Rolling out the Re-Wire Agenda
Plus a conundrum for crime victims and a smorgasbord of recommended reading/listening/viewing
At long last, we’re releasing the (mostly) complete agenda for our Re-Wire Policy Conference, which is now less than two weeks away. If you haven’t signed up to join us on the afternoon of Dec. 3 in Tacoma, there’s still time.
As we noted in Monday’s edition, Attorney General-elect Nick Brown is giving the opening keynote. The other highlight of the conference will be a panel of leaders from the Legislature's four caucuses looking ahead at the upcoming 2025 session. That will feature Paul (gently) grilling new Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle; newly re-elected House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien; House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn; and Deputy Senate Minority Leader Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup.
That panel happens in the early evening after everyone’s had a chance to mingle and down an adult beverage, so we’re hoping for a free-wheeling discussion.
Here’s why you should care about this: Along with providing an interesting and hopefully entertaining afternoon digging into politics and policy, Re-Wire is one of the ways we pay the bills around here. So if supporting independent journalism sounds like a good idea, you should consider joining us. Sign up here. (If you can’t make it, don’t sink into a FOMO funk. Our friends at TVW have you covered.)
In between Brown and the leaders, we’ll have panel discussions on key topics. For full details, look for a separate email this week. Here are some highlights:
Long-time friend of The Observer Sandeep Kaushik of Soundview Strategies, will moderate our politics panel, which will look back at the 2024 campaign. This panel, which features the operatives behind the campaigns, is always a favorite.
Austin Jenkins, who owned the statehouse beat in Olympia for years until he decamped for Pluribus News, will moderate a panel on Initiative 2066, the only statewide ballot measure to pass this year, and the aftermath of using the ballot initiative to pave over the party in power. The panel will include the Building Industry Association of Washington, which backed the measure to roll back restrictions on natural gas, Puget Sound Energy, and the aforementioned Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, one of the sponsors of the bill partially repealed by the initiative.
Katherine Mahoney of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health will moderate a discussion on health care access featuring Senate Health & Long-Term Care Chair Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver; Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, fresh off a tough reelection fight; and Jim Freeburg of the Patient Coalition of Washington.
The Observer’s own Tim Gruver will moderate our annual discussion of housing policy, which will feature Rep. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle, sponsor of last year’s rent-stabilization bill, along with the Washington Association of Realtors and the Washington Multifamily Housing Association, which were surely rooting for that measure’s demise. (We expect a rematch of this fight next year.)
Our Sara Kassabian will guide a panel on the problem of paying for K-12 education, child care, and early learning, some of the larger components of that $10 billion budget hole lawmakers are staring down. The panel will include Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, who has already asked for $3B for K-12; House Finance Chair April Berg, D-Mill Creek, who will likely be instrumental in finding new sources for that money should lawmakers take that route; and Sen.-elect Paul Harris, R-Vancouver.
Once again, we’d like to thank the sponsors who make the conference possible, all of which are players on this scene. Our presenting sponsors are Amazon, the Inatai Foundation, and the Washington Association of Realtors. The Washington Hospitality Association sponsors the bar. (Yes, there’s a bar.) Puget Sound Energy, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and the Building Industry Association of Washington are panel sponsors. We welcome their support and the occasional awkward footnotes it requires.
Uncle Sam’s conundrum for crime victims
The Other Washington could cut off resources for crime victims by the thousands in this Washington and it might leave the state to pick up the tab.
Since its creation in 1984, the nation’s Crime Victims Fund has connected every state with federal grants supporting who its name entails.
The account funds everything from forensic exams to support groups for victims of arson, theft, and stalking. it also helps survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence by the thousands find relevant resources, whether that’s housing, therapy, or legal aid.1
Since its creation in the 1980s, the account’s cash cushion has been propped up by federal fines, forfeitures, and fees—not taxes. Washington’s struggled to make up the difference when that’s meant diving into the general fund over the years. By comparison, Maryland lawmakers voted to put $60 million towards its Crime Victims Fund a year.
