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News and notes

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to sit down to talk about the budget with The Daily News.

State budget update – The Daily News, April 19 

I also had a chance to speak with the Centralia Chronicle on a variety of items including funding for local flood protection and other community projects.

Funding for education, flooding push Braun’s budget focus – Centralia Chronicle, April 18

If you would like to learn more about the proposed Senate budget you can also watch the segment below where I review our plan on TVW’s Inside Olympia program.

Economic Sense: Education Equality Act

Repairing an Unconstitutional K-12 Funding System

Education Equality Act:

Ample, Equitable & Student-Centered

“It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.” – Art. IX, Sec. 1 of the Washington State Constitution.

Bottom Line Up Front

Unconstitutional System:

Washington’s K-12 funding system is irrational and inequitable.

Wealthy districts receive more funding per pupil & have lower tax rates vs. less affluent areas with more challenging student needs.

This inequity is created by an unconstitutional reliance on local levies to support schools and a funding model focused on adult characteristics rather than student needs.

Solution:

The Education Equality Act ends this unconstitutional scheme with a funding model that is ample, equitable, and student-centered.

The Particulars of the Education Equality Act – A Primer (1)

Institutes a Per Pupil Funding Model

  • Provides $10,000 base per pupil funding for every student.
    • Additional supports for students with greater needs:
      • $7,500 for special education;
      • $2,000 for students in poverty ($5,000 for districts with high percentage poverty);
      • $1,000 for English Language Learners;
      • $1,500 for homeless students;
      • doubles funding for highly capable students;
      • and doubles funding for career and technical education students.
  • $12,500 guarantee – Each district guaranteed to receive at least $12,500 in total funds – not counting local levies – per student. This means $250,000 per classroom of twenty students.
  • Holds districts harmless so no district receives less funding than current law.

Eliminates Unconstitutional Reliance on Inequitable Local School Levies

  • Wealthy districts currently have higher per pupil funding and lower tax rates than high poverty districts – the opposite of an equitable system focused on the needs of all students.
  • Rates range from $1.20 per $1,000 of assessed property value in Seattle and Bellevue to over $4 in such districts as Federal Way, Bethel, Aberdeen, Pasco, Tacoma, Shelton, Spokane, Moses Lake, and Franklin Pierce ($5.38). Yet with lower poverty rates, Seattle and Bellevue have substantially higher total per-pupil funding than these other districts.
  • The Education Equality Act absorbs and replaces all currently collected local levies with a single uni- form rate and prioritizes $6 billion of revenue growth toward education over the next four years.
    • $1.55 rate would be substantially lower than $2.54 rate local levies currently average.
    • 83% of taxpayers would see a lower tax rate than they currently pay.

Result: $1,500 per pupil average increase statewide, without any local levies

  • $11,870 per pupil total funding in current school year (includes local levies).(2)
  • $13,310 per pupil in 2020-21 (no local levies).(3)
  • Every district receives more funds.
  • Greater increases in high poverty areas: (4)
    • Toppenish (48% students below census poverty line) – $2,900 increase per pupil
    • Omak (27% students below census poverty line) – $3,670 increase per pupil
    • Yakima (35% students below census poverty line) – $2,130 increase per pupil
  • $14,430 per pupil if voters approve limited local levies. (5)
    • In calendar year 2020, districts may seek voter approval for 10% levy.

The Ample, Equitable & Student-Centered Approach

I. Ample

A.  K-12 makes up more than 50% of the state budget for first time in over 35 years.

The Senate budget increases state K-12 spending by $3.7 billion from the current biennium. In addition to the per pupil funding approach, the budget reduces K- 3 class size throughout the entire state from 25 to 17. (6)

The end result?  K-12 is 50.7% of the state budget, a level not seen since 1981. (7)

B.  Doubling K-12 State Spending since McCleary ruling

In 2012, when the McCleary decision was issued, the state spent $13.5 billion on K-12 education. In 2019, the Senate proposal would spend $27.6 billion, more than doubling state funding in less than a decade. (8)

C.  Senate Puts More State Funding into K-12 than House

There have been attempts to portray the House budget as better for K-12 funding than the Senate. It is important to understand this argument for what it is: entirely a debate about how much local levy authority to allow. The Senate provides more state funding than the House. But the House proposes substantially higher local levy authority, permitting districts to raise more funds than allowed by current law. This makes the current unconstitutional system worse. Local levy inequity creates huge per pupil and taxpayer inequities. Allowing even more local levy collection will perpetuate and exacerbate that unconstitutional inequity. The state Constitution is clear: it is the state’s paramount duty to fund public schools.

