Depending on where you live, you might be seeing TV commercials every few hours warning about the dangers of health care reform. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending millions to stop this legislation. Most people live in districts where the members have already decided. If they’re Republicans, their vote is an automatic no. And, most Democrats are solid on the “aye” side, so the debate boils down to a few dozen Democrats who could vote either way.

 South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is a Democrat who’s on the fence. She said last month: “Since the outset of the health care reform debate last year, I’ve said that any health care proposal must meet the dual goals of increasing access to quality care while decreasing cost. I voted against the House version of the health care bill because it failed to meet these goals for South Dakota.”

 She’s also said the Senate bill doesn’t meet this test. But is that a no? We don’t know. Yet....

Since this is national Sunshine Week, you will see lots of stories about open government and the importance of providing citizens with meaningful access to the activities of their government. Here is a sampling from the editorials across the state highlighting the need for legislative transparency reforms:

• A bad example of legislative 'transparency', Olympian
  "In the waning days of the regular legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, a Democrat from Spokane, claimed the Legislature is much more transparent than it was when she entered the Legislature.  Brown is wrong . . ."

• Sunshine and Clouds in Olympia, Kitsap Sun
  "The bad news is that public access to information and hearings about legislation has been ... challenging. There’s been a flurry of 'title-only' bills introduced and set for hearings, sometimes on short notice, and with no timely public information on their content. Members of the public deserve better than that — and if...

Description: Ethel’s three stepchildren, Titus, Lily Belle, and Samuel Savage, are shocked to find out that their mother plans to set up a memorial fund with the money to fund the ridiculous dreams of people. They arrange to have her put into a sanatorium where she meets several inmates, each having only one minor problem. She becomes friends with them and gains new insight. By the end of the play, you’ll wonder who the crazy ones really are. Not recommended for those age 10 and younger.

And with the great price, it's the best entertainment deal in town.

Tickets: $10 suggested donation (includes dessert during intermission) Group tickets are available by calling 425.355.9330.

Information: 425-355-9330

Website: www.ActsOfGodDramaTroupe.art.officelive.com

Running against a constitutional clock to adjourn in a few days, some lawmakers are openly discussing the need for a special session to balance the budget and raise taxes on recession-strained Washingtonians.

As noted by the Seattle Times:

"Past a longshot," was how Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Bellevue, summed up the odds Monday for an on-time finish.

The regular session is required under the state Constitution to end by midnight Thursday. A special session, which would have to be called by Gov. Chris Gregoire, would bring inevitable criticism about the extra $20,000-a-day cost to taxpayers for legislators' expenses.

But some Democratic leaders say a brief special session — say about a week — could be justified given the size of the state's budget woes.

"We're dealing with the largest fiscal problem the state Legislature has faced since the Great Depression," said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, one of the budget negotiators. "I think we need to go into a short special session to get it right."

How does a health care agency listen to patient complaints in the era of social media? Well, the easiest thing to do is to ignore complaints or to explain them away. The best practice: Treat complaints as critical nuggets of information.

Let’s start with a bit of context. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Indian Health Service have an extensive process for tribal consultation. There is a formula for listening to tribal leaders about its operation, priorities and budgets. There’s also an open line for internal IHS reform. The IHS collects data about best practices, ranging from treatments for cardiovascular disease to partnerships with traditional healers. This is a simple, but important, way to share ideas about programs or treatments that work.

So the context is that the Indian Health Service has an extensive practice collecting information – complaints – from tribal and community leaders. In general the Indian Health Service does a better job of listening to its...

With great attention on Copenhagen and the international climate negotiations last December, it is tempting to think that the issue begins with complicated science and ends with the fate of distant polar bears.  We believe that science and polar bears are deeply important, but climate change is also a moral issue about economic justice. Regardless of how our government ultimately decides to handle climate change policy, poor people will be affected.  They can be included in the new clean energy economy or they can be further pushed out in the cold. 

Doing nothing about climate pollution will make things worse for the poor and people of color. The result of decades of inaction on this issue has already dramatically affected their lives: from more intense hurricanes that disproportionately hit people who cannot escape the rising tide, to the higher cost of food in a fossil fuel-driven economy, to heat waves that often trap the elderly in stifling apartments.  

Fortunately,...

It looks like the public weren't the only ones kept in the dark yesterday on the Senate Majority's income tax plan. Ranking member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Sen. Joe Zarelli, believes yesterday's hearing was in violation of Senate rules and asked for the hearing to be postponed. Here is the video exchange between Zarelli and the Committee Chair, Sen. Margarita Prentice: (Click here for video)

Highlighting the double standard the Legislature employs in contrast with the rules placed on local governments, Tim Ford, Open Government Ombudsman for the Attorney General, wrote in an email yesterday: "It would be illegal for a local government to provide less than 24 hours notice of a special meeting."

