WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Do not put that on the podcast. No, you can't. 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:04.320 He doesn't listen. No, don't. No, no, no, no, 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:07.219 no, no, no. You never know. He might put it on. 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:09.640 Actually, truth be told, he might actually. Yeah, 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:13.880 he might listen to the podcast. Welcome to County 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.160 Connection, the official podcast of the Washington 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.539 State Association of Counties, where we dive 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:20.699 into the legislative issues shaping the future 00:00:20.699 --> 00:00:23.140 of our communities. From budgets to public safety, 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.940 infrastructure to elections, we'll break down 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:28.579 what's happening in Olympia and how it impacts 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.199 counties from across the Evergreen State. Stay 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:34.140 informed, stay engaged, and join us as we amplify 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:40.490 the voice of Washington's 39 counties. Welcome, 00:00:40.530 --> 00:00:42.250 everybody, to the County Connection podcast, 00:00:42.670 --> 00:00:45.810 a special breaking news podcast here on Monday, 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:51.270 the 9th of March. It is around 3 o 'clock, almost 00:00:51.270 --> 00:00:53.590 3 .30. That's significant. We're going to tell 00:00:53.590 --> 00:00:57.329 you why. But it is Monday of the final week of 00:00:57.329 --> 00:01:01.530 the legislative session. It is only three, well, 00:01:01.710 --> 00:01:05.000 three and a half days away until Siney die. And 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.000 there's still a lot happening here. We have gone 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:08.920 through all the major cutoffs. Our last major 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:13.739 cutoff was Friday. That was the final floor cutoff 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:15.719 for bills that aren't considered necessary to 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:17.840 implement the budget to actually get through 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:21.239 the process and be considered still alive. They 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:23.280 would have had to get through both the House 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.370 and the Senate. That was a big day, but that's 00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:27.890 not the only thing that happened, and that's 00:01:27.890 --> 00:01:29.849 not the only thing that's still happening here 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:32.209 in the Washington State Legislative Session. 00:01:32.250 --> 00:01:34.609 I am not alone in the studio. I have brought 00:01:34.609 --> 00:01:37.530 Brad Banks. I'm here. Hey, Brad, how's it going? 00:01:37.670 --> 00:01:40.150 Good, Paul. How are you? Good. Lots to talk about. 00:01:40.629 --> 00:01:43.230 You said 9th of March, and I thought you were 00:01:43.230 --> 00:01:45.010 going to say like the Ides of March. The Ides, 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:46.829 yeah. It feels like it. It might be the Ides. 00:01:46.829 --> 00:01:49.170 I'm never sure when the Ides actually are, but 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:51.349 I think we're getting close. I think if your 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:54.480 name is Caesar, just the whole month. of march 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.579 makes you nervous yeah there's just tension the 00:01:56.579 --> 00:01:58.579 whole month yeah it's not a yeah you don't you're 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:00.579 like yeah should i get out of bed today probably 00:02:00.579 --> 00:02:02.739 not just stay home yeah just stay home i agree 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:09.419 uh brad what is happening i mean what is happening 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:12.439 and i don't say that lightly no i mean usually 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:14.379 we know what's happening but some things are 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.120 going on right now here in the legislative session 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.520 and i wanted to bring you in to do this kind 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.680 of Yeah, let's talk about it. Yeah, I think it's 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.919 an interesting moment, right? Yeah, and the real 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.300 interesting moment right now is Senate Bill 6346, 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.159 right? The millionaire's tax bill. Yeah. You 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.539 and I were in the trenches, so to speak, on this 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:34.520 one. To the bitter end, at least we thought. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.060 Yeah, last week, right? And there was a lot going 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:41.319 on with this bill, I think, that maybe we didn't 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.039 know about. In fact, I'm pretty certain there 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:46.039 was a lot going on with this bill that we didn't 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:49.060 know about. I would say there were mirages. And 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.560 some deep fakes thrown in front of us to distract 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:54.280 us at times. A lot of political jostling. A lot 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.900 of political jostling in the background. And 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:59.229 then suddenly... Friday morning, there's a new 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:01.650 version that no one had ever seen. It just gets 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:03.949 dropped on the bar. And immediately thereafter, 00:03:04.289 --> 00:03:06.150 there's a press conference from the governor's 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:09.870 office celebrating. He loves it. How much he 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:11.689 likes this bill. He loves it now. And announcing 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:14.069 that he is not only supporting it, he's going 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:17.949 