Author Archives: Erik Smith

MacEwen sponsors two Oakland Bay Junior High School students as pages in state House

Oakland Bay Junior High School students Sebastian Engel and Clairee Waylett recently traveled to Olympia and spent a week serving as pages in the Washington State House of Representatives. They were sponsored by their 35th District Rep. Drew MacEwen, R-Union.

During their week at the Capitol, Sebastian and Clairee attended page school every day, delivered messages and documents to legislators and staff, and fulfilled other tasks critical to the efficient operation of the Legislature.

“Serving in the House Page Program is one of the most unique and valuable experiences our young people can have, so I admire Sebastian and Clairee for taking advantage of this opportunity,” said MacEwen. “I want to thank them for their service, and wish them the best of luck going forward.”

Each year, students from around the state apply to participate in the House Page Program. To become a page, applicants must have a legislative sponsor, be between the ages of 14 and 16, and obtain written permission from their parents and school. Pages earn $35 per day while serving in the program. For more information about the House Page Program, click here.

Rep. Drew MacEwen’s Legislative Update: March 30, 2017

As Yogi Berra once famously said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” As they did in the 2015 session, House Democrats have released an operating budget proposal that calls for billions in new taxes, massive spending increases, and puts more money into the state’s regressive levy system. The fact is this is not a realistic budget proposal. It’s yet another ‘wish list’ budget that is fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable.

Not only is there no need for $8 billion in tax increases through the 2019-21 budget cycle, there is no appetite for these tax increases either. Especially at a time when the latest revenue forecast revealed the state will have $2.6 billion more to spend next budget cycle than in the current budget cycle that ends June 30.

The bottom line is these tax increases would dampen entrepreneurship, discourage businesses from relocating to our state, and stifle economic growth — and more than 90 percent of them would not even go toward K-12 education funding. The fact is their K-12 funding proposals could be paid for with existing revenue.

My other frustration with the House Democrats’ budget is the way they went about unveiling it. While they gave the required five days of notice prior to the public hearing on their proposal, they had not yet released it for review. How could constituents realistically be expected to testify on something that wasn’t made public until noon on the day of the hearing? They couldn’t. Yet every special interest group was lined up to testify, which means they had been given a heads up about what was in the budget. This led to a one-sided public hearing, with the only testimony coming from people who would benefit from the budget. That is not how government should operate.

In the other chamber, the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus (MCC) released their budget proposal last week. While it isn’t perfect, it gets a lot of things right. It doesn’t impose any new or major tax increases, and it builds on the previous $4.6 billion in additional education funding over the last two budget cycles — which marked a 36 percent increase in funding — by providing $2 billion in new K-12 education spending. If this funding is adopted, K-12 spending would represent more than 50 percent of the operating budget for the first time since 1983. Other highlights of the MCC’s proposal include:

  • Makes higher education more affordable and more accessible by funding 1,800 new enrollments, with a significant focus on STEM degrees.
  • Protects the most vulnerable and those with mental health issues.
  • Makes significant investments to protect foster children and those with developmental disabilities.
  • Leaves $2 billion in the Rainy Day Fund.

One of the most important things the MCC’s budget does is replace the state’s K-12 education funding system, in which property-wealthy districts can generate more funding per student at a lower tax rate than property-poor districts. Instead of continuing this system, the MCC has called for a flat, statewide local effort property tax, which would provide equitable funding to students, regardless of their ZIP code. This would not only be great for them, but according to Senate fiscal documents, the average homeowner in the 35th District would see a property tax decrease of $279.

Neither budget is indicative of what the final budget will look like, but at least the majority party in the Senate put a realistic proposal on the table. The House Democrats’ budget proposal makes it extremely unlikely we’ll be able to finish our work on time this year. It’s simply a non-starter, which means negotiations will take even longer. Longer negotiations lead to special sessions.

Our poor track record when it comes to completing our work on time is why I introduced House Joint Resolution 4205 earlier this session. This bill would have imposed monetary fines on legislators for every additional day past sine die we needed to complete our work. It didn’t go anywhere, but I still believe it would be the right thing to do to ensure we remain focused on the task at hand and are giving you the respect you deserve as constituents.

Instead, we will almost assuredly require our 14th special session since 2010. This complacency is unacceptable. I’m the assistant ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, and the governor’s office has still not scheduled a time to hold a budget meeting with me. It’s a shame the governor has been more focused on making national headlines than tending to the state’s business of developing a balanced budget, working to solve K-12 and mental health challenges, and bringing negotiators together. That is not leadership.

An update on my bills

I wanted to provide a quick update on the status of the following bills.

