106 Newhouse Building ● P.O. Box 40404 ● Olympia WA 98504-0404

Report from Olympia |  July 14, 2015

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Friday, after a regular session and three special sessions that spanned six months, the Legislature finally adjourned for the year. It was frustrating that it took so long to reach a final agreement on a new state budget.

In the end, the Legislature passed the 2015-17 operating budget by a vote of 90-8 in the House of Representatives and 38-10 in the Senate. The compromise budget makes historic investments in K-12 funding, fully funds state-employee contracts, provides cost-of-living increases for teachers, gives tax relief to our seniors and disabled veterans, and actually reduces tuition for our college students and their parents. This was done without a general tax increase.

Even though the marathon legislative year has finally come to a close, I still work for you. Please share your thoughts on any issue relating to state government. You can contact me anytime via email or by calling our district office at (509) 921-2460.

Thank you for allowing me to represent you in the state Senate.

Best regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Third special session ends after lawmakers fix $2 billion budget hole

After months of negotiations, House Democrats and Senate and House Republicans came together to approve a historic budget. Sadly, some Senate Democrats nearly destroyed the deal by balking when it was time to suspend the Initiative 1351 law. I-1351, to reduce class sizes in grades K-12, was not supported by a majority of 4th District voters but did pass by a very narrow margin statewide. Because the initiative did not include a funding source and the state could not afford the $2 billion to implement it in 2015-17, it became necessary to suspend the I-1351 law as part of passing the new budget. It is important to point out the 2015-17 budget does reduce class sizes in grades K-3. A vote to oppose the I-1351 suspension was in effect a vote to throw the new budget out of balance by $2 billion – just hours after the budget had been signed (by the governor). The Senate Democrats who voted in opposition did so in defiance of the governor and fellow Democrats in the House, who had already acted to suspend the new law. At a press conference some Senate Democrats argued that the $2 billion budget deficit created by their inaction could be addressed in next year’s supplemental budget. They were wrong: Our state could not afford to wait until 2016 to clean up the fiscal mess that comes with a budget hole of $2 billion. A budget deficit of that size would have caused immediate damage to the state's standing in the bond market. Waiting to solve the problem would have irrefutably harmed our ability to obtain the bonds necessary to fund transportation and construction projects. Lowering the state’s bond rating would make it far more difficult and expensive for the state to borrow money. That in turn would make projects more expensive, resulting in some projects falling off the list. In addition, any delay in funding the construction projects further delays their start. We are already into July and the prime construction “window” that comes with summer would have melted away if members of the Senate minority had continued to obstruct progress. Finally, failing to fix the budget hole would have been inviting further interference from the state Supreme Court, which has already held the Legislature in contempt over its response to the McCleary basic-education decision. The consequences of a budget gap tied to I-1351 would not have been academic. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and we were able to reach a deal that helped close the budget hole, avoid the negative impact that would have resulted from inaction and bring this record-breaking legislative year to a close.

Valley celebrates Appleway Trail unveiling

Last week the Valley came together to celebrate the unveiling of the new Appleway Trail at a ribbon-cutting event followed by a mile-long fun walk. I was happy to take part in the festivities, which illustrates just how valuable the new trail will be to building a sense of community.

Spokane Valley Mayor Dean Grafos did an excellent job of emceeing the event and explaining the history of the Appleway Trail project. Mayor Grafos praised the members of the city council, who were all in attendance, for embracing the idea and being extremely supportive at every stage of development.

I was pleased to work with my fellow 4th District lawmakers, Representatives Matt Shea and Bob McCaslin, to ensure that the new state capital-projects budget includes $1.8 million for the next phase of the Appleway Trail development. Located just south of Sprague Avenue, along the former Milwaukie Railroad right-of-way, the development creates a green space and trail where walkers, bicyclists, strollers, joggers and others can enjoy the outdoors away from busy traffic.

The trail, when completed, will connect the areas to the east with the Spokane Transit Authority Center at University and Appleway, with a paved trail – linking business and residential areas.

You can read more about the ribbon cutting event in this Spokesman-Review article.

Synthetic-marijuana law goes into effect

On June 30 the governor signed House Bill 2136, which contains several comprehensive marijuana-market reforms to help better regulate the marijuana market in Washington.

Among the many provisions in the new law is language from a measure I introduced aimed at addressing synthetic, or “designer,” drugs. It creates penalties for the manufacture and distribution of so-called “spice” and “bath salts.”

Bath salts, technically known as cathinones, may cause hallucinations, agitation and serious cardiac symptoms. Synthetic cannabinoids, or spice, are drugs that target the same brain receptors that interact with marijuana and produce a psychoactive effect.

Under the new law, the manufacture, distribution, or possession of synthetic cannabinoids is a felony and carries a fine between $10,000 and $500,000, in addition to other criminal and civil penalties. For those selling to minors, the minimum fine increases to $25,000. The measure also creates a civil liability under the Consumer Protection Act for the sale of these drugs.

There is a growing problem with synthetic marijuana. We have seen a sharp uptick in the number of hospital visits due to overdoses of synthetic marijuana in recent years – from 6,000 in 2009 to more than 28,500 nationwide in 2011.

The majority of this new law took effect July 1, with more provisions set to go into effect July 24.

Department of Health overreach on certificate of need for hospitals stopped by state Supreme Court ruling

Last Thursday the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state Department of Health had greatly exceeded its authority in adopting new rules regarding the certificate-of-need process for hospitals in our state. The certificate-of-need process was established by the Legislature to ensure that services proposed by health-care providers are needed within a community. Health-care providers may be required to obtain such approval before building certain types of facilities or offering new or expanded services.

To learn more about the ruling, click here to read a recent report in the Puget Sound Business Journal. To read the ruling itself click here.

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