OLYMPIA…Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said he is dismayed by new legislation that would again delay long-standing efforts to reduce K-3 class sizes. Braun, an architect of the landmark education-funding updates enacted in 2017, had cautioned against the same move in 2018:

“Research shows that smaller class sizes in grades K-3 contribute to better educational outcomes, which is why the Legislature had earmarked more than $500 million toward class-size reduction. But last year the majority party made it possible for that money to go toward salary increases, and now that it’s been bargained away, this bill comes along to make our K-3 students and their teachers wait even longer.

“Class size counts. The education unions in our state have long been supportive of lower class sizes, so it will be interesting to see how they respond to this bill. Parents also expect the Legislature to hold to the commitment it made to deal with crowded classrooms. Even if the majority goes ahead with lifting the bipartisan lid on local levies, and opening the door to big property-tax increases, I don’t know why parents would consider paying significantly higher school taxes if the promises made about reducing class sizes aren’t kept.”

OLYMPIA…Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia and an architect of the landmark education-funding updates enacted in 2017, raised concerns about the future of those reforms following a vote today in the Senate committee on K-12 education. A majority of the committee members approved Senate Bill 5313, which would allow property-tax hikes by essentially undoing the local “enrichment levy” limit that is key to maintaining the constitutionality of the state’s school-funding system.

“I understand why school districts and the education establishment would want the Legislature to increase local-levy authority, especially after seeing some of the salary increases negotiated this past summer. But going down the road laid out in this bill will get our state in trouble, because some districts are always able to take better advantage of local taxing authority than others, and sooner or later that’ll create the same conditions which led to the McCleary lawsuit. No one should want to go back to the days when the educational opportunities available to students were dictated by whether their school districts were ‘haves’ or ‘have-nots.’ And the Legislature shouldn’t want to be back in the position of having to answer to the Supreme Court.

“In 2017 a number of my Senate colleagues voted against the legislation to update the school-funding system because of how it would change property-tax rates. Yet some of them voted for this bill today, even though it can only lead to higher property taxes. To me, allowing greater reliance on local levies isn’t in line with the Legislature’s constitutional duty to provide for basic education. If school districts still have common funding needs that aren’t being met by the tens of billions of dollars already going into K-12, we should be talking about how to address those at the state level, and leave the local-levy limit in place.”

OLYMPIA…Legislation introduced today would require all three branches of state government to track and submit data regarding sexual harassment of employees for detailed annual reports that would be public.

Sen. John Braun and Sen. Ann Rivers come at Senate Bill 5845 from different directions but are sponsoring it with the same goal: learning the extent of sexual-harassment claims made by state employees, and how those are addressed. If the bill becomes law, the initial report would look back three years to provide context for future tracking.

“It’s obvious that sexual harassment happens within state government – until yesterday, there was a vacant seat in the Senate for that reason. I know the Legislature has been stepping up its efforts to address workplace conduct, and maybe the other branches have also. But without better data, it’s going to be a challenge to tell whether any of this is having the desired effect,” said Rivers, R-La Center, who has been out front for Senate Republicans on the issue since the #MeToo movement emerged in late 2017.

For Braun, R-Centralia, the bill is his second try to get the requirement into law. The idea was part of budget legislation he proposed in 2018.

“My first concern is about the human cost of sexual harassment – this behavior is just plain wrong. We need to shine the brightest possible light within state government to make sure we are leading the way in eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace.

“But as sexual harassment is a management issue, it also can come with a financial cost. This bill would get at that by requiring the reporting of settlements or judgments as well as the claims themselves,” said Braun, who recently exposed more than $500 million worth of management missteps within the state’s executive branch.

“To paraphrase a saying, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. My hope is that tracking the data regarding sexual harassment will reveal any trends, and making the annual reports public will help improve policies and management where needed. For those of us who value the work our state employees do, this bill is a way to demonstrate it.”

The two lawmakers said their legislation is modeled after a proposal in California, requested by its governor after a series of newspaper reports revealed the state did not know the extent of sexual harassment claims or costs brought by state employees.

OLYMPIA…Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia and a member of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, offered this following a hearing today on controversial legislation that would affect thousands of hairstylists, barbers and cosmetologists who offer their services as independent contractors at a booth or chair they rent from a shop or salon:

“It’s a shame that so many hard-working independent business operators had to effectively turn away clients to come and testify about Senate Bill 5326 – imagine how much income they gave up this morning just to be here and stand their ground. I was also disappointed that more of them weren’t permitted to speak to our committee and really drive home how they see this proposal as needless government intrusion. My concerns about the bill include how it inexplicably singles out one sector of our economy which seems to offer good opportunities for many people – primarily women and single moms in particular – to make a living and provide for their families.

“Today’s hearing reminded me of the old line about the person from the government who is ‘here to help you.’ It was apparent that booth renters across our state don’t want this kind of ‘help.’ They aren’t buying what this legislation is trying to sell.

“I’m encouraged to see people pushing back against ideas like this, because many here at the Capitol are talking about new taxes and higher taxes at a time when state government is already collecting a record amount of revenue. One of those proposed tax increases is aimed directly at professional services – a 67-percent jump in the B&O tax – and any carbon-related taxes are also going to raise the cost of doing business. The booth renters and other independent business operators should be ready to weigh in about those too.”

OLYMPIA…Major new legislation introduced today in the state Senate would address parent-centered concerns about special-education services through a combination of policy updates and funding. The approach is reminiscent of the comprehensive 2017 proposal that ultimately moved Washington’s K-12 funding system into the 21st century.

“We have an opportunity this year to support big improvements in how special education is delivered, and the outcomes for students with disabilities. Those needs go much deeper than a budget appropriation,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia and prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5532.

For instance, Braun noted Washington is in the bottom 10 states when it comes to inclusion, meaning how often a student with disabilities is educated in a general classroom. Barely half of special-ed students receive a diploma, which puts the state in the bottom one-fourth nationally.

“There’s a difference between wanting to serve these students and being equipped to serve them, in ways that will prepare them for productive lives. Parents have told us it’s not strictly about money, which is why our proposal is strong on policies that are geared toward getting them and their schools the kind of help they can use most,” Braun said.

SB 5532 would improve professional development for teachers to support best practices in special education. It also would improve the transition planning necessary to support further education and training for students with disabilities once they move on from high school.

Families would gain from receiving free access to advocates who would help them and their children navigate the special-education system, and from the establishment of local advisory committees to enable even more involvement and interaction with their school districts.

On the financial side, Braun explained, the bill includes updates to state funding formulas that would better align allocations with actual costs.

“This proposal blends things we know from a long history of supporting vulnerable Washingtonians and their families, and factors we emphasized more recently – like the importance of outcomes – during the successful effort to modernize basic-education funding,” said the Senate Republican budget leader. He was among a select group of lawmakers who crafted Washington’s landmark bipartisan K-12 funding reforms in 2017.

“It’s also the next step in our ongoing drive to address inequities in the public-school system, so students can achieve their fullest potential.”