D.  Guarantees $250,000 per classroom without any local levies

The Education Equality Act ensures every school district receives at least $250,000 in funding to educate classrooms of twenty students.

II. Equitable

“Wealthy areas have lower tax rates and higher funding per pupil than high poverty areas.”

Here is an example of how our current K-12 system is inequitable: (9)

Financing a school system with too much reliance on local levies results in the unconstitutional system we have today:

  • Inequitable funding rates per pupil,
  • Inequitable taxpayer rates in communities, and
  • Most importantly, and unsurprisingly – inequitable outcomes.

This levy-reliant system harms children in less affluent areas – asking their families to pay a higher tax rate to support schools & generating less money than wealthy areas. A double whammy; creating a downward spiral that not only underfunds schools but puts pressure on the local economy and drives rates higher.

This is precisely why the state constitution made it a requirement for the STATE to make ample provision for education.  The reliance on local levies is wildly unfair.

Fixing the Inequity: Flat Uniform Rate Across State (Coupled with Per Pupil Funding Model)

The Education Equality Act absorbs and replaces all the various local levies with a uniform $1.55 rate for taxpayers across the state. Coupled with the per-pupil funding approach, this resolves both the taxpayer inequity and the funding inequity present in the current system. Equal funding will support equal opportunity for all children.

1.   83% of residents would see a tax reduction by going to a uniform $1.55 rate

Thirty-six of the thirty-nine counties would see a tax reduction for the majority of residents, including 100% of residents in large counties such as Pierce, Snohomish, Clark, and Thurston. (10)

A full breakout of the individual county impacts is attached as Appendix A.

2. King County: End Inequity of Federal Way Homeowner Paying More School Taxes on $300,000 home than Bellevue owner pays on $1 million home.

This is not a rural vs. urban issue. This is property wealthy vs. non-property wealthy.

Current law:

Federal Way ($300,000 home) $4.23 levy $1,269 tax bill
Bellevue ($1 million home) $1.20 levy $1,200 tax bill

Education Equality Act proposal:

Federal Way ($300,000 home) $1.55 levy $465 tax bill
Bellevue ($1 million home) $1.55 levy $1,550 tax bill

Only four districts in King County would see tax increase: Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island, and Lake Washington. The remaining 16 districts would see a tax reduction. (11)

3. Property tax increase on Wealthy Areas is Comparatively Small

A $2 million home on Mercer Island would pay $460 more a year in taxes. (While a $250,000 homeowner in Tacoma would see a $692 tax reduction.)

III. Student Centered

A.  Improving Educational Opportunities & Funding for All Students

The Education Equality Act allows the Legislature to provide uniform educational funding opportunities to all students, in line with the constitution and immune to local economic conditions. It also focuses funding equally on the areas of greatest need.

Students and teachers who walk into Pasco and Yakima classrooms deserve the same amount of state sup- port for their actual and unique educational needs as students living in affluent King County communities like Medina and Mercer Island.

By establishing a guaranteed level of funding, then adding resources in certain situations, state government can enable schools in economically depressed areas to provide the same advanced-study or training opportunities for students as those schools in wealthy areas.

The Education Equality Act will enable school districts to provide for the unique needs of all students by delivering ample, dependable and equitable funding.

Accomplishing this requires repealing the existing prototypical funding model in favor of a statewide per- student funding system.

We set a $10,000 annual per-student funding amount and, recognizing that students have different needs, provide additional funding based on student characteristics, including:

  • $2,000-5,000 per student from a low-income family.
  • $7,500 per special-education student.
  • $1,000 per English-language learner.
  • $1,500 per homeless student.
  • Double the state funding for highly capable students.
  • Double the state funding for vocational education (career and technical education).

Districts would then be guaranteed to receive from the state a total funding amount of at least $12,500 per pupil. (12)

The Senate plan seeks to improve educational outcomes for all students, with an emphasis on bringing the lowest-performing students up to the level of high-performing students.

