Category: 2007 Interim

While this is the off year for state election campaigns, many local elected offices are open and two more state legislators have expressed an interest in running for a local seat.

In Snohomish County, councilmember Kirke Sievers is required to leave office at the end of this year after serving three terms as the representative from District 2 (Everett and Mukilteo).  Rep. Brian Sullivan (D-Mukilteo) has already announced his intention to run for Sievers seat and recently, Senator Jean Berkey (D-Everett) has thrown her hat in the ring.  The candidate filing period is June 4 – 8.

Sullivan is currently chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee and is in his fourth term in the House.  Berkey is chair of the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance committee and has been in the state legislature since 2001 and the Senate since 2004.

Sullivan and Berkey are the latest state legislators to indicate they will run for a local office.  Rep. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) has previously announced his intention to run for Snohomish County Sheriff.

Just learned this morning that former state senator Bob Oke passed away last night after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer.  Oke, a Republican, served in the state Senate from 1991 to 2006 and represented the 26th legislative district (Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and parts of Bremerton).  He was an avid sportsman and served as chair and ranking minority member of the Senate Parks and Recreation committee for many years.

Oke may be best remembered for his tireless work to build the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge — a goal that often put him at odds with his own constituents on the west side of the sound.  He also fought for many years to outlaw the giving away of tobacco products at public events where youth were present and saw that bill signed into law just over a year ago.

I worked with Senator Oke for many years as a Senate staff member and he was truly one of the kindest and most diligent elected officials I have ever met.  He was a man of tremendous integrity and I will miss him.

A front page story in this morning’s Olympian notes that state revenue collections have been $141 million “higher” than expected since the last revenue forecast update in March.  As the article indicates, the March forecast presumed that the weakening housing sector would be a significant drag on consumer spending and state revenue growth.  Strong aerospace and software sectors and overall good job growth seem to be countering the housing effects.

The higher revenue collections are not “official” until they are incorporated into the next revenue forecast update which is scheduled for June 14.  Based on the budget enacted by the legislature last month, the ending reserve was projected to be $724 million.  The additional revenue collections received over the past two months would increase the total budget reserve to $865 million.

The state revenue forecast will be adjusted again in September and November before the Governor submits her 2008 supplemental budget recommendations to the legislature in December.

At a ceremony yesterday morning at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Governor Gregoire signed a number of education bills, including most of the remaining higher education bills related to her Washington Learns initiative.  Specific measures enacted into state law include:

• E2SSB 5098 which establishes the College Bound Scholarship program for low income students identified in the 7th grade who complete high school with a C average and have no felony convictions.
• ESHB 1179 which expands eligibility for the state need grant to students attending college less than part-time.
• SSB 5731 which establishes a committee on the education of students in high demand fields.

Sources also indicate that the Governor will take action on the biennial operating, capital and transportation budgets next Tuesday May 15 — the last official day to take action on legislation enacted during the 2007 legislative session.

Washington State University’s (WSU) Board of Regents met this past Friday and announced that Elson Floyd will become WSU’s 10th president effective Monday May 21.  Floyd, who was most recently president of the University of Missouri, will succeed V. Lane Rawlins who is stepping down after serving as the school’s president since June 2000.

Floyd previously served as executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Board from 1990-1993 and held administrative positions at Eastern Washington University.

Seattle Times political reporter David Postman reports this morning in his blog that Rep. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) has annouced that he will run this fall for Snohomish County Sheriff.  Lovick should be familiar to many observers of the state legislature since he has served as House Speaker Pro-Tem (presiding officer) for the last several sessions and is therefore a regular face on TVW.

Rumors that Lovick would run for the seat being vacated by the retiring Rick Bart had been rampant during the 2007 legislative session since Lovick is a retired State Patrol officer with more than 30 years in law enforcement.

The Spring 2007 issue of UW Law has a fascinating cover story on UW Law School alumni serving in the judiciary system, including a great cover shot and profile of the five Washington State Supreme Court justices who are UW law school alums.  This includes Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, Justice Richard Sanders, Justice Bobbe Bridge, Justice Tom Chambers and Justice James Johnson.

This got me to thinking about the recent decline of lawyers as members of the state legislature.  A generation ago, a significant number of state legislators had law degrees and along with ranchers and farmers, comprised a large percentage of the occupations of Washington’s citizen legislature.  The number of lawyers in the state legislature has gradually declined in recent years, and in fact, only three of the state’s 49 senators now have law degrees — Sen. Adam Kline (D-Seattle, J.D. University of Maryland), Sen. Brian Weinstein (D-Mercer Island, J.D. University of Texas), Sen. Phil Rockefeller (D-Kitsap County, J.D. Harvard University).

Up until this session, the number of lawyers had also dwindled down to four in the House of Representatives including Rep. Pat Lantz (D-Gig Harbor, J.D. University of Puget Sound), Rep. Skip Priest (R-Federal Way, J.D. George Washington University), Rep. Jay Rodne (R-Issaquah, J.D. Gonzaga University), and Rep. Brendan Williams (D-Olympia, J.D. University of Washington).

