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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Remote participation now firmly embedded in WA Legislature
The Senate chambers at the Washington state Capitol. (Legislative Support Services) Washington state lawmakers long resisted routinely taking testimony from those not seated in a committee hearing room. But when forced by the pandemic to operate remotely for two sessions, their minds changed and it is reshaping public involvement in the legislative process. Thousands signed up to testify remotely this past legislative session. They took part from their homes, their offices and their cars. Thousands more, sometimes tens of thousands, who did not want to speak still went online to register support or opposition to pending legislation. Organizations pressing to pass or defeat bills sometimes cited the numbers to bolster their arguments. When crowds did pack hearings on controversial bills, lawmakers wanted to know how many had taken a stand via the online option, as another barometer of public opinion. 'It's encouraging to see more people engaging — testifying in committee, sharing comments on legislation, and emailing lawmakers,' said House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma. 'We've worked to expand these options so that people across the state, including those far from Olympia, can participate.' House committees held 326 meetings with public hearings this past session. For those, 11,768 people signed up to testify in person or remotely and 8,963, or 76%, did get to say their piece, according to tallies provided by legislative staff. Another 585,378 people signed in with a viewpoint but did not wish to testify. In the Senate, there were 302 committee sessions with hearings and 10,037 people sought to speak. There were 615,023 people who weighed in without testifying in the course of the 105-day session, three times as many as the shorter 2024 session. 'It's a good thing. It means more public engagement. Now they have a way to express their opinion on a deeply unpopular bill,' said Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia. 'That's good for democracy. Braun points to what transpired with Democrat-sponsored legislation to repeal a voter-approved limit on property tax growth. Republicans fought the bill in both chambers, rallying residents to state their opposition at public hearings. On March 31, when the Senate version reached the Senate Ways and Means Committee, 308 people signed in to speak, with 288 opposed. Of the 45,174 not wishing to testify, 42,865 signed in as opposed, based on sign-in logs posted online. A similar scenario unfolded April 3 in the House Finance Committee for a hearing on the original House bill to hike the cap on the annual property tax growth factor. This time, 16,027 people who did not testify signed in opposed, versus 2,183 in support. Eventually, the controversial provision was stripped from this bill. 'Providing the option of remote testimony helps open the door to the state capital and allows more voices to be heard before laws are passed affecting the daily lives of citizens and businesses,' said Jason Mercier, who lobbied hard for allowing remote testimony a decade ago while working at the Washington Policy Center. Mercier recalled testifying remotely for the first time in May 2013 at a hearing chaired by Republican Mike Padden, the former Spokane state senator who embraced the idea early on as a way for his constituents to participate without having to travel to Olympia. Six years later, the Senate committed to making remote testimony a permanent option and the House leaned into doing it on a trial basis with several of its panels. This allowed Washington's Legislature to hit the ground running during the pandemic, said Mercier, now vice president and director of research for Mountain States Policy Center in Idaho. COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, worsening after that year's short legislative session. Lawmakers worked entirely from home in 2021 and only a handful could be on the floor at any one time in 2022. Since returning in-person, they've made it routine to participate from outside Olympia. 'It took time and effort, but Washington state is now the model for other states across the country for remote testimony,' Mercier said.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Frank Chopp, a force that reshaped Washington's political landscape
House Speaker Frank Chopp delivering remarks in the House of Representatives on Jan. 11, 2016, the first day of the legislative session. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services) Frank Chopp, a citizen activist who became the state of Washington's longest-serving House speaker, spent a half-century relentlessly agitating for social change. It seemed fitting then that Chopp, who died in March, would deliver a final call for action to hundreds attending his memorial service in Bellevue on Sunday. 'We have made so much progress, but let us also remember how lucky we are,' he says in a taped excerpt of a speech on the opening day of a legislative session. 'None of us go without a paycheck, none of us go hungry, none of us go homeless, none of us lack health care, none of us lack the opportunity to get an education.' 'The people we represent just want what we have,' he said. 