Based on the nontransparent course the Legislature continues to pursue, voters may need to put John Edward on their speed dial to help channel the details of the ghost bills haunting the Capitol.

Or lawmakers could debate the merits of constitutional transparency protections for citizens to help put the...

The Senate Ways and Means Committee took executive action yesterday on SB 6871. Along with increasing court filing fees the proposal would also add a surcharge to car insurance policies to fight auto theft. According to the I-960 fiscal impact statement, the new charge is expected to collect $9.6 million annually from auto policyholders.

State insurers testified against the bill. According to the bill report:

Progressive Insurance recently implemented something similar to this bill in Arizona and found it to be complicated and costly to administer. They had to wait until they had a significant rate revision to incorporate into the fee and they didn't see a lot of results from the program. The current auto theft program has only been in place a few years and there hasn't made a measurable decrease in auto theft. If the committee does move forward with the bill, a sunset clause should be incorporated with reports back to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the auto theft program. Also, the bill...

 I didn’t figure the Indian health system would be a huge agenda item at the Blair House bipartisan meeting last week. On paper, at least, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is one of ten titles in the president’s proposal. So ideally Title 10 would have rated a mention.

 It would have been even better to hear a debate about the merits of reauthorizing the 1975 law at the summit with the Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress. Some of the Republicans at the Blair House have complained many times that the Indian Health Service represents the worst of government-run care. So, we ought to ask, “why not fully fund the IHS and give it the resources to be successful?”

 No such question was asked. Then no tribal leaders were in the room and the only American Indian representative in Congress wasn’t there … so it was easy for the subject to never come up.

 I watched the meeting on the Internet and updated short items on Twitter (a “live tweet”...

Yesterday Governor Gregoire enacted a 2-year repeal of many of Initiative 960's provisions. While this is not the first time a voter approved initiative has been changed, it represents the third time this particular voter enacted policy (2/3 vote for tax increases) has been set aside.

One of the ironies of this latest action is that a 2/3 vote requirement can be repealed by a simple majority vote.

Although initiatives adopted by the people are statutory law just like bills passed by the Legislature, it is a much higher hurdle for citizens to get their laws enacted. As such there should be a high threshold to change or repeal their laws or they should at least have a say.

This is why the Washington Policy Center's Policy Guide proposes constitutional changes:

"Adopt constitutional reform that requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to amend a voter-approved initiative. The two-year limitation on requiring a two-thirds vote of lawmakers to amend an initiative should be eliminated, so that the two-thirds...

President Barack Obama is hosting a health care summit Thursday at the Blair House. It will be televised live. We can all watch and judge the proposals for ourselves. That transparency is an ideal opportunity for the president, Democrats and Republicans to put their best ideas forward and debate different approaches to solving the health care crisis.

“I am inviting members of both parties to take part in a bipartisan health care meeting, and I hope they come in a spirit of good faith. I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points,” the president said in his weekly radio address. “Instead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations."

But after months of rancor about health care reform is there any common ground left? Absolutely. And I hope our elected leaders think so too.

First there is common ground on the...

With National Sunshine Week (March 14-20) less than a month away, it's not too early to think about the reforms needed to make the legislative process more transparent.

Whether it's the failure to implement a reasonable budget review period, holding hearings on "ghost bills," or carving out a special legislative exemption from the state's public records act, it is clear that constitutional transparency protections are needed for citizens.

The Catch-22 of course, any constitutional reform must originate in the Legislature. Despite this obstacle, here are some suggested constitutional transparency protections to help make Washington the legislative sunshine state:

• Add the preamble of the state's public records act to Article 1. This would help re-enforce this transparency intent for any wayward court. The preamble reads:

"The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right...

Who is getting hurt most in this recession? It's the workers among us who earn “too much” to qualify for Medicaid and food stamps, but don't get much help from their employers for health care or any other benefits, for that matter. They make between $10 and $15 an hour and just try to do their best. Childcare workers find themselves among these workers just scraping by.

This economy that has pushed down wages for almost everyone, so both parents go to work to make ends meet, and single parents have no choice whatsoever. So who takes care of the kids? They are too young for public school, but the family paycheck cannot be put off for four years. So these parents, playing by the rules, depend on paid child care for their kids' well-being.

What are the ingredients for the best child care? It's pretty simple: The childcare teacher's morale and education, and her guidance and care for the children under her wing. And yet, the average wage for childcare teachers is $10.50 an hour, and almost half of these...