B.  Ending Adult-Centric Funding Model that Perpetuates Funding Inequities

Washington is one of only seven states still using an education-funding model that experts agree creates inequities (the others being Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming and North Carolina).

Washington’s method has students with the highest needs seeing less financial support. That disconnect stems not only from the reliance on local levies but also from a little-known but incredibly important method called the “staff mix” funding formula that drives money to schools based on the years of teaching experience of the staff in a particular building, not the actual educational and socioeconomic needs of the students in that building.

A recent article from the Seattle Times Education Lab project highlighted this major flaw in the adult- centered school-funding model:

“It’s ridiculous — either inadvertently ridiculous, or deviously ridiculous,” said school-funding expert Bruce Baker, a widely honored professor at New Jersey’s Rutgers University who describes such policies as “stealth inequities.” That is, poorly designed formulas which fail to correct, and sometimes rein- force, disparities between students. “Washington perplexes me,” Baker said in an interview. “It’s a progressive state, at least by reputation. But it’s unexpectedly not good on school funding.” (13)

A better way to fund schools looks at each student, asks “what does that student need?” then delivers the right amount of funds accordingly. It is a fundamentally different way of driving educational outcomes, providing greater flexibility and ending inequities.

C.  A “One Washington” Approach

The Senate-approved Education Equality Act would finally connect school funding with the actual cost of educating students – a landmark change from the status quo. By any credible measure, it represents a progressive approach for eliminating the educational-opportunity gap, and the associated social injustices, caused by inequitable differences in district-level funding.

This stands in stark contrast to proposals from the governor and House of Representatives that would in- crease funding for K-12, requiring unprecedented tax increases, yet exacerbate the inequities in the state’s outdated, adult-centered approach.

Their proposals would fail to solve the unconstitutional disparity between schools and school districts by widening the education-opportunity gap between low-income students (many of whom are of color) and students from higher-income areas.

Because it recognizes and addresses the shortcomings of the current model, the Senate proposal is the only reform available to the Legislature that would bring the state’s K-12 system into line with the “uniform” and “without preference” requirements of the state constitution and offer a truly “One Washington” approach to education.

The Education Equality Act is:

  • Ample – Providing more state funding for K-12 than the House;
  • Equitable – Ending the student funding & taxpayer inequities caused by relying on local levies to fund schools; and
  • Student-Centered – Enacting a per pupil funding model focused on students and their needs.

Braun says House budget asks taxpayers to pay more for same results

Sen. John Braun says the 2017-19 operating budget proposal released today by House Democrats asks for $8 billion more from state taxpayers without promising much in the way of improved outcomes.

“Demanding that working families and job creators send $8 billion more to Olympia, without expecting much in the way of better results for some of our most disadvantaged students, sends the wrong message to Washington residents,” said Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Because the House budget would continue significant local tax levies for school districts, instead of making the meaningful reforms supported in the budget adopted by the Senate last week, it would also maintain and even exacerbate current inequities in school funding. That lack of fairness leads to significantly lower high-school graduation rates for low-income students, Braun said.

He also questioned whether the House budget is more viable than similar recent proposals.

“What we see is proposed tax increases similar to years past, which have not made it off the floor of the House. Once the House Democrats demonstrate that a majority of the House stands behind this plan, we can view it as a serious proposal. Until then it is a wish list that does not deal with the realities of governing.”

Last week the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus approved a two-year operating budget proposal that prioritizes education and services for the state’s most vulnerable, while avoiding general tax increases. The Senate’s $43 billion proposal encompasses the K-12 education plan it adopted in February, which would dramatically increase per-student funding while equalizing property-tax rates statewide.

“Democrats have repeatedly said that new taxes are necessary to fully fund public education, but this budget proposal says otherwise,” said Braun. “With roughly $80 million difference in education funding in budgets totalling more than $40 billion, it is perfectly clear that the new taxes are really intended to pay for everything else but education.”

One bright spot, Braun said, is that the House majority’s proposal complies with Washington’s first-in-the-nation requirement that anticipated tax revenues cover state spending over four years instead of just two.

“The House respects the importance of creating a budget that projects to balance over four years and maintain healthy reserves in case of an economic downturn avoiding the budget roller coasters of years past,” said Braun.

Braun noted lawmakers are on day 78 of their 105-day legislative session, meaning final negotiations on a new two-year state budget and addressing systemic education-funding issues must get under way soon.