But something interesting happened last November.  Four of the newly elected members of the House also happened to have law degrees, effectively doubling the number of lawyers in the lower chamber.  The new lawyers in the legislature include Rep. Jamie Pederson (D-Seattle, Yale University); Rep. Troy Kelley (D-Lakewood, J.D. SUNY-Buffalo); Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland, J.D. George Washington University); and Rep. Deb Eddy (D-Kirkland, J.D. University of North Carolina).

All four freshman lawyers have their offices located adjacent to each other on the third floor in the John L. O’Brien Building, leading more than one lobbyist who had an appointment with one of the quartet to quip they were going to visit the “law firm of Pederson, Kelley, Goodman and Eddy.”  We’ll have to wait until November 2008 to find out if any new members “join the firm.”

As I mentioned during last Thursday’s campus briefing on the 2007 legislative session, much of the University’s success this year was due to a very strong initial budget provided by Governor Gregoire last December.  But what factors lead to her proposing an operating and capital budget for the UW which was one of the best we have seen in many years?

Much of the credit, I believe, was due to the hard work that many within the University put into the Governor’s Washington Learns initiative — an 18-month top to bottom review of the entire state education system, from early learning to K-12 to higher education.  The recommendations included in the November 2006 final report established the policy framework for the Governor’s budget that was followed closely by the legislature during the 2007 session.

Just to set the record straight, let’s take a look at a Washington Learns higher education “report card” for 2007.  Below are the major recommendations contained in the report that dealt with higher education, particularly those related to the UW and other four-year institutions

We recommend that the 2007 Legislature establish a minimum system-wide goal to have all colleges and universities reach at least the 60th percentile of total per-student funding at comparable institutions in the Global Challenge States within ten years.

This goal is fully achieved by the passage of 2SSB 5806 (chapter 151, Laws of 2007).

We recommend that the 2007 Legislature set a cap on annual tuition increases of no more than seven percent.

This goal is fully achieved by the passage of  2SSB 5806 (chapter 151, Laws of 2007).

Beginning in January 2007, the Governor’s budget will describe specific, measurable results expected of colleges and universities in exchange for institutional funding proposed.

This goal is achieved through the passage of the 2007-09 operating budget (Section 604 (11)).

We recommend that the state target enrollment funds and require colleges and universities to expand access in high-demand math and science certification and degree programs.

This goal is achieved for the UW in the 2007-09 biennial budget through the appropriation of $6,975,000 for 500 new FTE enrollments in math, engineering and physical sciences (section 604 (2)).

We recommend beginning in the 2007-08 school year, OSPI identify low and middle-income students who show interest in math and science in middle school.  Those students will be informed that if they do well on the math and science WASL in 10th grade, they will be eligible to apply for a four-year college scholarship for a high-demand math or science degree.

This recommendation was achieved through the passage of ESSHB 1779, the “GET ready for math and science scholarship program”

We recommend that the state provide scholarships and support for low-income students and students who would be the first in their family to graduate from college.

This recommendation was achieved through the passage of E2SSB 5098 which establishes the Washington College Bound Scholarship which guarantees payment of tuition and fees plus $500 per year for books to low income students who will be identified as early as the 7th grade.  They must complete high school with a C average, have no felony convictions and meet certain income requirements.

We recommend the state expand eligibility for the State Need Grant program to low-income working adults who are only able to take one college class per term.

This recommendation was achieved through the passage of ESHB 1179.

There were some recommendations that are still in progress such as a goal to have the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) amend it’s minimum college admissions standards to require three years of math and a proposal to develop ten-year enrollment projections.  A recommendation to have the Governor appoint the executive director of the HECB was not adopted by the legislature.

In total, however, Washington Learns proved to be a big success for higher education as well as for the University.

It’s day three of the 2007 legislative interim and it’s obvious from this past Monday that my golf game needs a lot of work.  What’s still looking very nice though is the UW’s state budget.  As the Governor and legislative leaders have toured the state visiting major newspaper editorial boards during the past few days, progress in higher education continues to come up as a major session success.

The Governor’s staff is now busy reviewing hundreds of bills passed by the legislature (including the three major budgets) for the purpose of making recommendations on which ones to sign, partially veto, or veto entirely.  The Governor has 20 days to act on measures passed within the last five days of a legislative session, so we should look for action on the budget sometime towards the middle or end of the week of May 7.

As for major interim activities, the UW will be busy.  Work must begin shortly with the Office of Financial Management on site selection and other related issues resulting from the creation of a new campus in the Snohomish, Island and Skagit county region.  ESSB 6099 calls for a significant mediation process related to the expansion of SR 520 and a separate process to be directed by the Governor’s office related to planning for high capacity transportation in the SR 520 corridor.