We must address our constitutional and moral obligation to fully fund education.
Reducing reliance on local funding for schools is as expensive as it is complex. The only way to get $3.5 billion in state funding responsibly is to do it through multiple sources of revenue. And those sources should be of the progressive nature. We aren’t going to do working families any favors by doubling down on Washington’s unfair tax system.
I was encouraged by what I heard in Ways and Means today. This bill is a work in progress, but it indicates real progress on a difficult and urgent issue.
This creates the framework for a new school financing system that reduces reliance on local levies and creates more competitive and equitable statewide educator salaries.
This is just one way to solve these complex issues. That’s why a council is created to take input and determine if there’s a better way. Unlike prior task forces, if the legislature chooses not to act on the council’s recommendations, this bill creates a default system that takes effect. This forces the legislature to act in one way or the other.
While I participated in much of the drafting of this bill, in the end I was unable to sign on as a co-sponsor as some of the communities in the 40th district remain disproportionately impacted. That said, I very much appreciate the efforts of my colleagues to address these impacts and the commitment to continue to do so as we continue to perfect this bill.
While our bipartisan group was able to compromise on many policies, we could not agree upon a revenue source to pay for it. Many Democrats could not support the exclusive use of a property tax and many Republicans could not support the high-earners capital gains tax we proposed. Therefore, the bill at this time does not identify a funding source. It does however make three powerful statements regarding revenue. First, it clearly states that there is an additional – outside of the current budget – $3.5 billion problem. Second, it states that we cannot address this with reductions in the current budget – we must have a mix of new revenues to address this problem. Third, none of the bill can be implemented before revenue is identified.
I look forward to receiving feedback from parents, teachers and other educational professionals on this issue. Ultimately they will make the difference in shaping this bill to best fit their needs.
D-Orcas
