Nearly 300 Kirkland residents and members of political action committees chanted “Courage for kids” and “Kids and families first” at a rally on Wednesday evening to let legislators know they want a budget passed – and one that reflects amply funded education as well.
Meanwhile, Washington state Sen. Andy Hill supporters attempted to block protests with high-held picket signs on the sidewalk near the rally at Heritage Park in Kirkland.
The rally, organized by Our Economic Future coalition, was to call on Sen. Hill (R-45, Redmond) and Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Medina) to pass a state budget before the inaction causes a government shutdown on July 1.
But the protesters not only want a budget before government shuts down, many, who were with the Washington Education Association, want a budget that is aligned with the Washington Supreme Court’s mandate for the Legislature to amply fund education. Proposed budgets only allocate $250 to $300 million in additional revenue for education, despite the McCleary decision, which calls for $1 billion this year alone, said Steven Miller, who is vice president-elect of the Washington Education Association.
However, a spokesman for Hill said the Senate budget allocates $1 billion in additional funding for education and the House of Representatives allocated $905 million in their base budget as well as $1 billion in a proposal if specific tax increases were enacted.
The two senators have significant influence on the budget process, as Hill is the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and Tom is the leader for the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus.
The Legislature is in the midst of a second special session due to a lack of compromise, and rally-goers believe Republican leaders in the Senate have held the budget “hostage” in an attempt to pass policy bills.
“It’s already starting to affect us because we’re at the end of the school year and our principals are trying to plan for next year,” said Miller, who is also a social studies teacher in the Bellevue School District. “They don’t know if they’re going to be able to fill all of their positions. This is not a budget issue, this is the state Republican senators trying to force policy down everyone’s throat in the second special session.”
But Hill said in a statement on Thursday the Legislature has all of the resources they need to pass a budget. And in just the past week have they had $480 million in additional money become available, which is “more than enough to bridge the gap between the Senate and House of Representatives.”
“My colleague Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom has made it explicitly clear that a suite of reform bills have been removed from negotiations in order to get leadership from the House of Representatives to commit to passing a budget,” Hill said. “There is absolutely no reason that we cannot and should not finish our work quickly and I’m continuing to have comprehensive negotiations with the Governor and House of Representatives.”
Hill said a government shutdown is “completely out of the question” and that both sides will immediately come together over a final plan. Hill said the Senate budget plan has $200 million more for basic education than the House of Representatives’ plan.
However, Kirkland City Councilwoman Shelley Kloba spoke at the rally and urged citizens to get involved and write to legislators about how they are affected by budget decisions. She told the community to stand together to demand legislators agree on a budget that does not present the “false choice” between education and critical needs of the most vulnerable.
“We can build a world-class education system but if the kids are hungry and stressed because of instability in their home environments, then we will not be successful,” said Kloba. “It is so important to provide the support that families need so they don’t have to choose between healthcare and putting food on the table.”
She said the Kirkland community values all people and that the budget needs to reflect the realities of diverse families that are consistent with the values of a strong education and a stable family.
However, three Hill supporters think many state-funded programs should simply be shutdown.
“Taxes are already too high,” said Bob Abbot. “Spending is out of control. Many programs in the state should simply be abandoned and shutdown.”
Dale Fonk said Hill is doing a fabulous job as leader of the Ways and Means Committee and thinks “these folks” want more money on top of the proposed $1 billion to education the Senate budget proposal calls for.
“The claim about holding the budget hostage could be applied equally to the Governor’s office or the House,” Fonk said. “They’re all digging in their heels and so you can’t point your finger at any one of them and say they’re holding the budget hostage any more than any of the others.”
Some rally attendees criticized both legislators.
Kirkland resident Vicki Neumeier, who works as a Seattle nurse, said Hill and Tom are putting tax breaks for special interests ahead of funding healthcare for part-time state employees, which include part time nurses, she adds.
“Now is not the time to put education against healthcare and other social services,” she said. “I see every day what happens when people lose access to healthcare. Too often do patients wait too long for the care they need and instead things that could easily be fixed by preventative care, turns into a life threatening tumor, millions of dollars, medical bills, months of treatment and even death.”
For more information on the status of the state budget, visit www.leg.wa.gov.