Federal funding for the account topped off at a record $70M in 2018 and ever since then, money from Uncle Sam’s slowed to a trickle. In 2024, that number slid to just under $20M. The picture is even grimmer in 2025 if Congress proves as much a dumpster fire as it has been.
People from the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy said as much in its sit-down with the House Committee on Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry on Monday. Based on their calculus, The Other Washington could slash federal grants for this sort of stuff by around 51 percent over the next biennium.
In the meantime, the state’s supplemental funding for the account is due to run dry by June 30, 2025. The Department of Commerce is requesting $51M just to keep the lights on through the next biennium. Naturally, finding a funding source for the long haul is on that same wish list.
TG
Recommended Reading, Listening, and Watching:
Some blood on the transitional carpet
Jerry Cornfield over at the Washington State Standard notes the impending departure of six members of Gov. Jay Inlee’s executive cabinet as Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson prepares to move into the sweet suite in the capitol. While some of those folks are headed for well-deserved retirement and others are voluntarily moving into other roles in government, there’s certainly some metaphorical blood on the carpet as Ferguson’s team makes room for their own people. Cabinet officials serve at the pleasure of the governor, after all. Don’t shed too many tears, though. Such officials who want to keep working are usually in position to rake in some serious private-sector cash. Ferguson’s team is expected to announce some big appointments later this week.
Schedule lags, costs balloon for state IT upgrade
Paul Roberts of The Seattle Times digs into massive problems with the state’s plan to move dozens of state systems onto cloud-based platform Workday. The project was supposed to launch in 2022 and now won’t start until July 2026 at the earliest.
Washington AG-elect Nick Brown unloads some distaste for maybe-U.S AG Gaetz
Libby Denkman of KUOW’s Soundside sat down for a lengthy interview with Attorney General-elect Nick Brown, in which he expressed some significant distaste for Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for U.S. attorney general. For more of the AG-elect in this Washington, you should come to Re-Wire on Dec. 3, where Brown is giving the keynote address.
Seattle mayor pushes for more uses for JumpStart tax
Daniel Beekman of The Seattle Times breaks down some agita at and around Seattle City Hall surrounding how the city spends the proceeds from the JumpStart tax, which is levied on businesses that employ high-earning employees. The tax was established with specific uses in mind, notably affordable housing, but Mayor Bruce Harrell wants more freedom to use it to pay for general government activities as the city faces big budget shortfalls. The tax is set to bring in about $400 million this year and has survived legal challenges. We’re told lawmakers at the state level are eyeing something similar as they stare down a $10 billion budget hole in the coming years.
Assessing the post-Constantine field for King County Executive
KUOW’s Scott Greenstone breaks down the current field for King County Executive, an office that will be open for the first time since 2009 when current Executive Dow Constantine won his first of four terms. For now, King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci and County Assessor John Arthur Wilson are in. Balducci’s council colleague Girmay Zahilay is expected to get in soon. Some notable potential candidates are out: Sen. Mark Mullett, D-Issaquah, who’s leaving office after an unsuccessful bid for governor, tells us he’s not interested, and Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-West Seattle, who challenged Constantine last time around, says he’s backing Zahilay. That 2009 race featured a crowded primary that advanced Constantine and Republican Susan Hutchison, a contest the Democrat won easily. (It’s technically a nonpartisan office, but whatever). One interesting wrinkle is the possibility of a D-on-D faceoff in next year’s general election that pits a candidate from the Eastside, likely Balducci, against a Seattleite such as Zahilay.
The Standard’s Laurel Demkovich and Paul look ahead to 2025 on TVW’s The Impact
If print reporters doing TV is your jam, you should check out Paul and the far more telegenic Laurel Demkovich of the Washington State Standard looking ahead to the 2025 Legislature on TVW’s The Impact. Thanks to host Mike McClanahan for having us on. He cherry-picked Paul’s best line for the platform formerly known as Twitter.
PQ
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A wild critter for your Wednesday
Sara's at an undisclosed tropical location this week and sent this pic of a seal taking a snooze, complete with do-not-disturb sign. Want to see your pet in this space? Drop us a photo and some caption material.
The number can climb to some 52,000 people a year, per the Department of Commerce