'So we have a lot to do. Let's get to work.' Applause and cheers erupted through the crowd of lawmakers past and present, community leaders, current and former governors, and family friends gathered in the Meydenbauer Center to celebrate Chopp, whose death March 22 at the age of 71 stunned them, coming less than three months after his political retirement. For two hours, they told stories and paid tribute to the mustachioed maestro of politics, a streetwise and strategic solon who sought no higher office than the Seattle legislative seat he occupied for three decades. A Democrat, he managed to be both high-profile and behind the scenes, fomenting change without leaving visible fingerprints. 'With Speaker Chopp, we witnessed a rare fusion: the heart of an organizer, the strategy of a legislator and the savvy of a political mastermind,' said Teresa Mosqueda, a King County Council member. 'Frank blended these elements into a force that reshaped our social contract.' Former Gov. Jay Inslee said Chopp's blend of personal passion and strategic ability was the 'rocket fuel' that drove significant housing, health care and social justice policies across the finish line. Though only one person with one vote, his role in pushing the state to strengthen the social safety net, build affordable housing and improve public schools is unmatched, they said. 'Frank Chopp was the greatest legislator in the last century. Period,' proclaimed Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, a close friend and fellow Democrat. Chopp had two North Stars. There was his family: Nancy Long, his wife of 41 years, and Ellie and Narayan, their children. Chopp would tear up when he'd mention them on the House floor, for they were his touchstone. He was 'an equal partner at home,' doing the laundry and shopping and 'showing up for the small stuff,' Long recounted. Amid the steady seriousness of the job, she said he was funny and 'sometimes downright goofy.' His other North Star was adapting government to serve the state's most vulnerable. 'His daily focus from the time he was in college to the very day he died was improving the lives of others,' Long said. 'Frank started with no connections, no positional power, no money, no real standing. What he had were these very adaptive personal traits, a very solid understanding of history, a curious and amazingly agile mind and a total disregard for the status quo.' Chopp was first elected to represent Seattle's 43rd Legislative District in 1994, an election that proved catastrophic for many other Democrats. His party lost more than two dozen seats, going from a near supermajority in the House to a 62-36 minority. He ascended to leader of the House Democratic Caucus and, in 1999, became co-speaker with Republican Clyde Ballard of East Wenatchee when there were equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the House. Democrats won a special election in Snohomish County in 2001 to gain control of the chamber and installed Chopp as speaker in 2002, a job he kept until stepping aside in 2019. He won two more elections before retiring last year. Chopp understood persistence and patience could achieve lasting progress while impatience could trigger a political recoil. 'He believed it only mattered to be right if you were getting results,' Long said. As speaker, Chopp's sometimes cautious approach, or pragmatism, depending on one's perspective, incited the pique of the caucus' more caffeinated progressives. 'He was not an incrementalist,' declared Mosqueda, who emceed the portion of the memorial devoted to building on Chopp's legislative and political legacy. 'He knew that bold, progressive victories require smart, strategic steps. He was relentless in his drive to dismantle inequity, and his strategies were thus layered and often multi-year.' Inslee said Chopp recognized the potential that a temporary victory could derail policies and cause Democrats to lose seats. 'He made sure that we didn't get too far out ahead of the people,' he said. Chopp was the grandson of Croatian immigrants. His father began working in the Roslyn coal mines at age 12 and later became a union electrician at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. His mother served as a school cafeteria employee. She left school at 14 to work but earned her high school diploma from Green River Community College at age 65, according to his obituary. He grew up in Bremerton and graduated from the University of Washington. He served several years as executive director of the Fremont Public Association, now known as Solid Ground, which offers resources such as food banks, housing and employment programs. In his 30 years as a lawmaker, he focused heavily on housing and homelessness, working to increase the amount of affordable housing across the state, improve access to homeownership and house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He helped start the Seattle Tenants Union and the Cascade Shelter Project, living in a geodesic dome in a rented parking stall to bring attention to the need for affordable housing in the area. He helped lead efforts to set up the state's Housing Trust Fund and its Apple Health and Homes program, which uses Medicaid dollars to fund housing. Creation of the state's covenant homeownership program was one of the crowning achievements of his tenure. Chopp also pushed policies to expand behavioral health care facilities, child care access and student financial aid for more Washingtonians. Yona Makowski, a longtime budget analyst with the House Democratic Caucus, said Chopp was 'willing to break tradition and adapt government procedures' to achieve broader objectives. 'I'll lose my composure if I talk about what Frank meant to me,' she said, instead offering what her family members thought of him. 'They knew him from me talking about him at the dinner table.' 'My son thought he was a great strategist in getting meaningful things done to help disadvantaged people. My daughter compared him to the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, but if the wizard was actually the hero,' Makowski said. 'And lastly, my late husband perhaps said it best, Frank was a very good man.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Behind the scenes, Ferguson backed bill to cap rent increases for months