House Bill 1046 would delink state tests from high school graduation requirements. Not only would this be great for students, but it would save the state roughly $21 million in the 2017-19 biennium, and $18 million each biennium thereafter. I strongly believe these tests have been more of a hindrance than a help to our students, and will keep fighting to ensure we are not imposing unnecessary burdens on them. As I’ve said before, we should rely less on tests and more on the curriculum and our great teachers to prepare our students for life. While I’m grateful the bill received a hearing in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, I’m disappointed it was not voted out this week. Even so, the bill remains alive and will be one of the negotiating pieces on the table as budget negotiations get under way.

House Bill 1058 would ensure incarcerated criminal offenders pay court-ordered restitution to their victims in a timely manner. Under the bill, courts would be prohibited from granting postponement of an offender’s restitution payments — paid by the offender over a specified period of time for a victim’s damages — until after their release from confinement. This bill advanced out of the Senate Law and Justice Committee yesterday, and is now in the Senate Rules Committee.

Town hall recap

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 35th District town hall last week at Olympic College Shelton. We had a great crowd and I really enjoyed the opportunity to provide an update on the legislative session and answer questions on a wide variety of issues. I know Rep. Griffey did as well.

35th LD Town Hall at Olympic College Shelton

Visiting with students from Hawkins Middle School

It’s always fun to meet with students from schools in the 35th District. Earlier this month, students from Hawkins Middle School in Belfair traveled to Olympia to tour the buildings on the Capitol Campus and learn more about their state government. Many of the students had never been to the Capitol before, so it was great to have the opportunity to spend some time with them and talk about what we do as state representatives.

35th District Reps. Drew MacEwen and Dan Griffey meet with students from Hawkins Middle School. March 15, 2017.

Contacting me

It’s an honor to serve you in the state House. Please feel free to contact me any time with your questions, comments or concerns. My contact information is below.

Rep. Drew MacEwen details the Senate budget plan on KMAS

Rep. Drew MacEwen, R-Union, is on KMAS iFiberOne with Jeff Slakey, explaining the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus’s budget proposal and some of his thoughts on specific aspects of the budget he agrees and disagrees with. These include property taxes, local levies, and adequately funding education. Rep. MacEwen also shares some insight on how the process of negotiating a budget occurs.

Rep. Drew MacEwen discusses legislation on KMAS to create a new children and family agency

Rep. Drew MacEwen, R-Union, discusses a legislation that would create a new agency that would help children and families. MacEwen also talks about his time meeting and greeting constituents and gives  insight on the budget negotiations.

35th District lawmakers to hold town hall meeting in Shelton

Thirty-Fifth District Sen. Tim Sheldon and Reps. Drew MacEwen and Dan Griffey will be holding a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 23 in Shelton. The meeting will take place from 6-7 p.m. in The Johnson Library at Olympic College Shelton.

Those residing in the 35th District are encouraged to bring their questions, ideas and concerns about legislation and issues before the state Legislature. The representatives will provide a brief update on the 2017 legislative session, then open the forum up to answer specific questions from constituents.

Details are as follows:

Time: 6-7 p.m.
Venue: The Johnson Library, Olympic College Shelton
Address: 937 Alpine Way, Shelton, WA 98584

For questions prior to the event, people may contact Sen. Sheldon’s office at (360) 786-7668 or tim.sheldon@leg.wa.gov, Rep. MacEwen’s office at (360) 786-7902 or drew.macewen@leg.wa.gov, or Rep. Griffey’s office at (360) 786-7966 or dan.griffey@leg.wa.gov.

Rep. Drew MacEwen’s Legislative Update: March 10, 2017

It’s been a busy month so far, as we’ve spent much of the past 10 days on the House floor voting on bills — more than 300 in total. Now that house of origin cutoff has passed, bills that were approved by the House head to the Senate, and vice-versa. Instead of spending long hours on the floor, we will now be spending long hours in committee considering Senate bills.

Three of the bills I introduced this session were brought to the floor and approved by the House before the cutoff. In a 92-6 vote Monday, the House passed my bill to delink state tests from high school graduation requirements. Under House Bill 1046, the state’s testing system would be left intact, but successful completion of the Certificate of Academic Achievement or Certificate of Individual Achievement would no longer be required for students to graduate. This bill would save the state roughly $21 million in the 2017-19 biennium, and $18 million each biennium thereafter.

At the heart of this bill is my belief that these tests have been more of a hindrance than a help to our students. Requiring them to pass a federally designed test that was never intended to be linked to graduation is an unnecessary burden that we should not be imposing on them. Instead, we should trust the curriculum and our great teachers to prepare students for the important next steps of life.

Rep. Drew MacEwen, R-Union, delivers remarks on the House floor.

