Rep. Kristiansen recaps lengthy legislative session

Washington State 39th District Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Monroe, presented at the Monroe City Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11, giving councilmembers an overview of the 2015 legislative session. One for the record books, this year's 176-day legislative session was the longest in state history.

A 25-year resident of the Monroe area, Kristiansen has served in the House of Representatives since 2003. In 2013 he was asked to take over as the House Minority Leader, after his predecessor was stricken ill. As the minority leader, Kristiansen's time in Olympia is spent negotiating issues pertaining to the budget as a whole, rather than pushing individual pieces of legislation.

During odd-numbered years, lawmakers are tasked with planning how the state will spend revenues for the next two years. As such, negotiating the 2015 GÇô 2017 biennium budget figured at the top of Kristiansen's priority list.

Planned operating budget expenditures topped out at more $38 billion, much higher than the $23 billion operating budget passed during his freshman year in 2003.-á -á

"Seeing that large of an increase over 13 sessions has been an enormous thing for me to have to wrestle with,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said.

The $38.2 billion general fund portion of the operating budget is only a piece of the overall operating budget, which amounts to roughly 80 percent of the overall state spending. State finances are divided into various budgets, including transportation, capital facilities and the operating budget.

Kristiansen's seatmate, Elizabeth Scott, R-Monroe, has kept close tabs on the overall state spending since being elected in 2012.

She recently shared that during the 2015 GÇô17 biennium, state spending will top out at more than $93.2 billion; $7.8 billion in transportation, $6.6 billion in capital facilities and $78.8 billion in the total operating budget.

The operating budget funds items like K-12 education, human services, governmental operations, natural resources and higher education.

This year it took lawmakers three special sessions to agree on the operating budget, which was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee just before midnight on Tuesday, June 30. The budget received broad support in both the Senate and House, passing with a 38-10 vote in the Senate and a 90-8 vote in the House.

"On the positive side, this was the largest "Yes' vote on a state budget we've had in more than 60 years, which is pretty astounding,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said.-á "The operating budget, typically, is a pretty partisan budget. Two years ago, we saw the largest "Yes' vote we'd seen in 25 years, and everybody thought that was astounding.GÇ¥

In addition to haggling over the operating budget, legislators were stymied by transportation issues during the special session, despite the fact that the transportation budget was passed on time during the regular session. This was due to the 16-year, $16-billion dollar transportation investment package; an additional bill meant to fund transportation projects across the state.

House Republicans were disappointed with the transportation package, which included an 11.9-cent gas tax increase and an emergency clause.

Per the Washington State Constitution, an emergency clause ensures that a bill can't be subject to referendum, which gives voters the opportunity to either repeal or accept the law. House Republicans introduced an amendment to remove the emergency clause and add a referendum clause, but the amendment was defeated by House Democrats.

Kristiansen voted "No' on the transportation package for several reasons, including the emergency clause and what he felt was an insufficient level of funding for U.S. 2 safety improvements. The bill earmarked $15 million to safety projects along U.S. 2, a roadway sometimes referred to as the "Highway of Death.GÇ¥

"It's a drop in the bucket,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said.

Kristiansen is hoping lawmakers can eventually reshape the way that transportation projects are funded in Washington. Most states, he said, don't rely on increased taxes to fund transportation projects.

"Most states don't,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said. "Most states actually use a percentage of their operating budget or capital budget for transportation, and we're pushing forward on that.GÇ¥-á

One of problems with the way the state's transportation budget is managed, said Kristiansen, is that funds are inequitably distributed around the state. Over the last 13 years, U.S. 2 has been systematically placed on the back burner, while projects located in close proximity to Seattle and Bellevue have been given priority, he said. This has resulted in rural highways and byways becoming neglected and poorly maintained.

"Two-thirds of the budget has gone into less than a 10-mile diameter area, and less than one-third of the population either works there or lives there,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said. "We need to change how we do that, and that's going to be something that we're looking at.GÇ¥

Looking into the future, Kristiansen wants to zero in on ways for legislators to become better stewards of the state's tax revenue.-á -á

"We don't have a revenue problem,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said. "We have a spending problem.GÇ¥

Another hot topic during this year's session was marijuana. Kristiansen said that he recognized that some cities, like Monroe, wanted the legal ability to opt out of Initiative 502.

Citing various reasons, including the disparity between state and federal law, elected officials in Monroe have actively worked to disallow the processing, production and retail sale of marijuana since the passage of I-502 in 2012.

Earlier this year, the city council implemented expanded buffer zones, later transitioning to an outright ban. The ordinance banning marijuana-related businesses in Monroe passed on April 21.

"We worked very diligently to make sure that there were some options available for our cities,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said.

Kristiansen invited everyone to stay in touch with him, as communications in Olympia are structured to be highly interactive. Constituents can contact Kristiansen while he's debating issues and participating in votes.-á -á

"We actually have legislators from around the United States come to Olympia to see how we interact technologically,GÇ¥ Kristiansen said. "You can actually communicate with us while we're on the floor of the House or the Senate.GÇ¥

For more information about Kristiansen, visit houserepublicans.wa.gov/dan-kristiansen/.