Gov. Bob Ferguson speaks to lawmakers and other officials at the state Capitol on Jan. 15, 2025, during his inaugural address. Throughout the legislative session, Ferguson indicated he would support legislation to cap rent increases, but he never voiced public support for the bill. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services) State Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, one of the chief architects of legislation to cap rent hikes across Washington, says Gov. Bob Ferguson's team has made clear to lawmakers since the second week of the legislative session, back in January, that he supports the measure. But even with the bill approved by the Legislature and awaiting his signature, Ferguson repeatedly declined to take a public stance on it. He finally did so Wednesday when pressed about Trudeau's comments. The situation has stoked frustration for Trudeau, who would like to see the legislation swiftly enacted. It also underscores Ferguson's reluctance to weigh in publicly on many of the biggest policy debates that unfolded over the past four months, ahead of the session wrapping up Sunday. 'I don't want to assign any nefarious motives,' Trudeau, D-Tacoma, said in an interview Wednesday. 'I honestly feel confused.' There've been other frictions between Democratic lawmakers and the first-term Democratic governor during his opening months in office, including over Ferguson's opposition to their wealth tax and other revenue proposals amid a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. 'This confusion, this last-minute position or non-position, that feels pretty on-par for what it's felt like,' Trudeau said. Talking to reporters Friday about the rent legislation, House Bill 1217, and another controversial bill to give unemployment benefits to workers on strike, the governor said 'there's different perspectives on those bills within the Democratic caucus, and I respect that.' At the time, lawmakers were on the cusp of passing both bills after extensive debate. 'We're having conversations, and want to be helpful, and I'm confident they'll get to a resolution on both those bills and get those to my desk, but we're letting that process play out,' continued Ferguson. On Wednesday, the governor's communications director, Brionna Aho, said in a statement that the governor's office has a process to 'thoroughly review' bills after they pass. 'The governor has rarely offered public comment on bills prior to the completion of that process,' Aho said. 'The governor is supportive of the policy, but we need to complete our process before he offers further comment,' she said of the rent bill. Aho pointed out that there have been multiple versions of the legislation and that changes were still being made to it in the final two days of the session. But the main goal of the proposal — to cap rent increases across the state — has remained the same for months. The bill would limit annual rent increases to 7% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, for the next 15 years. It would also allow for only 5% rent hikes for manufactured homes in perpetuity. Landlords also wouldn't be able to raise rents in the first 12 months of a tenancy. New construction would be exempt for its first 12 years. As lawmakers hammered out these details throughout the session, Ferguson's staff told them the governor would sign whatever final compromise they reached, said Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, the chair of the House Housing Committee. Trudeau is pleading with Ferguson to sign the bill as soon as possible. The restrictions on rent hikes would go into effect immediately upon his signature. She worries landlords are speeding up rent increases, knowing they'll be restricted once Ferguson OKs it. Before joining the state Senate, Trudeau worked with Ferguson for years in the attorney general's office, including as his legislative director. In her experience, when he supports legislation, he makes that clear. In this case, his staff even worked with sponsors to figure out what changes could be made to the contentious rent legislation to curry votes from on-the-fence Democrats, she said. It's not the first time Trudeau has directed critical feedback toward her former boss. She was also the most vocal lawmaker last month about hostile workplace concerns in Ferguson's office, caused by former top adviser Mike Webb, who resigned. Trudeau said she was proud of many of Ferguson's actions while he was attorney general. 'I want to be proud of him as governor,' Trudeau said. 