March 2008
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By CHRIS McGANN, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
In a year already dominated by politics, an old guard exodus from the Legislature and new rules for the state primary are setting up what promises to be a very active campaign season. In the state House, at least nine seats, including two in coveted Seattle districts, are up for grabs. At least two Senate positions are also in play. And under the new "top two" primary system, races in districts that lean heavily toward one party will no longer be settled with the primary. The two candidates who get the most votes will continue to battle until the November election -- even if they hail from the same party.
Rossi worried Gregoire could abuse loophole
By CHRIS McGANN, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
For the second year running, the Legislature has provided Gov. Chris Gregoire with potentially powerful leverage to raise money for her re-election campaign -- a loophole that allows her to accept donations during the 20-day period when she signs bills and the state budget into law. Though Gregoire has vowed not to seek contributions until after she signs all the bills, her campaign is still accepting donations. Dino Rossi, her Republican challenger, is critical of Gregoire because she could take advantage of the situation. He said she should have implemented a self-imposed freeze on fundraising. "It's like a throwback to the bad old days in politics when there were no restrictions," Rossi said. "Unfortunately, I think the Legislature had inadvertently left this open."
State budget proposal adds 1,334 to payroll
$17.6 billion plan faulted for jobs growth in grim economy
By Tim Hoover and Jessica Fender, Denver Post
Colorado lawmakers on Monday rolled out a $17.6 billion budget — a 6.7 percent increase over last year — that would add 1,334 employees to the state payroll. Republican legislators criticized the budget plan as excessive, given recent gloomy economic forecasts. "Let's grow Colorado, not Colorado's government," said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker. "These jobs are better spent in the real economy." May compared expanding the budget during an economic downturn to "bayoneting the wounded." Lawmakers knew that next year's budget was going to be tighter, said Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction and chairman of the Joint Budget Committee.
Guinn, Ensign urge Gibbons to reconsider med board stance
By the Associated Press, Reno Gazette-Journal
U.S. Sen. John Ensign and former Gov. Kenny Guinn have urged Gov. Jim Gibbons — a fellow Republican — to reconsider his move to force three doctors off the state Board of Medical Examiners. Ensign and Guinn said they think Drs. Javaid Anwar, Sohail Anjum and Daniel McBride should remain on the nine-member board, despite their ties to the owner of a Las Vegas clinic at the heart of a regional health scare. The three doctors have recused themselves from an inquiry into the hepatitis C outbreak at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. Each doctor has ties to the center’s majority owner, Dr. Dipak Desai. Gibbons has called for the three doctors to resign, saying the recusals aren’t enough. McBride has said he won’t step down and he thinks that both Anwar and Anjum intended to stay on the board.
Budget negotiations remain slow as deficit adds up
By Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic
Despite a growing sense of urgency, state budget negotiations continue to move slowly because of sharp differences on how to close the gap. Spending cuts? Borrowing? Tapping the "rainy-day" fund? All of these are likely, but the hang-up is getting agreement on how much of each to use. Complicating things is the $1.7 billion projected deficit for the 2008-09 budget, another issue lawmakers and the governor must resolve by June 30, when the fiscal year ends. That adds up to nearly $3 billion in looming deficit for this year and next. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget. Gov. Janet Napolitano says they'll get there; restive House Republicans want to know when.
Kulongoski to address tax on cigarettes
Governor to offer 'road map' on issues in state-of-the-state address
By Brad Cain, Statesman Journal
Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to announce a renewed push to increase Oregon's cigarette tax to pay for expanded children's health care when he delivers his state-of-the-state address today in Portland. Details are being worked out, but the Democratic governor is expected to announce he is resurrecting an idea that was left for dead after Oregon voters trounced Measure 50, which would have increased the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by 84.5 cents. The cigarette-tax increase is one of the key elements of Kulongoski's annual address in which he also will outline plans to seek more revenue to upgrade Oregon's transportation system, possibly with gas- tax increases or higher state vehicle- registration fees. Additionally, Kulongoski said he will push to increase the corporate minimum tax — set at $10 in 1931 and unchanged since — and dedicate the money to Oregon's rainy-day fund to shield schools, health-care providers and other services from getting hammered in the next economic downturn. Kulongoski's new cigarette tax proposal will be less than the 84.5-cent-per-pack proposal that was rejected by voters. It will be written in more specific terms to make it clear that all of the money goes to children's health programs.
Lawyer says Craddick wanted cash to go to Democratic supporters
Remarks by speaker's attorney a reversal; he says funds used legally
By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning News
When House Speaker Tom Craddick gave $250,000 of his own campaign money to a long-dormant political action committee in January, he intended for the money to be funneled into the campaigns of four Democrats who were facing criticism for supporting him, his attorney said Wednesday.
