In just two short months, on January 10th, I’ll be heading back to Olympia to start the 2010 legislative session, and we’ll have our work cut out for us. Just a year after tackling a $9 billion budget deficit – the largest in our state’s history - we’re faced with another $2 billion shortfall. This means we’ll be forced to look at even more program cuts and savings enhancements to keep Washington fiscally sound as well as keep our well established social safety-net in place for our most vulnerable.
I also believe we, as Washingtonians, need to have an honest and frank conversation about our expectations vs. our revenues. We have high expectations for our schools, our mental health, senior and healthcare programs, public safety, our environmental programs and other issues that define the health, culture and happiness of our communities. On the other hand, we have revenues that are lower than necessary to meet these expectations. In the 2009 session, Democrats cut an unprecedented $9 billion or ¼ from our state budget - without raising taxes. These cuts hurt, bad. Many critical programs in our local communities were impacted.
As we begin the next session, I believe we have to answer an important question: Do we want to lower our expectations – further cutting programs, or discuss tax reform and raising additional revenues. We need not to be afraid of discussing program cuts, tax reform or a combination. However, when discussing tax reform and revenues I think it is necessary to not only discuss new revenue streams, but also evaluate existing taxes, such as the Business and Occupation Tax.
I have been speaking to many of you for a year now about my thoughts that on this matter and I have heard many diverse opinions. Significant majorities of you have told me that further cuts to our most critical programs are not acceptable. However, on the revenue side,
while some feel that there may be more cuts that can be made, others of you feel that we need to discuss new revenues. I appreciate this ongoing dialogue as it is thought provoking, informative and helps me define my positions. I look forward to hearing from more of you.
Below I provide a bit of information on our current tax structure and an update on what’s going on in our state with regards to the economy, some of the projects I’ve been involved in over the summer, and a preview of what’s to come in January.
Also I want to encourage you to come out to our Health Care Town Hall, Nov. 23rd in Bellingham. I’ll be joined by Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, Chair of the Senate Health and Long-term Care Committee, Rep. Eileen Cody, D-Seattle, Chair of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee and other healthcare experts. They will discuss the state-level changes for health care and the impacts and opportunities presented by the changes at the federal level.
Health Care Town Hall
· Monday, Nov. 23, 2009
· 7:00-9:00 p.m.
· Whatcom County Council Chambers
311 Grand Ave. Suite 105
Bellingham, WA 98225
As always, feel free to get in touch with me or my legislative assistant Ann Larsen at our Anacortes office at 360-899-5638, or e-mail me at ranker.kevin@leg.wa.gov . For our 60-day session, between January and March we’ll be in the Olympia office, 360-786-7678.
Sincerely,
Sen. Kevin Ranker
Health care reform
Skyrocketing health care costs continue to take a huge toll on state budgets. The passage of health reform legislation in the U.S .House of Representatives raised hopes here in Washington that comprehensive reform will be enacted soon to lower costs and provide everyone with quality, affordable coverage. It’s something states like Washington, which spend tens of billions a year on health care, have needed for decades.
Our state has taken steps over the years to address the problem by, among other things, creating the Basic Health Plan, but absent a strong federal partner, the future of BHP and other health programs will remain in jeopardy. To give you a scope of the health care picture here in Washington:
· Currently an estimated 876,000 Washingtonians are uninsured.
· In 2007, total Medicaid spending totaled $5.7 billion. Of that amount, the state paid $2.7 billion.
· In 2004 alone, total health care spending in Washington State totaled $31.6 billion.
· In 2008 nearly 56 percent of Washingtonians were covered by their employers; nearly 6 percent had individual plans; 13 percent relied on Medicaid and 11 percent on Medicare.
· Absent major reforms, by 2016 it will cost over $26,000 each year to provide health insurance to the average Washington household ─ nearly 42 percent of median household income. The average deductible in Washington could climb to more than $3,400 by 2016. Individual and family spending on health care could shoot up 68 percent by 2019.
I want to hear your thoughts on health care. I encourage you to attend our Health Care Town Hall on Nov. 23rd in Bellingham. You can click here for additional information.
Visiting Skagit Valley College
Last month I visited the Head Start program at Skagit Valley College and talked with the teachers and students to hear about their experiences.
Early learning is a critical step in keeping our children on a bright path towards success with a world-class education. Closing the achievement gap between ages 0-5 is just one key component.
The programs at SVC, along with others at our community colleges across Washington help build not only a strong foundation for learning, but also serve as centers for lifelong learning - especially as many people look towards our community colleges to retrain in new careers.
