A look back, a look ahead

The citizens of Washington share an ambition that is simple yet profound: We all want the greatest chance of success for our families. We want to make progress for our children and grandchildren. We want to keep our parents and grandparents in comfort in their golden years. And we want our communities to stay strong, stay safe and stay together.

Senate Democrats share this ambition. We are continually working to build upon the quality of life in our communities, and to bring that high quality of life to more people throughout the state.

As we prepare for the 2006 legislative session, which begins Jan. 9, Senate Democrats are taking stock of the tremendous progress we made in 2005 for Washington’s children, seniors and working families. The 2005-07 budget we proudly wrote with Gov. Christine Gregoire and our colleagues in the House of Representatives created major opportunities in education, health care and the economy of our great state.

These opportunities include:

Educating the work force of tomorrow:

• We funded voter-approved initiatives to lower class sizes (I-728) and retain excellent teachers (I-732);
• Boosted early childhood education programs;
• Added thousands more higher education enrollments and need-based grants; and
• Passed the best school-construction budget in state history.

Ensuring a healthy population today:

• We set in motion a plan that will assure all children in our state have health care coverage by 2010;
• Approved landmark mental health parity legislation to ensure that diseases of the mind receive the same level of treatment in insurance plans as diseases of the body.
• Expanded the state’s prescription drug program; and
• Increased funding for long-term assistance facilities.

Growing the economy and creating 21st century jobs:

• We strengthened our benefits system designed to help families between jobs;
• Approved the largest transportation package in our state’s history to save lives, move people and deliver goods throughout the state;
• Created the billion dollar Life Sciences Discovery Fund to fuel Washington’s burgeoning biotechnology sector; and
• Created the Job Development Fund to revitalize local infrastructure and generate 6,000 jobs statewide.

We also passed landmark legislation:

• Bringing cleaner-running cars with better gas mileage to Washington;
• Making Washington the first state in the nation to require that public buildings meet “green building” standards;
• Improving our elections system; and
• Making government more accountable to the people.

All told, these accomplishments made 2005 one of the most productive years in recent history. Not only that, but we met the challenge of closing a $1.7 billion budget shortfall without a general tax increase, and we adjourned on time.

Compare this to the 2003-05 slash-and-burn budget written by Senate Republicans that:

• Slashed voter-approved education spending;
• Drained higher education funding;
• Eviscerated health care and other programs for children;
• Slapped a bed-tax on elderly nursing home residents; and
• Decimated benefits for workers between jobs –
• All while giving big business huge tax breaks, and
• Burning through two special sessions to do it!

Clearly, Washington needs to stay on the progressive road Senate Democrats are paving, and we intend to keep the momentum going forward.

The 2006 legislative session is right ahead. It will be a short session this year – 60 days instead of 105 days like last session. We won’t write a budget this time around; instead we’ll make minor adjustments to the two-year budget we just wrote. Last year was the building year. This year is the planning year.

Thanks in part to Senate Democrats’ progressive policies, state coffers are flush with $1.4 billion in new revenue. We’ve already heard dozens of great-sounding uses for the surplus funds. But even though the economy is currently very hot, our state has seen economic downturns before, and we know we can expect them again.

Our first priority as stewards of your tax dollars is to keep the state solvent – in good times and bad – by paying down future costs now while we have the chance. This will ensure the continual creation of opportunities in education, health care and the economy of tomorrow that the people of Washington want and deserve, leaving no room for the Republicans’ scorched-earth policies of the past.

Securing the long-term effectiveness of our state resources includes:

• Fully funding the drop in revenue in the two of our state’s eleven pension plans negatively affected by the economic downturn after Sept. 11;
• Responding to population increases in our education and corrections systems;
• Shoring up our community mental health funding system to avoid the costly effects of not providing treatment to those who need it;
• Reforming our Work First program to become even more effective in ending the cycle of poverty;
• Setting aside a statewide Emergency Management Fund to ensure adequate and timely emergency relief efforts;
• Addressing fuel price increases;
• Helping needy Washington families with increased heating costs this winter with the “Warm Homes” Initiative; and
• Leaving a responsible reserve fund to protect our economy and state services.

Education. Two key initiatives aimed at ensuring that Washington’s education system provides our citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to obtain 21st century jobs include:

• Improving WASL preparation and remediation with the 2008 graduation requirement fast approaching; and
• Strengthening the state’s early learning system by creating a cabinet-level early learning department.

Health Care. Two key initiatives aimed at expanding access to affordable health care for all include:

• Responding to voters’ rejection of I-330 and I-336 by addressing patient safety and medical malpractice issues; and
• Helping small businesses provide their employees with health care coverage.

Economy. Our “Growing Power” Initiative helping Washington farmers into the burgeoning market for biodiesel could help make alternative fuels a regional cash crop, while protecting our environment and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Environment. Several measures we’re considering for the protection of our clean and beautiful natural resources include:

• Banning the sale of products containing dangerous toxic flame retardants, which have some of the highest levels of concentration in the Pacific Northwest compared to the rest of the world;
• Improving Puget Sound water quality and fish recovery by coordinating and funding cleanup efforts, especially in sensitive areas like the Hood Canal region; and
• Preventing toxic metals from entering our waterways by ensuring safe and environmental disposal of end-of-life electronic products.

We look forward to another productive session and to adjourning on time once again.