Issues put moderate 'Roadkill' Democrats in spotlight

Moderate lawmakers hogged the spotlight in the first half of the legislative session, their positions on same-sex marriage under intense scrutiny.

That drama ends Monday with the governor’s signature, turning attention to state government’s balance sheets. Some of the same lawmakers are determined to shape the debate in the second half.

“Gays and lesbians are not the only people calling for controversial reforms. Everyone is,” Sen. Jim Kastama told reporters last month when he announced he would vote “yes” on same-sex marriage. “If controversy is the cost of tackling important issues, then I say bring on the controversy. Make controversy the hallmark of this session.”

Kastama and his three fellow “Roadkill” Democrats in the Senate – a reference to what happens to political animals who hang out in the middle of the road – made plenty of check marks on their evolving list of demands this week.

Like last year, the Senate’s Democratic leaders have a thin majority of three votes and need nearly all their members’ help pass a budget and fix a shortfall that tops $1 billion. They can’t ignore anyone who threatens to side with Republicans.

That dynamic is a key reason why key Republican and centrist Democrat priorities remain on the table 34 days into the session.

“We’re still hoping to get some budget agreements with our Republican counterparts, so we’re keeping vehicles alive,” Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said this week after the budget committee moved along several of those vehicles, including a constitutional amendment requiring budgets to be balanced over the long term and a business-backed overhaul of teacher evaluations.

MIXED SUCCESS ON EDUCATION

A dispute among Senate Democrats over charter schools had stalled teacher-evaluation bills until Democratic leaders broke that logjam.  For the third day in a row Friday, lawmakers planned negotiations in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office in hopes of reaching a deal on evaluations.

The education spat is evidence the four Senate Democrats have influence but also that they don’t hold all the cards. Senate leaders let the proposal to allow charter schools in Washington die in committee. Brown said it doesn’t have support from Senate Democrats or in the House.

“This is not a negotiation with just four members of my caucus to get a budget and get a session complete,” Brown told reporters. “There are really a lot of people involved in the dialogue, including our counterparts on the other side of the aisle, the House, the governor.”

Kastama, of Puyallup, and Sen. Rodney Tom of Medina say they continue to demand charter schools. What’s not clear is how much they’re willing to give in exchange for that and other reforms.

Tom said adequate reforms would convince him to vote for a budget – not necessarily for taxes. Gregoire wants to send a sales tax increase to voters, but Tom said the public doesn’t support raising taxes right now.

Kastama said their group and the public could both be convinced to raise revenue with the right policy changes. Another member of the group, Sen. Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens, sees revenue as a key piece of the budget solution along with cuts and reforms.

“If we see significant reforms, of course we’re willing to jump on a revenue vote,” Hobbs said.

PATCHING FUTURE DEFICITS

The full price tag for Roadkill and even Republican votes also remains unknown. But most of their other demands concern the state’s future budget outlook. Sen. Joe Zarelli, Senate Republicans’ chief budget writer, said spending obligations are “waiting for us like a haunted house.”

“We’re not interested in one-time gimmicks. We’re not interested in securitization,” Tom said.

Speculation in the Legislature’s rumor mill holds that House Democrats might seek to borrow against revenues to pay for ongoing expenses – a way to find new money without depending on the uncertain willingness of voters to raise taxes.

Roadkill Democrats say they will block that and seek what they see as a sustainable path, including some proposals still alive in the Legislature:

• A shift to long-term budgeting. Kastama’s proposed constitutional amendment would require a balanced budget over six years. Gregoire’s office says the state’s six-year outlook is now out of whack by more than $2 billion even assuming lawmakers make her steep proposed cuts this year. Plans to ramp up funding for education in line with court mandates drive the red ink.

• Permanent repeal of voter-imposed mandates to reduce class sizes and raise school employees’ pay to match rising cost of living. Lawmakers have suspended those initiatives for budget reasons more often than they have funded them. They’re another driver of future deficits. Brown said she was open to the idea now that the plan for funding basic education is in place.

• Consolidating health-care benefits for employees of K-12 schools. A proposal sponsored by Hobbs has won an endorsement from Senate Democratic leaders, but the Washington Education Association teachers union is fighting it.

• A commission with special powers to prod restructuring of government, as proposed by Kastama and Tacoma Democrat Troy Kelley in the House. Kelley said the group would be insulated from the influences that pressure lawmakers.

• Pension changes, which Tom said are essential because voters don’t believe public employees’ sacrifices have matched those of private-sector workers. Zarelli of Ridgefield says forcing new state hires into a pension plan that includes elements of a 401(k) retirement account would be “the most important thing we can do this year” to align the long-term balance sheet.

Maybe most of all, the moderates demand a bipartisan budget process in the Senate. In 2011, Democrat Ed Murray and Republican Zarelli wrote a budget together and stuck together in negotiations with the House.

“If we can keep them together like last year, that’s a victory,” said Roadkill Sen. Brian Hatfield of Raymond.

Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826

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