Two other bills I introduced would protect and support crime victims.

House Bill 1058, which was approved unanimously, would ensure incarcerated criminal offenders pay court-ordered restitution to their victims in a timely manner. Under the bill, courts would be prohibited from granting postponement of an offender’s restitution payments — paid by the offender over a specified period of time for a victim’s damages — until after their release from confinement. It’s important we ensure restitution is being prioritized and not placed behind other financial obligations an offender may have. Our criminal justice system should not require the financial burden already incurred by victims to be adjudicated repeatedly.

House Bill 1022 was approved 95-1. It would allow undocumented crime victims to seek assistance from local law enforcement without fear of deportation. This bill would not change immigration law, nor do anything to encourage illegal immigration. Rather, it would bring Washington in line with most other states and codify us with federal law. While I support efforts to secure our borders and enact strong immigration policies, that’s a matter for Congress. This bill would simply protect victims of rape and other vicious crimes, and provide them the opportunity to seek justice.

House Bill 1046 now advances to the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, while House Bills 1022 and 1058 advance to the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

Bill to extend levy cliff heads to the governor’s desk

In late January, the House passed House Bill 1059, which was brought forward by the majority party in an effort to delay the coming “levy cliff” by extending current levy policy for one year (more on the background of that bill here). I voted against the bill because it felt like we were kicking the can down the road with 12 weeks of session remaining instead of working to solve the fundamental problems with the way we fund K-12 education in our state.

While House Bill 1059 died, a different bill to extend current levy policy passed the Senate and came before the House earlier this week. Senate Bill 5023, which was approved 87-10 in the House, would do two important things House Bill 1059 did not. First, it would establish transparency and enable detailed accounting by requiring levy dollars to be deposited into a subfund. Second, it would help ensure levy dollars are spent as intended by requiring school districts to submit reports to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) detailing the programs and activities to be funded through local levies. These reports would then need to be approved by OSPI before districts were able to put the levy on the ballot.

I voted for Senate Bill 5023 because we need to provide school districts with certainty and flexibility as they start their budgeting processes. That said, it is my hope that we don’t use this bill’s passage as an outlet to further delay a comprehensive K-12 education funding solution. Though there are various proposals on the table, we’re still not close to where we need to be to come to an agreement. Helping us get to a compromise that amply and equitably funds K-12 education in all of our districts remains my top priority.

Reps. Drew Stokesbary and Drew MacEwen have a conversation on the House floor.

Sewage spill reveals double standard in environmental priorities

Earlier this week, the Seattle Times published an op-ed submitted by Reps. Vincent Buys, David Taylor and myself about the catastrophic failure at King County’s West Point Treatment Plant last month. In the op-ed, we ask why politicians, state agencies and environmental groups are so quick to pounce on environmental issues in rural communities, but not in urban communities.

An excerpt:

“Instead of focusing their efforts on a real environmental problem happening in our state’s most populated city, they would rather push policies that punish landowners and jeopardize development in rural communities. They would rather go after a county’s potential water quality impact due to septic systems than hold the officials and one of the largest culprits in devastating our water quality accountable for discharging hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated stormwater and raw sewage into Puget Sound. Rural counties can’t rely on septic systems, but it’s OK for King County to continue to sweep its ongoing sewage treatment problems under the rug?”

You can read the whole piece here.

Weekly radio interview on KMAS

Every Wednesday morning during session, I have the opportunity to join KMAS’ Jeff Slakey live on the air to discuss legislative issues. Earlier this week, Jeff and I discussed house of origin cutoff and my bill to delink state tests from graduation requirements. You can listen to this segment, as well as past segments, by clicking here.

Contacting me

It’s an honor to serve you in the state House. Please feel free to contact me any time with your questions, comments or concerns. My contact information is below.

MacEwen bill prioritizing victim compensation unanimously passes House

Rep. Drew MacEwen’s bill to ensure incarcerated criminal offenders pay court-ordered restitution to their victims was unanimously approved by the House Wednesday.

Under House Bill 1058, courts would be prohibited from granting postponement of an offender’s restitution payments — paid by the offender over a specified period of time as payment of a victim’s damages — until after their release from confinement.

“We must ensure restitution is being prioritized and not placed behind other financial obligations an offender may have,” said MacEwen, R-Union. “Our criminal justice system should not require the financial burden already incurred by victims to be adjudicated repeatedly.”

Under the bill, an offender’s inability to make restitution payments while imprisoned would not be a violation of their sentence unless their inability to pay resulted from a refusal to accept, or termination from, employment in a Department of Corrections inmate work program.

House Bill 1058 now advances to the Senate for further consideration.