Caffeinated news & gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz.
1. While the conservative Democrats in the state senate controlled the budget talks last session, do not expect the same all-cuts approach next year. Fizz hears that the senate Democrats met recently and the vote count says they will not be able to pass that kind of budget next year.
With a devastating revenue forecast ($1 billion down?) queued up for next week, senate liberals are reportedly prepared to fight for more revenue this time.
2. The school board tabled a motion earlier this week to hire two Teach for America recruits. Teach for America sends idealistic young folks to teach in inner city and low-income districts all around the country.
The board didn’t go for it because one prerequisite the board had set for hiring TFA teachers (a controversial move to start with because TFA teachers aren’t certified) was disclosing where the funding comes from. TFA charges a $4,000 fee for every teacher they deliver and private donors who support getting TFA teachers in Seattle schools said they would cover the cost.
Under questioning from board members Michael DeBell and Sherry Carr, Superintendent Susan Enfield couldn’t say where the money was coming from, so the board unanimously tabled the idea.
Watch the action here. The motion is introduced at the 116 minutes mark and DeBell gets the runaround from Enfield around the 118 mark.
3. While US Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA, 1) is allowed to transfer contributions from his federal congressional campaign fund to his 2012 governor’s race fund, the donors cannot exceed state contribution limits. (Initially, Inslee had planned to transfer the federal campaign dollars and then ask the donors for gubernatorial campaign contributions without counting the initial federal contribution toward the state limit.)
However, campaign finance records show that 10 Inslee donors have all gone over the state campaign finance limits—$1600 in the primary and $1600 in the general—when you add in the federal transfers.
For example, a managing partner at Polaris Venture Partners gave $2000 at the federal level and another $2000 at the state level, $800 over the limit.
When you total all 10 apparent violations, Inslee has received $13,000 in excess donations.
The Inslee campaign says the refunds will show up on their next campaign finance reports.
4. Erica will be on KUOW’s week in review with Steve Scher this morning. Tune in 94.9 FM at 10 AM.
I think they’re going to talk about Obama’s big stimulus re-do: $140 billion for school upgrades and roads work.
Fizz is glad Obama finally took the Krugman cue from state Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-44, Everett), who pushed a $500 million school retrofit package over a year-and-a-half ago.
For her part, I think Erica “the C. is for Crank” Barnett doesn’t like Obama’s plan because it’s more of a He-covery plan (construction jobs favor men) than a universal shot of relief. That’s just my guess. Listen in.
