Scott talks Legislature, education funding at town hall

Washington state Rep. Elizabeth Scott participated in a town hall meeting in Sultan on May 17. Invited by block watch President Bob Klement to give an update on the legislative session, Scott gave a brief presentation and fielded questions from meeting attendees.

Along with seat mate Dan Kristiansen, Scott represents the 39th Legislative District, which includes most of Snohomish and Skagit counties, along with a small portion of King County. First elected in 2012, Scott served for two years before being reelected last November. She sits on the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee and the Commerce and Gaming Committee. -á-á

State finances

Scott provided some insight into what goes on in Olympia during legislative sessions, which extend for either 60 or 105 days depending on the year. Odd-numbered years require a longer session because lawmakers are responsible for creating, negotiating and agreeing on the state's two-year budget. The budget timeline for the upcoming biennium extends from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.-á

During the budgeting process, legislators plan how the state will spend revenues for the upcoming two-year period.-á

During the 2015 GÇô 2017 biennium, overall spending in Washington state will top out at more than $83 billion. The state's finances are divided into various budgets, including the general operating budget, transportation and capital facilities. While it stands to reason that the overall state spending would increase over time, Scott pointed out that the increase is actually quite dramatic. During the upcoming biennium, spending will come in at roughly double what it was about 15 years ago.-á

During the 1997 to 1999 biennium, spending came in at $39.4 billion. During the 1999 to 2001 biennium, it came in at $44.5 billion.

"So the spending has increased way faster than the population rate and the inflation rate combined,GÇ¥ Scott said.

And as spending has gone up, so have costs.-á

"That's why the family budget doesn't seem to be stretching as far as it used to,GÇ¥ Scott said. -á -á

Both the Senate and the House work to establish spending priorities based on a recommendation from Gov. Jay Inslee, creating two versions of the two-year budget. This session, legislators weren't able to come to an agreement by the session's adjournment, which is why they were called back into a special session. -á

Budgeting process

The actual budget-making process is accomplished by budget committees like the Senate Ways and Means Committee, House Appropriations and others. As far as negotiating out the differences between the two budgets, there have been several issues hindering the process.

First, Scott explained, there is a $1.5 billion disparity between the House and Senate versions of the budget. While the Senate version doesn't require new taxes, the House version does, which was a barrier in the negotiations. Scott explained that the House wasn't even given the opportunity to vote on the tax hikes that would be required to implement their own budget.-á

When issues like this have occurred in the past, Scott said that the governor will often intervene by setting up a meeting with the top two Republicans and the top two Democrats to facilitate negotiations.-á

"In fact, for the first almost 100 years that we were a state, that's what they did. They didn't go into special session. And they didn't meet every year,GÇ¥ Scott said. "They only met every other year, but they got their work done.GÇ¥

Policy making is problem solving

A major portion of the regular session was spent working on policy. During this year's regular session, which ran from Jan. 20 through April 24, a total of 2,445 bills were introduced in the Legislature. Lawmakers participated in a total of 1,143 roll call votes GÇô 549 in the House and 594 in the Senate. Of those bills voted on by the Legislature, a total of 308 were signed into law.-á

For Scott, policy making is all about problem solving. When not participating in hearings and committee meetings, Scott meets with constituents both in Olympia and in-district. One of her successes this session was House Bill 1422, a bill that prohibits the misrepresentation of a floral product business' geographic location. This prevents out-of-state floral product companies from masquerading as local companies. Scott sponsored the bill after learning about the issue from a local business owner; Inslee signed it into law on May 6. -á

New policy-á

Another issue prolonging the budgeting process, Scott explained, is that the governor is continuing to push policy rather than simply focusing on budget negotiations. Currently, key budget decision-makers are down in Olympia working toward a resolution. Once they are able to come to an agreement, legislators will return to Olympia to vote.-á

"The good news is that both the budgets GÇô both the House and the Senate budget GÇô include some good mental health bills that were passed,GÇ¥ Scott said. "They include some good education bills.GÇ¥

Funding for all-day kindergarten, class-size reductions from kindergarten through third grade and teacher-pay increases are all included in both versions of the budget. MSOC funding, which is funding for materials, supplies and operating costs, was also included in both budgets.

"A lot of times we hear about teachers having to purchase supplies for their classrooms,GÇ¥ Scott said. "Everybody's in agreement that that is wrong.GÇ¥

Several teachers attended the town hall meeting, wanting to discuss concerns over the current state of education funding. A teacher by trade, Scott has a master's degree in teaching English as a foreign language. She taught English as a second language (ESL) courses for 10 years both in the United States and overseas: She spent two years teaching in China and three years teaching at a women's college in the United Arab Emirates.-á

"I was a teacher for 10 years, so I understand how much work it is and I applaud you for stepping forward. I know it's a calling, and that you don't necessarily do it for the money. I get that,GÇ¥ Scott said. "But at the same time, in order to attract good teachers and keep them, you need to be able to pay them a competitive salary.GÇ¥

Both the Senate and the House budgets would fund K-12 education to the point where it would account for 47 percent of the operating budget, which is the highest it's been since the 1980s. This will help achieve the Washington state Supreme Court's mandate of prioritizing K-12 education above everything else. Per the recent McCleary decision, K-12 education must be fully funded by 2018, without the use of local levies.

This is something that Sultan School Board Director Steve Fox confirmed simply isn't happening.-á

"Twenty-five percent of the M and O levy covers salaries of employees GÇô teacher salaries,GÇ¥ Fox said. "The schools are not by any means rich, and in fact, if the state were to shut off all money today, we can't even meet the next payroll. That's how little money is actually there.GÇ¥-á

In 2007, the McCleary case alleged that the state was again failing to fulfill its constitutional mandate. As a result, education funding has been on the forefront of the agenda.-á

"Another part of the conversation regarding teaching and education is all the unfunded mandates that come down from both Washington, D.C. and Olympia,GÇ¥ Scott said. "This is a personal pet peeve of mine.GÇ¥

Common core-á

Common Core is one of those mandates. Preliminary data on Common Core indicates that school districts are on the hook for millions of dollars just to implement the testing. While she hasn't yet accumulated data reflecting statewide costs, Scott reported that the Everett School District is spending more than $2 million on Common Core testing and the Kitsap School District is spending more than $1 million implementing just one portion of it.-á

"I proposed a bill for a full repeal of Common Core right at the end of session,GÇ¥ Scott said. "It didn't go anywhere GÇô it didn't have time GÇô but we will be bringing it back in January for the next session.GÇ¥

There are a total of 295 school districts in Washington state, and when you start to add up the millions of dollars that will be spent implementing Common Core, Scott said, the number is significant.-á

"I am a Republican, but I hate crony capitalism. I'm not that kind of big-business Republican GÇô I'm more liberty-leaning,GÇ¥ Scott said. "I want as small a government as possible, as long as we can implement what our state and federal constitution say that government should be doing. So, in this case, on this topic, education is of paramount importance in our state constitution so it is a priority of state government.GÇ¥

Scott hopes to be back in Olympia on Tuesday, May 26.-á