“My colleagues across the aisle have committed to approving a landmark plan that would finally address our most important duty – supporting a high-quality and equitable public-education system — this year. I am taking them at their word that they will come through with legislation that can serve as the basis for working toward the solutions we need.”

Senate budget puts priority on education – protects vulnerable, taxpayers

The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus released a two-year operating budget proposal Tuesday that puts its emphasis on education and services for the state’s most vulnerable, while avoiding general tax increases.

The Senate proposal boosts K-12 education funding by $3.7 billion, raising its share of the state budget to more than 50 percent, its highest level since 1983.

The proposal formally launches the debate that will take center stage during the four weeks that remain of Washington’s 2017 regular legislative session. The Senate makes the first legislative proposal this year. The House is expected to follow soon with a formal proposal of its own.

The Senate’s $43 billion proposal encompasses the K-12 education plan adopted by the Senate in February, which would dramatically increase per-student funding while equalizing property-tax rates statewide. It expands on the college-tuition reduction enacted two years ago by boosting enrollment at public colleges and universities by 1,800 students, 70 percent of those slots in science, technology, engineering and math. The budget also makes major investments in programs for mental health treatment, senior citizens, foster children and people with developmental disabilities.

The Senate budget does not require an increase in taxation, and spending would be sustainable in future years without further tax increases. A budget proposal from the governor last December would require the biggest tax increase in Washington history, $8.7 billion when fully implemented, yet would require a further tax increase of $2 billion within four years.

Senate Ways and Means Chair John Braun, R-Centralia, said the Senate plan addresses the state’s most important needs without raising taxes. He noted that the state’s fast-growing economy has given the state nearly $3 billion more than the last time it wrote a budget, without a tax increase. Braun observed that the growth has occurred because taxes have remained stable over the last four years.

“The decisions we make this year will have an impact that lasts for decades,” he said. “As we crafted this budget we kept four goals in mind.

“We provide the high-quality education system our 1.1 million schoolchildren need and deserve. We protect our most vulnerable citizens by making critical investments in the social safety net. We keep money in the pockets of working families by not raising taxes. And we invest in our priorities in a sustainable way.”

The Senate’s prescription for K-12 education includes a new student-centered model for fully funding basic education, setting a per student minimum funding level of $12,500 a year. Under the Senate plan, by 2019-21, state expenditures for K-12 public education will have doubled since the state Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary decision ordering the Legislature to fully fund basic education. The budget also funds dramatic salary increases for beginning teachers. The Senate’s levy reform would ensure all Washington property owners pay the same tax rate, providing tax relief for 83 percent of the state.

“First and foremost, this is an education budget,” Braun said. “What counts most is how the money is spent. This budget implements our education plan, allowing us to meet the unique needs of all students, ensuring a great teacher in every classroom, empowering local decision-makers and providing ample, fair and transparent funding.”

Other major points of the Senate plan include:

  • Enhancing senior programs, including expansion of the meals-on-wheels program, increased vendor rates, and a raise in the personal needs allowance for elderly Medicaid recipients under state care.
  • Improving treatment for the mentally ill, including a $250 million investment over four years to increase capacity at treatment facilities, expand community housing opportunities, and develop financial incentives for effective and appropriate care.
  • Overhauling the foster care system to improve outcomes for children and stem the loss of foster homes.
  • Expanding options for people with developmental disabilities, including a new program providing Medicaid support for family caregivers.
  • Targeting public safety expenditures to areas of greatest need, including funding to make the 4th DUI offense a felony requiring prison time, and to implement reforms at the troubled state Department of Corrections. It also funds longer sentences for habitual property offenders, sexual offenses against children, domestic violence felonies, and crimes against vulnerable adults.
  • Reforming welfare programs to emphasize employment requirements, expand vocational training and reduce state overpayments.
  • Reducing the state’s long-term liabilities, by paying down the unfunded liability in the Public Employees Retirement System Plan 1 pension program by $700 million – reducing eventual state expenses $1.4 billion.
  • Providing reasonable compensation for state employees, by granting all state employees a $1,000 pay increase, fully funding step increases based on experience, and maintaining current health benefits. The budget rejects most of the costly collective bargaining agreements negotiated last year between public employee unions and the governor’s office.

