The legislative session in Olympia finally closed up shop after 135 days at about 10:30 p.m. May 25 and a tired group of lawmakers made their way home following one of the most difficult biennial budget sessions in state history.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Democrat Sen. Karen Keiser, of Des Moines, representing the 33rd District said by phone Tuesday, “I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I had. It was awful.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Keiser said in the operating budget “everyone took cuts. There were no winners.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, has been in Olympia seven years as a legislator for the 47th and he was serving as the House Democratic Caucus majority leader for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“Last year was bad, but this was the most difficult by a long shot,” Sullivan said. “We knew going in it was all about the budget.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sullivan said the legislators had to cut about $4.5 billion from a state budget that had been sheared last year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“It was painful,” Sullivan said. “But given the circumstances it was the best we could produce.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
One of the victories for Keiser was keeping the “infrastructure for health care.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The senator noted at the opening of the session three key health care safety net programs were threatened: Washington Basic Health, childrens’ health and disability programs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“All three were very much on the bubble,” Keiser said. “They came out reduced but still functioning.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Keiser said prior to the Great Recession there were more than 100,000 signed up for the basic health program and it has been reduced through cuts to 34,000 today.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sullivan noted despite the cuts, “We kept a lot of critical programs for people including basic health and child health. The majority of the kids in the state will have health care.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The representative said a number of local projects were funded in the capital budget including money for parks in Kent and Covington and funds for the M Street project in Auburn.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
First-term senator Republican Joe Fain, of Auburn, representing the 47th stated he voted against the operating budget mainly because of the “proposed cuts in K-12 dollars.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fain said he was fearful with the cuts to teachers’ compensation some school districts could be facing the task of trying to renegotiate labor contracts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“There is so much uncertainty what this is going to look like,” Fain said. “This was ugly, hurtful budget, but it is more sustainable than in the past.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fain said the total cuts to K-12 teacher, administration and classified employee compensation added up to nearly $180 million in savings. The senator noted each school would have to decide how to make the cuts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“Some (teachers or administrators) may get a pink slip and then be hired back,” Fain said. “That is not a good system for K-12.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
He also noted it is possible in some districts teachers won’t see much of a change.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Despite his disagreement with the operating budget and the cuts to K-12, Fain said “there was a great effort to bring about a process never seen before…. I think most folks are serving with a good heart and trying to come to a conclusion that fits into their values.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rep. Mark Hargrove, R-Covington, from the 47th, said he knew going in “we had been kicking the barrel down the road and what we ended up with was awful.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hargrove said he believes because the budget problems have been growing and had not been addressed in earlier sessions, this budget became much more difficult to balance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“It didn’t need to be this way,” Hargrove said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hargrove voted against the budget stating the “money needs to be kept in the classroom.”<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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