OLYMPIA — State education funding and proposed new taxes were on the minds of residents as they grilled two state representatives in a telephone town hall meeting.
State Reps. Steve Tharinger and Kevin Van De Wege, both Sequim Democrats, answered questions in the telephone conversation with and more than 1,000 people in the massive conference call Monday night.
Along with Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam, they represent the 24th District that includes all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and most of Grays Harbor County.
Legislators are in Olympia for the 64th regular Legislative session to set a budget and consider new legislation.
Several callers asked how the state Legislature will respond to the state Supreme Court’s ruling that kindergarten through 12th grade education be fully funded by 2018, as per the 2012 McCleary decision.
The court found the Legislature in contempt in 2014 when it ruled that the legislature “is engaged in an ongoing violation of its constitutional duty to K-12 children.”
The Legislature also faces the challenges of funding transportation, mental health and other high priority programs in the state, Tharinger and Van De Wege said.
“The state has not had a transportation budget in three years,” Tharinger said.
Both agreed that new funding is needed to meet all of the state’s needs.
New tax options suggested by the office of Gov. Jay Inslee include a carbon tax that would be targeted at about 130 businesses or corporations involved in the highest carbon production in the state and a capital gains tax that would impact about 31,000 investors, they said.
“One in 225 residents in Washington will pay this [capital gains] tax,” Van De Wege said.
He noted that this is the second biennium of a six-year time frame for the Legislature to meet court orders.
“We have made a lot of inroads but we have a lot of work to do,” he said.
A Sequim caller asked if a state bill on fireworks would nullify such local ordinances against fireworks as the upcoming ban on most personal fireworks in Port Angeles.
The bill would restrict local options to either completely banning all fireworks or accepting the statewide fireworks laws and provisions.
Restrictions that would allow some fireworks but not others would not be allowed under the bill.
“It will never be signed into law because of the loss of local control,” Van De Wege said.
In answer to a question from Sequim, the representatives said that a bill that affects music venues is in hearings in the House.
A bill sponsored by both Van De Wege and Tharinger would regulate how music licensing agencies demand payment for the use of music owned by those agencies.
Three major companies own the rights to virtually all music performed in venues across the country, Van De Wege said.
“They attempt to collect licences from small venues,” he said.
Van De Wege said these companies have legitimate legal claims but he feels they often use “shady business practices,” which he described as bullying and coercive, to collect the fees.
The bill, which he described as a consumer protection act, would institute a $1,500 filing fee from the companies, restrict them to collecting during business hours only, and prevent some of the more abusive collection practices.
Tharinger told a caller that he is confident of eventual passage of a bill that would eliminate a 10 percent fee of the value of foreign boats after they have been in Washington ports for 60 days.
Owners of multi-million dollar yachts are less likely to choose Washington boat repair businesses if repairs could last longer than 60 days and they are charged a fee, Tharinger said.
“We have a lot of waterfront, a lot of marine trades. I think we will get it done this year,” he said.
Both representatives said they want to create more jobs on the Peninsula.
People who are able to hold a job, pay for housing and pay taxes are less likely to commit a crime, Van De Wege said.
He said he works closely with large employers, to make sure they stay profitable enough to be sustainable.
“We want to make sure we keep these jobs,” he said.
Tharinger encouraged a focus on the use of forest fibers, such as more use of biomass, methods to use smaller dimension logs, and maintenance of transportation corridors to keep the timber moving.
“Jobs are tricky. There is no real silver bullet,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