'When the pressure is high is exactly when we need to show up for our people.' Landlords and developers ardently opposed the rent legislation, arguing it would force them to leave the state. Well-funded housing industry groups targeted moderate Democratic senators to get them to vote against House Bill 1217. On Wednesday, the Housing Solutions Coalition urged Ferguson to veto the proposed law, arguing it 'will further hurt renters by driving down housing stock.' The coalition is led by Marcia Fudge, the former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden Administration, and Steve Stivers, a Republican former congressman from Ohio. The policy's supporters say it'll give predictability to renters, and highlight other bills passed this year to boost housing supply, along with $605 million in new funding for affordable housing in the state's Housing Trust Fund. As part of Ferguson's transition to the governor's mansion, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck presented a plan of attack to deal with the state's housing crisis. One of the report's premises was to figure out a way to prevent price-gouging, and the rent legislation does that, Heck recently told reporters. 'The question is, are the rules too constrictive for them to make the investment?' asked Heck, also a Democrat. 'And that's what I don't know the answer to. I don't think any of us does.' Trudeau recognizes it's normal for new officials, especially governors, to feel things out in their first legislative session. She just wants Ferguson to quickly stand up for working people and renters. 'We've got a long road ahead of us and we hope he can figure it out,' Trudeau said. Ferguson has until mid-May to sign the limit on rent increases into law.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers condemn protest at home of Democratic WA legislator
Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, is the first formerly incarcerated legislator in Washington state. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services) Lawmakers have sprung to the defense of a Washington state lawmaker who faced a protest at her home over the weekend. Rep. Tarra Simmons estimated 20-25 protesters showed up at her Bremerton home on Saturday. The Democratic lawmaker held two town hall events that day in her district and was planning to stop at home after the first, but said she got calls from neighbors about the demonstration, so stayed away. 'I believe that people should have a right to free speech and assembly, I just wish they'd do it at my office or the Capitol,' Simmons said Tuesday. Matthew Adams, who ran for Bremerton City Council in 2021, took credit for the hourlong protest. He said the demonstrators stayed on public property. 'We were pretty respectful,' he added. He said they focused on Simmons because of her approach to public safety. Simmons, who was formerly incarcerated, has been a staunch advocate for strengthening rights and improving conditions for people in the criminal justice system, including those in prison. 'Criminals come to our homes, so why can't we go to theirs?' Adams said Tuesday. Some of the signs at the protest included a mugshot of Simmons. Another called her a 'Tarra-ist.' Elected in 2020, Simmons said her legislative career has been about eliminating the stigma people continue to face long after leaving prison. Her criminal record has been expunged. 'This harassment could lead people to relapse and recidivate,' she said. 'Lack of opportunity and constant harassment of people who have been incarcerated is what I'm trying to fight.' The tactics drew condemnation from both sides of the aisle. 'I think it is out of line for people to be targeted at their private homes for their political views,' said House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle. House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, agreed. 'I don't think it's morally right to be harassing folks in their own home and making them feel unsafe,' he said. But he also called Simmons 'soft on crime.' One of her proposals, House Bill 1125, would pave the way for felony offenders to petition for a new prison sentence. But the House didn't pass the measure before a deadline, so it is likely dead for the year. 'By protesting at her house, you lose the very good message, which is that Tarra Simmons wants to let criminals out of jail early, and, instead, how the protest was conducted was the story, and I don't think that's wise,' Stokesbary said. Stokesbary hopes Democratic leaders condemn protests at the homes of Republican lawmakers, citing Washington Education Association demonstrations over the past decade. After the protest at her home, demonstrators took to Simmons' town hall in Bremerton, which she attended with her seatmates. Adams said he called her a 'scumbag' there. He said he likes Democratic Rep. Greg Nance, who is also from Kitsap County, but not Simmons. Adams said he doesn't plan to hold another similar protest, saying he thought this one was effective. In recent years, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck has championed bringing greater civility to politics. He spearheaded the development of the Project for Civic Health with the University of Washington, Henry M. Jackson Foundation and William D. Ruckelshaus Center. A report from the group found governing has gotten harder at the local level, with more than one mayor reporting protesters outside their homes. One had that happen during a wedding. 'The incapacity for civil dialogue across differing opinions is a serious disease of our body politic,' the report reads.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Major boost to special education funding gets Washington Senate approval
