Editorial Boards Weigh in on Recent Republican Legislative Action
Basically, the editorials seem to be asking "what are YOU doing to solve problems besides criticizing others?" (bold mine)
From the Daily Herald:
From The Olympian:
The Urgency of NOW is McCleary.
Crosscut also has a piece on the back-and-forth of the legislature and the Governor. It truly feels like we are headed for a some kind of constitutional crisis when you see all three wings of government going at each other.
From the Daily Herald:
Peterson was dismissed without being given an opportunity to defend her record, nor was she given the chance to resign or withdraw her nomination.It is always amusing when elected officials want to lambast others' work without realizing that a laser gaze can always be turned back the other way.
The high-profile dismissal could reflect poorly on the stability of the state's transportation department and its projects, including the $16 billion package that Peterson help the Legislature assemble last year. The state is preparing to seek bonds to cover the first projects in that package, and the turmoil could be seen as a problem by investment firms and could result in higher interest costs for the state.
Including the departure of Kevin Quigley, secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, itself in the process of reforms, the state's three largest agencies will be left with interim chiefs for months. Finding permanent replacements may have to wait until after the November election.
Even then the ranks of qualified applicants may be thinned by a reluctance to deal with the current turmoil here.
Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, made clear his intentions in a tweet after Peterson's firing:
“Note to other Inslee Appointees: Shape up, Do your job. Serve the people w/accountability. Or more heads are going to roll.”
Recall that the state Senate's current plans would give itself two more years to fix funding of basic education for K-12 schools and end the reliance on local school levies. And remember the $100,000-a-day fine the state Supreme Court levied against the Legislature last year because it has failed to come up with an adequate plan.
That's good advice, senator.
From The Olympian:
The education-funding bar was set pretty low for the Washington Legislature this year. So low there was a danger that lawmakers might trip over it. That appears to be happening.Zing!
In retrospect it was naïve to expect much. But going into the short, 60-day session last month, there was some hope lawmakers could agree on a plan for school funding that might satisfy the state Supreme Court, which has found the Legislature in contempt for its failure to lay out a plan to fully fund basic education for 2017-18.
As generous as the 2015-17 budget was to K-12 schools, the failure to produce a credible long-term plan is why the high court found lawmakers in contempt of court last fall. Justices imposed $100,000-a-day fines on the Legislature, money that would be put into a special fund for schools. Of course, that depends on whether lawmakers ever create such a fund and appropriate the money.
This may be an election year, but lawmakers need to buck up, find a little courage, and set firm deadlines for themselves – then meet them.This is EXACTLY the kind of hard-nosed, tough wording that legislators need to hear from all sides.
The Urgency of NOW is McCleary.
Crosscut also has a piece on the back-and-forth of the legislature and the Governor. It truly feels like we are headed for a some kind of constitutional crisis when you see all three wings of government going at each other.
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