Sprinkles and coconut flakes were the tools of choice for the more than 50 toddlers who created a 155 Cupcake-O-Gram for state legislators today in Seattle. The toddlers, joined by the decorating skills of family and friends, will send their creations to Olympia tomorrow to remind legislators that we can't balance the budget on the backs of children, and urge them not to cut early care and learning opportunities for children. The event was organized by MomsRising at Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill.

 “We’re going to have some fun decorating the cupcakes, but also we’re sending a message to Olympia,” said Sarah Francis, Campaign Director for Early Learning for MomsRising. “We’re hoping to sprinkle our legislators with a little sweetness during the session. But we also want them to know that early learning is not frosting on the cake. It’s a fundamental part of our education system, children's academic development, and a critical investment for our state.”...

Late Wednesday night, the House adopted its version of SB 6130, repealing for two years the two-thirds-vote requirement for tax increases and some of the transparency provisions of Initiative 960 enacted by the voters in 2007.

The vote in the House was 51-47.

Because the House made changes to the bill (added back e-mail notification of tax increases), it now goes back to the Senate for approval and then to Gov. Chris Gregoire for signature.

The repeal of the two-thirds-vote requirement will clear the way for tax increases. Wednesday, Gregoire proposed $605 million in tax increases.

Though the governor plans to sign the two-year repeal of the two-thirds-vote requirement for tax increases, she has not indicated whether she supports the Legislature’s plan for a two-year repeal of nonbinding advisory votes for tax increases enacted with a referendum denying emergency clause.

The intent section of I-960 discusses the goal of the non-binding tax advisory votes:

From I-960:

Our state constitution guarantees...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska-- It takes about 30 seconds of walking around the campus of the Alaska Native Medical Center to appreciate that you are in a special place. There are values communicated in every hallway.

• Colorful banners remind visitors that the entire campus is tobacco free;
•  There are many gathering places scattered about for family and community with the finest in traditional art showcased;
•  And, in waiting areas, there are open computer terminals for people to research their own health information. Signs remind patients that if you’ve been waiting more than 15 minutes, talk to someone.

This is what the Indian Health system should look like across the country. “No,” a friend corrected me, “this is what the U.S. health care system should look like.”

The Alaska Native Medical Center is two facilities in one. Essentially, there is an in-patient hospital and some statewide services managed by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. And outpatient services are...

 Lisa See’s bestselling novel, Shanghai Girls, published last year to wide acclaim, has just been released this month in a new paperback edition by Random House.   Set in wartime China in 1937, See’s novel chronicles the lives of two sisters, Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, whose father runs a lucrative rickshaw business in Shanghai. 

 Both sisters lead a carefree and privileged life in the city, then known as the Paris of Asia.  Pearl, the headstrong, beautiful older sister, and May, her docile sibling, make their living by posing for commercial artists. 

 See skillfully captures the aura of pre-World War II Shanghai with all its poverty and garish wealth, a city teeming with nightclubs, corrupt gangsters and prostitutes plying their trade.

 By any measure, Pearl and May are the embodiment of  a modern generation of Chinese women that challenged tradition and authority.  The novelist recreates the glamorous and captivating world of...

At 11:10 last night the Senate voted to suspend all of I-960's taxpayer protections, not just the 2/3 vote requirement suspension adopted just Tuesday.

The vote for full suspension of I-960 was 26 to 22.

Last night’s vote occurred because Senate Democrats said the bill adopted Tuesday to only suspend the 2/3 vote requirement was done in error.

Curiously, Democrats blamed Republicans for the late night vote. According to Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown:

"We want to vote on the bill today, but the minority party has made it clear that it’s going to block the procedural vote that would allow that to happen.

We are disappointed – we don’t see a substantive reason for delay. We had a very thoughtful and thorough debate yesterday, and preventing a final vote on the bill today only serves to slow down the budget process.

We’d like to vote on the bill at a reasonable hour so the public can follow the debate, but if that’s not possible, we are prepared to work past midnight into...

Washingtonians are yet another step closer to seeing their taxes increased. The state Senate has voted to "temporarily" suspend the 2/3 vote requirements for tax increases enacted multiple times by voters. The vote was 26 to 23.

Instead of approving the bill as referred by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the full Senate adopted an amendment that limited its changes to only the 2/3 vote restriction. This means the current requirement for non-binding advisory votes for tax increases not sent first to the voters for approval would remain in effect.

Based on the number of tax increase proposals being considered by the Legislature, it could be a long ballot for voters in November.

Next up for the proposal is debate in the House.

