Action Alert: Let's Get This Done

From Washington's Paramount Duty:

Please call Sen. Braun's office at (360) 786-7638, and request that 1059 (levy cliff extension) be heard at the executive session today, rather than 5607 (Republican plan for McCleary). 

"I'm calling to ask that Sen. Braun report 1059 out of committee today. It is premature to vote on 5607 when so many people have not had a chance to even read it yet, but 1059 has been well vetted and already passed by the House, and its passage is critical for our schools to plan for the future. 

Please act on 1059 today and allow at least five days for 5607."

Comments

Anonymous said…
I suspect there is no fiscal note attached to the Republican bill in part because it will do what previous levy "swap" proposals did: not only send Puget Sound tax $$$ over to the east side to prop up their districts - which honestly, I am OK with, being a die hard liberal - because all the kids in this state will be the next generation and impact our community - BUT ALSO net deprive Seattle Schools of millions of dollars of funding it now receives. This would happen either by putting a cap or rules in place about raising local funds for education, or changing the formula for distribution of dollars so radically that Seattle ends up a significant loser.

Ross Hunter (now gone) and Reuven Carlyle have in the past been helpful in sharing specific impacts of McCleary plans on Seattle. Who has a way to get Reuven or a member of our current delegation to do some fast and public crunching on the Republican plan? This is incredibly critical for Seattle. The levy cliff will be small potatoes compared to what might come to pass without this analysis, and passing the Repub plan to avoid the levy cliff and McCleary court smackdown, only to find that Seattle is devastated by funding shrinking into perpetuity, has been my biggest nightmare for the past years I've been following the issue.

EdVoter
1/31/17, 2:28 PM
alex said…
It's just going directly to voice mail for me...grrr...
1/31/17, 3:01 PM
Watching said…
SB 5067 seeks to de-regulate education. As well, SB 5067 would provide LESS funding to over 500,000 students.

House Representative Gerry Pollet is introducing a bill for free college to which I say NO. The time to fund education is NOW.

Property taxes in S. King county are going up $500-$800 per house. Where are those dollars going?
1/31/17, 5:44 PM
Watching said…
South King County will see property taxes increase 12%:

"Algona property owners will see the largest percentage increase in the total dollars paid compared to the previous year. Normandy Park owners are likely going to pay the biggest dollar difference, where the average homeowner will pay $823 more than last year."

Yes, $823.00.

http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/south-king-county-property-owners-will-see-big-increase-in-taxes/489670099

Soon Seattle will receive their property tax bill. Some Seattle property taxes are expected to rise 15%. Will these taxes be used to fund McCleary?? I doubt it.

Meanwhile, there is legislation to provide free community college. I am not of the belief that the legislature really wants to fund education.
1/31/17, 8:00 PM
Anonymous said…
Watching wrote:

" Some Seattle property taxes are expected to rise 15%. Will these taxes be used to fund McCleary??"

These taxes cannot legally be used to fund McCleary. The premise of McCleary is that the state must fund the schools. Local property taxes do not fulfill McCleary.

Those local taxes could fill the gap until McCleary kicks in.
Supposedly McCleary decision will see the state fully funding schools in 2018.

-- Dan Dempsey
2/1/17, 12:29 AM
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