Unemployment benefits extended
Those who are struggling to find work in this recessionary economy got a vital break recently when Congress extended unemployment benefits to individuals who have or will exhaust their federal UI benefits by the end of the year. The extension is 14 weeks, with an additional six weeks for states where the unemployment rate tops 8.5 percent — which includes Washington. This increases unemployment benefits to 99 weeks — 26 weeks of standard benefits, 33 weeks of federal emergency benefits, 20 weeks of extended benefits and the additional 20 weeks just approved. Eligible individuals may also receive an additional 26 weeks if they are accepted into the training benefits program.
WorkSource puts people back to work faster
A study released just this week shows that people who look for work via the state’s WorkSource program find new jobs faster — and typically earn more money.
The study said WorkSource users are as much as 37 percent more likely to find work in the subsequent six-month review period. Although a specific employee’s success at finding work is affected by additional factors such as gender and employment history, WorkSource users are 20-to-37 percent more like to find jobs. Also, WorkSource users earn about $2,500 to $3,000 more a year than unemployment-insurance claimants who don’t use WorkSource services, according to the study.
WorkSource helps job seekers develop a strategy for finding work, create a targeted resume, and prepare for job interviews.
WorkSource is a partnership of Employment Security, other state agencies, local governments, colleges and nonprofit organizations that work together to provide free employment and training services to job seekers and businesses. More than 270,000 people in Washington received assistance from WorkSource in 2008.
For more information, visit a local WorkSource career center or read about it online at Go2WorkSource.com.
The report was done by state economic analysts and verified by independent third parties and tracked the outcomes of more than 16,000 unemployed people over a 12-month period in 2007 and 2008.
What to do about Swine Flu
If you’re worried about you or your family being exposed to Swine Flu, a great resource is our state Department of Health. The department’s web site offers a wide range of simply, easy-to-follow information on everything from how to recognize and treat flu symptoms to the availability of vaccine and is updated regularly.
The department also offers recorded tips for dealing with Swine Flu at 1-888-703-4364, and Twitter users can receive frequent updates via twitter.com/wa_deptofhealth. You can also e-mail the department questions at prepare@doh.gov.
General tips for preventing the spread of germs in your house include:
· Keep hard surfaces like kitchen countertops, desktops and bathroom surfaces clean and disinfected.
· Keep surfaces touched by more than one person clean and disinfected. Examples of these surfaces include doorknobs, refrigerator door handles and microwaves.
· Use disposable sanitizer cloths to wipe electronic items that are touched often, such as phones, computers, remote controls and hand-held games.
Taxpayers ‘opting in’ to save parks
Good news for anyone who loves state parks (like me!): The state Parks and Recreation Commission is reporting that, so far, taxpayer donations on vehicle license tab renewals are coming in at a strong enough rate to avoid the closure of any state parks. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, $1.4 million had been raised. That’s a rate that can keep all parks open under the approved budget.
Earlier this year, the Legislature approved a plan to include a $5 fee on vehicle license tab renewals to help offset cuts in the parks budget. Taxpayers have the option to “opt out” of the fee. While $5 is a small price to pay per person, it adds up to enough to maintain the impressive parks that make our state such a special place to live and play.
Just where does our state rank on taxation?
A few weeks ago the Tax Foundation released a report that named our state the third worst in the country for combined state and average local sales tax rates. The way they added up the numbers, our 8.78 percent rate was topped by only Tennessee’s 9.41 percent and California’s 9.06 percent. Sounds pretty bad, right?
Well, actually no — not when you look at the full picture. The problem with the Tax Foundation’s claims is that they don’t account for state income tax. And since Washington is one of the few states in the country without a state income tax, it’s unavoidable that our other taxes would be high.
So where do we really stand on taxation?
Pretty well, it turns out. We rank a distant 32nd nationally in property taxes, and 26th in state and local taxes as a percentage of personal income, according to an analysis by the state Department of Revenue. We paid $109.25 in state and local taxes per $1,000 of personal income, compared to a national average of $113.32. That puts us in the bottom half of the country when you compare income to taxation.
The analysis is based on 2007 data published by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis and does not reflect the current downturn in the economy, which largely won’t show up until the Fiscal Year 2009 information is available for all states. If you’d like to read the full report, click here.
2010 Legislation
As I stated in the introduction, the budget will define much of the session, again. As with last year however, I plan to bring a handful of key pieces of legislation forward. I hope to introduce legislation to support small farms, protect water quality from storm water, help our renewable energy industry, update programs to maintain jobs in the 40th and begin a comprehensive discussion of management of our marine waters and energy siting.
As always, I remain passionately dedicated to supporting education, minority and woman’s issues and our local jobs and will work hard in the coming session to support and protect these causes.
I continue to feel very fortunate that Representatives Dave Quall and Jeff Morris also represent us in Olympia. It will be a short, fast paced session, but I believe that, working together with my colleagues, we can position the 40th District for another successful year.