to sign it. So he says. So he says. But there 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:20.669 were some things in that bill that. We, by the 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:24.849 way, when I say we, I mean counties, didn't like 00:03:24.849 --> 00:03:27.189 it. You and I had some little things in there, 00:03:27.270 --> 00:03:30.129 too, right? We just had some little things. But 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:33.349 before I get started, I want to make sure that 00:03:33.349 --> 00:03:37.069 I do a bit of a disclaimer. The Washington State 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:39.449 Association of Counties was not in favor of this 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:41.729 bill and not opposed to this bill. We did not 00:03:41.729 --> 00:03:44.590 take a position. Neutral. Happily neutral. And 00:03:44.590 --> 00:03:46.990 kind of officially neutral, right? Yeah, as is, 00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:49.419 I think, probably our... tradition and practice 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:51.759 in these matters to some degree. Yeah, because 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.719 this is a tax bill that is a state revenue bill, 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:57.300 not necessarily something that's a direct county 00:03:57.300 --> 00:03:59.039 interest, although some of our members would 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.900 disagree with that, right? They would. And argued. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.639 And others, of course, agree with that and argued 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:05.860 the other way. And we had some members, and we 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:08.000 talked at this, we talked about this bill with 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.800 our members, with our legislative steering committee 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.800 every week since it came out. I would say extensively. 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:19.060 And there was really, there really was not agreement 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:20.839 amongst the group. There were very strong opinions, 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:23.759 very passionate viewpoints on both sides, which 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:26.360 is why WASAC didn't officially take... Yeah, 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.360 that's an inherent flag, right? That WASAC just... 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:31.339 When those kind of bills come up, whether they're 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:35.540 tax or policy, frankly, I think it's... it behooves 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:37.779 the association to just go into a neutral mode 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:40.220 yeah and we have a pretty tough rule you know 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:42.199 during the session uh in order to take a position 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.639 on a bill we've got to get an 85 agreement on 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.959 either side i know i was on that i was on the 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.139 end of not knowing that when i tried to run some 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:51.879 in front of the members before and having it 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:53.699 go down in flames because i thought as long as 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:56.560 i had like 51 i was good to go no i know yeah 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:58.540 it's a high bar it is a high bar but but i do 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:03.600 think it it helps it helps create a among the 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.000 members and a real clarity, I think, for staff 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.079 and just sort of the organization in terms of 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.639 when we are going to move on an issue, everybody 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.240 knows we're moving in the same direction because 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.620 there's broad, broad support, supermajority support. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.279 Exactly. And when the association doesn't take 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.459 an official position, members are free to do 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:21.800 whatever they want. They are. And so if they 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:25.519 feel very, very strongly, whether it's a value 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.740 set of theirs or just an ideological point of 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.920 view or whatever, or they just... you know, logically 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:34.120 disagree or agree with something, they can feel 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.480 free to just march off and advocate however they 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.480 want to on behalf of themselves or their county 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:41.899 if they can get the rest of their county commissioners 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:46.240 to agree with them or county council. Yep. The 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.000 one thing that we've been talking about a lot 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.279 with this bill since it started is public defense. 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.339 Yeah. So do you remember when it came out in 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:58.180 the Senate? I do. Was 150 million, I think, or 00:05:58.180 --> 00:05:59.620 was assigned? Is that how it came out in the 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:01.180 Senate? Remember, it came out in percentages, 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:03.819 right? The first version was 5%. Oh, I'm sorry. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.800 Yes, that's right. Yeah, 5 % of the total was 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.220 going to go to public defense. And that was significant. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.399 It was. For us. Because how many years? Well, 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:14.180 geez, you've been here longer than. Well, no, 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:15.000 we've been here about the same. No, I mean, we've 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:17.300 just alternated. But yeah, yeah. Yeah, because 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:19.079 I was a member for a long time when you were 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.240 still here. And then you left. If you put us 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:24.899 together, we're like founding members. We've 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:28.069 got. more territorial when it was a territorial 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:30.410 we've got more experience combined than anyone 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:34.149 else but but no seriously i mean yeah i would 00:06:34.149 --> 00:06:37.850 say you know i've been associated with uh wassack 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:40.490 since 2008 right and i was just a couple years 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:42.769 before you when i when i came back and then you 00:06:42.769 --> 00:06:44.750 left for a while and then i left yeah right and 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:47.430 it was also always sort of association adjacent 00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:50.430 yeah right but now you're back uh on staff as 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:52.389 a contract employee and i'm now i'm staff and 00:06:52.389 --> 00:06:57.120 so What is it? So almost 20 years. And that entire 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.519 time we have been working on public defense funding. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.279 And before that, if you look back at some of 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.360 the early reports that we have that the state 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:09.480 even did themselves, they dig back into the late 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:12.980 1980s, early 1990s. So we're really talking 30 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:16.139 years of discussion about local governments. 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:18.480 This isn't new. Yeah. Counties specifically in 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:22.819 public defense. And this. dedicating a certain 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:26.240 amount of a major new tax bill to public defense 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.620 was a huge step forward in that fight for more 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:32.399 funding on the local level well yeah especially 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:37.220 since i think we have elevated the issue to sort 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:40.779 of Is that what they use now? It's not even like 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:43.259 when you have the scale, right? It's like A, 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.279 B, C, D, right? And then there's like the super 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:49.579 tier, which is like the one just above A tier. 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:51.480 If that's true, then that would be this one for 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:53.579 sure. That's what I see on YouTube. But I do 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:57.180 think on some level, right, that feels to me 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.459 like where this issue has been for us at least 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:00.980 the last couple of years, right? Yeah, it's been 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:02.079 right at the top. It has been our single biggest 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.100 top issue that we have wanted to draw attention 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:08.490 to, try to get remedy for, et cetera. Yeah, exactly. 00:08:08.709 --> 00:08:12.089 And it's worth more in a value point of view 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:14.949 to our members than even some of the other really 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:17.370 high -profile issues that we've gone after, like 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:20.230 the 1 % property tax issue and a few others, 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:22.769 which also remain controversial with our members 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:25.290 as anybody. Sure, there are plenty of other issues, 00:08:25.449 --> 00:08:28.209 plenty of A -tier issues, I would say. Absolutely. 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:32.210 Right, yeah. For us, this was a huge step forward 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:35.710 from just that point of view, right? From just 00:08:35.710 --> 00:08:37.769 that kind of narrow interest. We weren't in favor 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:40.049 of the bill. We weren't opposing the bill. But 00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:42.570 we were certainly interested in that public defense 00:08:42.570 --> 00:08:45.490 funding. Should that bill pass? Should that, 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:47.169 you know, and you and I talked about this before. 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:49.409 There's another podcast that talks about all 00:08:49.409 --> 00:08:51.129 the hurdles that this bill has to go through. 00:08:51.289 --> 00:08:54.129 Litigation, potential citizens initiative, right, 00:08:54.250 --> 00:08:56.429 et cetera, et cetera. If it even passes the legislature. 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:00.169 Assuming it gets through all of that. and they 00:09:00.169 --> 00:09:03.210 start receiving revenue, getting 5 % of that 00:09:03.210 --> 00:09:06.809 originally would have been a big benefit to public 00:09:06.809 --> 00:09:08.169 defense. It would have been a game changer, yeah. 00:09:08.330 --> 00:09:12.769 Absolutely. And I think seeing that in writing, 00:09:12.970 --> 00:09:17.210 right, was probably the closest we've ever felt 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:21.909 like there is a potential, and again, you know, 00:09:21.909 --> 00:09:24.990 whether things are a mirage or not in any given 00:09:24.990 --> 00:09:27.129 moment, we can talk about that, but at least 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:30.480 at the moment felt like, at that moment felt 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.919 like oh this is a this may be we finally finally 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.220 finally may have broken through right yeah they're 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:40.440 just maybe we're turning the corner even if we 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:42.679 don't like the mechanism right even if our members 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.340 half of them hate it right right and the other 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:47.919 half and even if the five percent isn't all that 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:50.539 we would have probably needed it wasn't it wasn't 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:52.600 right it wasn't going to solve the problem no 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:54.620 it wasn't but it was it was a step forward right 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:57.159 and it was a huge recognition of okay there's 00:09:57.669 --> 00:09:59.330 We've got to try to fix this collectively as 00:09:59.330 --> 00:10:01.990 state and locals. And then it comes out of the 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:04.549 Senate, not at 5%. They bumped it up. They did. 