 Jason Mercier is the director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force and is a contributing editor of the Heartland Institute'...

Washingtonians are a step closer to seeing their taxes increased as a result of a vote yesterday in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Committee adopted the proposed suspension of the state's 2/3 requirement for tax increases.

Voting in favor of the suspension were Senators Prentice, Fraser, Tom, Fairley, Keiser, Kline, Kohl-Welles, McDermott, Murray, Oemig, Pridemore, Regala and Rockefeller.

Opposed were Senators Zarelli, Brandland, Carrell, Honeyford, Parlette and Schoesler.

If the full Senate follows suit, this will be the third time voter approved tax restrictions have been "temporarily" set aside by lawmakers. Previous suspensions occurred in 2002  and 2005 .

Though billed as a "temporary" suspension, the full effect of the proposal will result in the 2/3 vote restriction likely never being triggered. This means the Legislature will not have to vote to suspend the law again while not being restricted by the original intent of voters.

Consider Section 2 (D) (ii) of the bill: "Any action or combination...

President Barack Obama answered an important philosophical question last week: How will the federal government fully fund a starved Indian health system?

The answer is budget by budget: The administration boosted spending by 13 percent in fiscal year 2010 and is proposing another 9 percent increase for 2011. But this budget does not resolve the contradiction between “historic underfunding” and the larger reality about federal spending. The proposed budget calls for $5.4 billion in spending for Indian health care, ranging from clinical services to facility maintenance and construction. (The bulk of that money, $4.4 billion would be from appropriations, the rest comes from health insurance collections and special grants.)

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said: “Our budget also contains a significant increase in funds for the Indian Health Service as we continue to work to eliminate health disparities. It is the principle that we are trying to establish in our healthcare system – that regardless of race,...

As the state Legislature grapples with the daunting task of fixing a $2.6 billion operating budget deficit, we understand the challenges that lawmakers face.

There is plenty of pain to go around. That said, we implore the Legislature to not once again make our Washington State Library a budget casualty. It would be penny-wise and pound-foolish, and would unravel a significant service to state government, our local libraries and Washingtonians who increasingly rely on the support during these difficult times.

In her recently released budget proposal, Gov. Chris Gregoire would cut $2 million from the state library, resulting in one-third of library staff members losing their jobs.

Over the past decade, in good times and bad, the state library has been put through the budget wringer several times. One governor even proposed abolishing the state library. If Gov. Gregoire’s proposed cuts become reality, the state library’s budget will have been reduced by more than a third, and its staff level...

The worst kept secret of the 2010 Legislative Session is the majority party's plan to "suspend" the state's two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases.

If they follow through with this decision, this would be the third time voter approved tax restrictions have been "temporarily" set aside by lawmakers. Previous suspensions occurred in 2002 and 2005.

This disregard for the voter's intent is despite the fact on three separate occasions citizens have voiced their support for requiring lawmakers to reach a broad consensus and secure a two-thirds vote to raise taxes. Votes in support of the two-thirds restriction occurred in 1993, 1999, and 2007 .

Despite numerous legislative amendments to the section of law containing the tax restriction, the Legislature has never fully repealed the mandate from voters that tax increases require a two-thirds vote.

Rather than continue the current charade of “suspending” the law every time lawmakers want to raise taxes while saying they are honoring the will of the voters and leaving...

Paul Levy’s Running A Hospital “is a blog started by a CEO of a large Boston hospital to share thoughts about hospitals, medicine, and health care issues.” The postings started as a lark. But when the president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center writes openly that sends a message that filters down throughout the system. Other hospital professionals started blogs and more hospital data was posted in real time making transparency a core value. 

People already use the Web to search out medical information of all kinds (several studies show it second only to Porn for Internet searches). Health organizations have a natural, built in audience of people wanting to know what’s going on.

 So how do health professionals by and large manage this interest? “Effective immediately, the Hospital is blocking access to social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter from all Hospital computers,” says an internal memo from another system as blogged...

The Legislature is considering numerous proposals to grant higher-education institutions expanded tuition authority. The proposals have received mixed support from the state’s four-year institutions.

In light of the state’s long-term budget outlook, serious consideration must be given to reforming the way the state finances higher education. The Washington Policy Center believes the state’s four-year universities need to be empowered to have more control over their budget and finances and be less dependent on taxpayer subsidies.

One potential model is to allow the state’s universities to transition to business enterprise status. In 2004, Colorado and Japan moved in this direction.

Here is what Colorado lawmakers decided:

The General Assembly finds that greater resource flexibility for state institutions of higher education can enhance more educational opportunities, as well as increase educational excellence.

The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that:

(a) ...