Palin wants lawmakers to justify projects
She requests that they see her in her office
By the Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
Gov. Sarah Palin has asked lawmakers to come to her office in groups of three to justify each of the once-vetoed capital projects added to the supplemental budget. The letter comes the day after lawmakers passed the budget over her objections. Palin said her office will set up the meetings with the senator and two representatives of each Senate district. She said she plans to ask why state funds should be used and what time constraints exist that the projects cannot be funded in the capital budget instead. She said she will use the information in deciding whether to veto them again. Sen. Bert Stedman, R- Ketchikan, said he won't be showing up "hat in hand" but would be pleased to talk with the governor anytime about the importance of his district's priorities.
Budget skirmish building in Juneau
Gov. Palin, lawmakers square off over supplemental spending
By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News
Sometimes it's the little things that cause the biggest trouble. So it is with Gov. Sarah Palin's tenuous relationship with the state Legislature, dominated by members of her own Republican party. The two sides are scrapping over $70 million -- small change considering the billions in surplus oil dollars the state is raking in. The rift could intensify today on the House floor, and the outcome might even set the tone for how Palin and lawmakers get along through the rest of her term. Some lawmakers just can't see any need for quarreling.
Some rethink malpractice cap
By ANJEANETTE DAMON, Reno Gazette-Journal
The television ad clinched it. The image of trusted doctors in white coats trooping out of the state to flee high malpractice insurance rates bombarded voters, who overwhelmingly decided to cap the amount of money juries could award victims of botched medical procedures. The bitter fight in 2004, marked by twisted statistics and emotional hyperbole, pit doctors against trial lawyers -- and the doctors won. But four months ago, a three-year shield that prevented the Legislature from touching the voter-imposed law expired. Now, an unprecedented health scare linked to unsafe practices in surgical centers across Nevada has gripped the state, prompting some lawmakers and lawyers to call for a review of the punitive damages cap.
Gov. Gibbons lashes out at news media -- Reacts to health clinic scare
Health inspectors have found similar unsafe procedures at half a dozen other clinics
By ANJEANETTE DAMON, Reno Gazette-Journal
Gov. Jim Gibbons blamed the media for hysteria surrounding the recent health clinic scare and defended the endoscopy center responsible for infecting six patients with hepatitis C through unsafe syringe use, in a brief interview Saturday. Following his speech at the Washoe County Republican Convention, Gibbons expressed concern that people will not seek important medical procedures because of the “buffoonery” of the state’s press corps. Initial investigations into a hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas have identified six patients treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada who contracted the disease. But health officials sent letters to 40,000 other patients they said may have been exposed to a blood-borne disease while being treated at the clinic. State health inspectors conducting a statewide inspection blitz of Nevada’s 50 surgical centers in the wake of the Las Vegas case have found similar unsafe procedures at half a dozen other clinics.
GOP leaders want Parnell to resign post
By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News
Some top Republican legislators, including the speaker of the House, say Sean Parnell should resign as lieutenant governor to campaign for Congress, but Parnell says he has no intention of quitting. Republican Parnell dropped a major surprise Friday at the state GOP convention in Anchorage when he announced he would challenge U.S. Rep. Don Young. Young, also a Republican, has held his congressional seat since 1973.
Lt. governor takes a run at YoungPalin backs candidate who shocked GOP convention
By LISA DEMER, Anchorage Daily News
In an Alaska political shocker, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell announced Friday before a crowd at the Republican Party convention that he is challenging embattled U.S. Rep. Don Young in the August Republican primary. "I just think it's about restoring trust to government," Parnell said. Young, attending the convention, had a quick response: Bring it on. Young, who has won 18 times as Alaska's lone congressman, says his seniority is what counts. "A 35-year head start," Parnell called it. Parnell immediately got the backing of Gov. Sarah Palin, whose husband, parents and siblings were part of a cheering group gathered outside of the state Division of Elections for Parnell's news conference on entering the race.
GOP legislators: Early paroles warrant audit
The judiciary panels want to know whether budget binds are behind a jump in releases.
By Jennifer Brown, Denver Post
Prison officials are blaming a 2-year-old policy change that ended weekend paroles for a spike in the number of inmates walking out of prison on early release. But Republican lawmakers, concerned about the jump in discretionary paroles, aren't buying that answer. Eight GOP legislators on the House and Senate judiciary committees have requested a state audit to investigate whether budget constraints at the Department of Corrections are influencing the number of discretionary paroles. "This alarming increase in prison releases raises important public-safety questions that should be scrutinized in an audit," says the request sent this week to State Auditor Sally Symanski.
