Dear Friends,

Session’s half over

This week marks an important point in session: As of Wednesday, all bills that originated in the Senate had to be voted out of their appropriate policy committees to be considered “alive” for the remainder of session. Bills with a fiscal impact are exempt from that cutoff until Monday, March 5.

I’m proud to say that many bills affecting Spokane made it through that cutoff, including:

• Senate Bill 5115, which would raise the limit of the annual state contribution to Local Infrastructure Financing Tools (LIFT) to $7.5 million from $5.5 million. I’m hopeful this boost will help fund the Kendall Yards project.
• Senate Bill 5616, which would create health sciences and services authorities, helping the Institute for Systems Medicine, an effort to study medicine as a system to treat human disease.

Simple majority

On Wednesday, the state Senate took up a bill (Senate Joint Resolution 8207)on the floor that would allow voters to amend the state constitution so that school levies could pass by a simple 50 percent plus one majority, rather than the current 60 percent supermajority.

It makes no sense to me that education is held to a higher bar than public safety, conservation future, mental health, libraries, jails and sports arenas.

Unfortunately the bill, which because it would amend the constitution requires a two-thirds vote (33 votes in favor), came up short. But I am not giving up. I still hope we can get the necessary votes to finally pass the bill this session.

Many from back home have inquired about why I voted against the bill. Let me clarify: My original vote was “yes.” But once I realized that we didn’t have enough votes to pass it, I switched my vote to “no” for procedural reasons only. My “no” vote allowed the bill to stay alive, so we can vote on it again. When it comes back up, I can assure you I will vote for it.

Domestic partnerships: One step closer

On Thursday, we passed a bill (Senate Bill 5336) that would create a domestic partnership registry in Washington. Domestic partners are defined as those who:

• Share a common residence;
• Are at least 18 years old;
• Are members of the same sex or one individual is at least 62 years old.

The rights granted to domestic partners would include:

• Hospital visitation;
• Ability to give informed consent for health care for a partner who isn’t competent;
• Automatic revocation of power of attorney granted to the partner if the relationship ends;
• Title and rights to cemetery plots and rights of interment;
• Inheritance rights; and
• Administration of an estate if the domestic partner dies without a will.

I’ve said before that I think people both gay and straight can sympathize with the plight of being shut out of a loved one’s hospital room or refused the opportunity to make funeral arrangements. While it is not the full-marriage equality that many are looking for, it’s a first step.

Funding K-12 education

Our state’s education finance model has not been substantially altered for 30 years, and it’s time to do something about it. It won’t be easy to create a funding formula that is transparent, equitable and adequate, but Senate Democrats are committed to doing that.

On Friday, we passed a bill (SB 5627) that creates a task force to review the current basic education definition and funding formulas, and develop a new definition and funding structure. The group would report back to the Legislature with final recommendations by the beginning of next January.

We owe it to our children to ensure they can compete in our increasingly global economy. This measure is one tool we can implement to reach that goal.

Spokane angle: I am well aware of the fact that Spokane schools are expecting an increasing shortfall, and we will consider this as we put our budget together in the Senate.

Visitors to my office

• John Hagney, a social studies teacher at Lewis and Clark high School, recently awarded the Civic Educator Award from the Washington State Senate, visited with me in Olympia. One of 12 members who won the award, he is the only Eastern Washington teacher to be nominated.

Stay tuned for next week’s update!

Sincerely,

Lisa

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