Washington state Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, speaks on the Senate floor in an undated photo. (Legislative Support Services) State senators delivered a resounding message Wednesday that a looming budget shortfall cannot deter them from upping special education funding for Washington public schools. On a 48-0 vote, the Senate approved a bill to provide another $2 billion in the next four years for special education services in the state's 295 public school districts. Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, and Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, are the sponsors of Senate Bill 5263 which identifies special education as a component of basic education that the state has a duty to fund. Pedersen said the tight budget situation is going to involve 'some wrenching choices' but the state Constitution 'is very clear that funding basic education is our paramount duty.' 'It is going to be expensive for us, but the fact that it is expensive doesn't change that on the ground we've got kids with special needs who are in our charge and are relying on us to make sure that they get the education to which they're entitled,' he said. Braun pointed out that when the state Supreme Court issued its landmark McCleary decision over a decade ago, the justices did not address special education. In that ruling, the court found the state was not meeting its constitutional obligation to amply fund basic education. 'It was always deeply disappointing to me that we didn't really get after this issue,' he said. 'This bill, I think, is really the gold standard.' 'This is a tough year budget-wise. I do have deep concerns about this kind of move,' he said, citing the cost and other fiscal challenges. 'I know that there's a lot of time to go in the session before we settle on a final budget number, but I hope that we do make real progress in this area.' The bill will next go to the House for consideration. Superintendents of school districts on both sides of the Cascades are pressing this session for additional state aid, saying they are forced to use local levy dollars to pay for programs and services that are the state's financial responsibility. Some districts are strapped for cash and facing monitoring by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Shortly before the Senate vote, state schools superintendent Chris Reykdal delivered a letter to legislative leaders saying it is 'imperative' they provide sufficient funding for public schools. 'If we don't make significant investments now in special education and materials and supplies, we will see a larger number of school districts in binding conditions (financial oversight), with additional cuts to programming and staff in nearly all districts statewide,' he wrote. But the extent to which lawmakers can help out is limited by the need for austerity in the face of a budget shortfall estimated at $12 billion or more over the next four fiscal years. Last week, the Senate agreed to send another $200 million to districts in the next budget to cover materials, supplies and operating costs — MSOC in state budget lingo. These costs, which cover non-employee-related expenses tied to a district's daily operations, have surged. Senate Bill 5192, which passed on a 47-2 vote, originally directed $300 million to districts but was trimmed in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That bill also awaits action in the House. Special education is the area where the gap is largest between what districts receive from the state and what they pay for with local dollars. Funding is distributed in Washington using two key mechanisms. First, there is a cap on the percentage of a school district's student population that can receive extra dollars for special education services. Under current law, the state only provides additional funding for up to 16% of a district's student population. In other words, if 20% of a district's population requires special education services, the district cannot get additional money for the remaining 4%. Second, the state distributes an amount of money for each student enrolled in a school, plus additional dollars for each special education student under a formula known as the multiplier. The Senate bill approved Wednesday would remove the enrollment cap and increase the multiplier in order to drive more dollars to districts. It also simplifies the formula used by the state to determine how much will be provided per student. And it makes it easier for districts to qualify for additional special education dollars through a safety net program run by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. As now written, the legislation would add $915 million into special education in the next two-year budget and another $1.1 billion in the 2027-29 biennium, according to a fiscal analysis. That's much less than the original bill would have provided. That more generous version steered $3.5 billion more into special education through mid-2029 but budgetary concerns led to its slimming. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will consider a bill to reduce state funding for bonuses for teachers who earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Educators with such certification receive an extra $6,324 a year plus another $5,000 if they work in a high-poverty school. In Washington, there are about 8,650 teachers who are national board certified and, of those, about 4,800 work at high-poverty schools. Senate Bill 5737 would trim each bonus to $3,000 starting next school year. Each would increase annually by the amount of inflation. Former Gov. Jay Inslee proposed pausing the bonuses entirely to save $151 million in the next budget and Gov. Bob Ferguson has endorsed the idea too. Reykdal opposes the move and is not supportive of permanently reducing the sums either. Braun issued a statement late Wednesday saying the bonuses should not be cut, calling them a 'valuable' tool in recruiting and retaining teachers.