Louisiana House OKs raising spending ceiling
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON, Baton Rouge Advocate
The House agreed Wednesday to raise the ceiling on state spending to allow legislators to tap into a $1.1 billion government surplus. The hourlong discussion on House Concurrent Resolution 1 showed only flickers of the political fireworks that erupted over the same issue a year ago when Republicans fought Democrats’ efforts to lift the ceiling. Once permission was granted, the House used even less time voting to spend the $1.1 billion. The difference between this year and last, Republicans said, is that Gov. Bobby Jindal wants to raise the spending limit for responsible reasons.
Budget banter between Palin, legislators threatens process
By the Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
A dispute over last year's vetoed capital projects threatens to hold up this year's budget process. Gov. Sarah Palin and House leaders met in private Monday to discuss the future of those projects. Lawmakers were angered when Palin vetoed hundreds of capital projects last summer. The Senate, in turn, drew Palin's ire when it restored about $50 million for the projects in the supplemental budget, a spending plan for the current fiscal year.
Legislation would split districts for House seats
By Howard Fischer, Arizona Star
A panel of state lawmakers has approved change in the way legislative seats are assigned — a move its sponsor said may help some of them keep their seats. Current law has voters elect one senator and two representatives from each of the 30 state legislative districts. HCR 2018, approved 5-2 last week by the Senate Government Committee, would split each district in half, meaning one House member from each of what would become 60 districts.
Two-thirds of districts reject Texas' merit pay plan for teachers
Districts' fears about funding for merit pay leave more for others
By TERRENCE STUTZ, Dallas Morning News
More than 100 school districts have changed their minds and dropped out of Texas' new merit pay plan for teachers – leaving just a third of the districts in the state to help launch the $148 million program next year. The decision by so many districts to bail out of the plan – mostly because of financial concerns – means there will be more money for the districts that are staying in. For example, the Dallas school district will get almost $1 million extra for a total of nearly $8.2 million. Districts decide how to distribute the money, but the recommended minimum bonus is $3,000.
Jindal turns eyes to business in sequel
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON AND WILL SENTELL, Baton Rouge Advocate
Gov. Bobby Jindal told legislators Sunday night that Louisiana must recruit businesses and make existing businesses flourish. “We should not be losing investment to other states in the South,” the governor said. “We should not be sitting on the sidelines of global economic competition while cities which were once small towns … become giants of economic vitality.” Jindal kicked off a three-week special session in which he wants legislators to approve tax breaks for businesses and parents who send their children to private school. He also is giving lawmakers the opportunity to spend a $1.1 billion state surplus from the state fiscal year that ended June 30.
Honolulu gas price may hit $4 by summer
By Greg Wiles, Honolulu Advertiser
It may not be long before you're paying $4 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline in Honolulu, perhaps as early as this summer. Prices of premium and medium-grade gasoline already have spilled over the $4-a-gallon mark on Maui, and the Honolulu average price for diesel fuel set a record of $3.879 on Friday. Passing the $4 mark for regular will add about $200 a year to the gas bill of an average Honolulu driver. "It probably represents taking your wife to dinner four times," said David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates LLC, an oil industry consultant. "You do hear restaurants saying, 'Yeah, we're feeling it.' " Rising gas prices can hurt the broader economy as consumers have less to spend elsewhere. And the prices could change motorists' habits.
GOP runoffs in 1st, 6th congressional districts; Demos runoff in 6th District
By CAIN BURDEAU, Baton Rouge Advocate
Voters in two of Louisiana's seven congressional districts cast ballots in closed party primaries Saturday to find replacements for Richard Baker, a longtime Republican congressman, and Bobby Jindal, the new Republican governor. The elections, first steps in the new closed party primary system for federal elections, took place in the 1st and 6th congressional districts, Republican-leaning districts that cover much of southeast Louisiana.
GOP chairman Ruedrich faces possible coup
By Steve Quinn, Juneau Empire
Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich, who has sparred with Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, faces a possible coup if he does not resign at the state convention next weekend. Regional GOP Party Chairman Joe Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, told The Associated Press Saturday there's a "groundswell of support" from party members that could lead to a vote for Ruedrich's ouster.
Controversial Texas House speaker gains, loses backers in primary
Analysis: House balance didn't shift much; job as speaker still at stake
By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning News
Tuesday's primaries produced some big changes in the House, but they still didn't do much for House Speaker Tom Craddick's bid to keep his leadership position next year. Although several key incumbents lost their seats to challengers, on both sides of the aisle, the dynamics didn't shift much one way or the other – meaning Mr. Craddick's speakership is still at stake, depending on the outcome of the general election in November.