The Senate budget preserves the state’s four-year balanced-budget law, which ensures budgets will be sustainable over the long term. It also keeps intact the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, preserving nearly $2 billion dollars in savings to be tapped in case of future economic downturns or other financial emergencies.

“We have to recognize there will be a tomorrow,” Braun said. “Irresponsible short-term spending puts essential programs at greater risk of being cut when the economy slumps. Not only do we avoid tax increases today, we make it possible to avoid them in the future.

“We faced many challenges as we developed this budget. By getting our priorities straight, we demonstrated we can make meaningful improvements in the programs Washington considers most important, without putting jobs or our economy at risk.”

Education funding discussion on TVW

I recently had the opportunity to appear on TVW’s “Inside Olympia” program to discuss the Education Equality Act alongside a member of the House of Representatives and host Austin Jenkins.

TVW is Washington’s version of C-SPAN, and the 30-minute segment provided us with a chance to discuss the important details of our work to improve Washington’s public schools.

Click here or on the screen below to watch the segment.

Protecting the right to hunt and fish

Hunting is a major part of our state’s heritage and a generations-old activity for many families in the Pacific Northwest. However, sportsmen constantly see more government regulations affecting where and how they can hunt or fish. As demand for public lands increases, they want to know their rights are respected and protected.

That is why I sponsored a constitutional amendment that would allow Washington voters to decide whether or not to enshrine the right to hunt and fish in the state constitution.

The proposal preserves the right to use traditional means to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife, identifying them as the preferred method of wildlife management in order to promote wildlife and land conservation.

If approved, our state would become the 22nd to constitutionally protect both activities.

Similar state constitutional protections were enacted as far back as 1777 in Vermont and as recently as just last year in Indiana and Kansas.

While the committee chair has indicated this proposal won’t move forward this year, the bill helped begin the conversation about this important topic and is likely to be addressed during the next legislative session.

Below is a map of the states that have already adopted protections for hunting and fishing.

Telephone town-hall meeting March 28

You’re invited to participate in a 20th District telephone town-hall meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28th, when we’ll answer your questions about issues currently before the Legislature.

The forum will allow participants to listen and ask questions from anywhere with a phone, enabling more people to engage without attending a meeting in person.

Many residents will receive a call inviting them to the forum when it begins and may simply stay on the line to join; you also have the option to call in by dialing 360-209-6593.

Questions may also be submitted in advance via email or phone at John.Braun@leg.wa.gov or 360-786-7638.

Budget Update

While work on a new state budget has been underway for months, one of the next steps in crafting a spending plan takes place this week when budget writers will receive an updated revenue forecast from the state’s chief economist. On Thursday, we’ll find out the amount of tax dollars anticipated to come into the state during the next four years.

Given that Washington state, unlike Washington D.C., actually must produce a balanced budget, this information allows us to finalize and release plans for the 2017-19 state budget shortly thereafter.

A major part of my new role as the Senate budget writer involves putting together the Senate proposal for a two-year “operating budget,” which pays for the day-to-day operations of state government.

More budget details will be available next week, but I can tell you that the goal is to invest in public education and protect critical state services without raising taxes.

As always, if you have any questions or would like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Senate approves temporary extension of local school levy rate with increased accountability

The Washington State Senate today approved legislation extending a temporary increase in the maximum amount school districts can raise through property taxes for public schools and implementing reforms to provide accountability for how local levies are collected and accounted.

“Washington students deserve a comprehensive solution that provides a world-class education system instead of a temporary fix,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and sponsored the Education Equality Act. “While I do not support putting a short-term fix before a decades-old problem, I’m pleased that our colleagues across the aisle agreed to join our position on key reforms.”

In addition to extending the maximum rate at 28 percent, the legislation would require school districts to maintain state and local funding in separate accounts. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction would also be tasked with reviewing and certifying that future levies would not be used to pay for the basic education, the state’s responsibility.

“Our colleagues across the aisle made a commitment on the floor today to join us in addressing the broader issue during this session,” said Braun. “Now that this one component of an overall issue has been addressed we can proceed with the difficult part of solving this problem for students.”

The Senate approved the Education Equality Act — the Senate’s comprehensive education funding and reform legislation — on February 1, which included the levy rate extension and accountability reforms. The House approved a spending plan, but has yet to publicly propose how to pay for the more than $7 billion needed to balance.