure that the issue of Sound Transit will be brought up,” he said. “I suspect that we will have to look at possibly restructuring its administration and possibly giving it a directly elected board.”
In the short term, Cooper is excited about some relatively easy to implement changes that could help traffic.
“I am interested in giving non-HOV vehicles access to the HOV lanes at certain hours, for a fee. It has been tried in California with great success and generates a lot of revenue.”
Cooper also foresees more toll facilities in the headlights of Washington drivers.
“The new Narrows bridge won’t be the last one,” he said. “We may need to put tolls on a new viaduct or 530 bridge.”
If there is a new overriding issue for south county legislators, it is jobs and economic development.
Shin, when asked what he thinks the priorities ought to be for the Legislature, replied “Number 1, jobs. Second, jobs. Third, more jobs.”
Shin represents a district that encompasses parts of Paine Field and has been hit hard by the layoffs at Boeing and other aerospace related companies.
“We need to provide retraining and also make Washington an attractive place to do business,” he said. Shin has used his position on committees dealing with development as well as his extensive contacts and knowledge of the Pacific Rim to attract businesses to Washington.
Cooper is chair of the committee that will oversee state parks. The governor has proposed closing four state parks and instituting a $5 day use charge. Cooper thinks that is excessive.
“It is unfortunate that we probably need to put a day use fee in place,” he said. “But $5 is high. I would like t see it taken down to maybe $3 with some considerations for seniors”.
The newest legislator in the area, Representative Brian Sullivan of Mukilteo, may be the most understanding ear the governor might find when it comes to a budget.
A former mayor of Mukilteo, Sullivan faced stringent budget cuts at one point. He thinks that a little bipartisanship could go a long way towards getting past this painful budget cycle.
“When we went through this when I was mayor, we resolved it by all getting around a table and working hard to find solutions that everyone could agree to. In the end, we found economies and saved many services,” he said. “I think we need to get away from the backstabbing and bickering and do what is best for the state of Washington, not our own interests.”
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