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:08.429 Right? To 7%. And that's maybe when we should 00:10:08.429 --> 00:10:09.929 have said something. Maybe we should have thought, 00:10:10.070 --> 00:10:11.870 all right, we're drinking the Kool -Aid here. 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:15.679 Well, it just, you know, here at the association, 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:17.779 at least, you know, it got us even a little bit 00:10:17.779 --> 00:10:19.759 more amped up. It did. Right. And we're like, 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.500 okay, 7%. Well, maybe there's an appetite for 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:25.799 a little more. Right. Right. And we even formulated 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.360 a strategy to say, hey, how about even increasing 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:33.000 that over a five or six year period so that it 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:37.500 reached 10 % by 2036. And again, if you go back 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.259 and listen to the other podcast, there's a reason 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:43.879 for that. Supreme Court caseload standards and 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.620 how they had to be implemented. Additional pressures. 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:48.639 Right, and what sort of revenue we needed. Again, 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:50.720 not in favor of the bill, not opposed to the 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.320 bill, just working that particular piece. Now, 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:57.179 we got good signals out of the Senate. We weren't 00:10:57.179 --> 00:10:59.320 told no out of the Senate. They said, you know 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.360 what, we're going to let the House have some 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.080 runway to make this their own. They sent our 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:06.000 information over to the House. I even confirmed 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.139 that that happened, that the amendment that we 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:12.500 wrote, raising it to 10%. did find its way to 00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:14.679 the House, kind of talked to some of their decision 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:16.500 makers on the finance side. They said they got 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:20.299 it, et cetera, et cetera. And then it starts 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:22.559 going through committees on the House side. And 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:25.419 what comes out of the finance committee was actually 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:28.159 a pretty big disappointment, right? I would say 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:32.240 so. And it wasn't that they cut us out of the 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.519 bill. It's that they knocked it back from that 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.700 7%, which would have generated about $245 million. 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:42.409 Right. Down to $150 ,000 maximum. That's where 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:44.389 that $150 ,000 is. Yeah, that's where they had 00:11:44.389 --> 00:11:45.929 the $150 ,000, right? Conversation a little bit 00:11:45.929 --> 00:11:49.210 there, yeah. And that was the maximum award that 00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:51.850 it would have provided local governments. Again, 00:11:52.110 --> 00:11:54.429 not in favor of the bill, not opposed to the 00:11:54.429 --> 00:11:56.870 bill. Working on that particular piece, that 00:11:56.870 --> 00:11:59.309 particular piece was a disappointment. Yeah, 00:11:59.370 --> 00:12:01.009 agreed. I think to everybody all the way around. 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:03.230 Yeah, it was definitely a considerable backslide. 00:12:03.309 --> 00:12:06.679 Right. But in the end... Even that was bullshit, 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:10.279 right? It was indeed. Well, I was just going 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:14.059 to say, and then the waves that come off the 00:12:14.059 --> 00:12:16.940 desert. Sorry to the kids out there for my language. 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:20.159 The truth is tough sometimes, right? Yeah, it 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:25.399 was straight bullshit. Yeah, and I think we can 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:29.960 do a lot of dissecting of whether it was a political 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:33.860 maneuver, whether it was keeping us. To keep 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:36.299 us engaged, whether it was greasing some skids 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:38.320 that we weren't seeing. Right. I mean, whatever, 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:41.419 whatever the whatever the reasoning was. Yeah. 00:12:41.539 --> 00:12:44.759 I mean, at the end of the day, it was an illusion, 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.840 I think, you know, politically anyways. And I 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:49.919 don't know that it ever was going to be a reality. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.029 And I think that. If you're not in the know and 00:12:53.029 --> 00:12:55.129 you're listening to this podcast and you're listening 00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:57.370 to us go back and forth and using the terms, 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:00.990 you know, that I just used. Right. And I don't 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:03.169 want to say it too many times. Don't bleep it 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:04.309 out, Mitch. We have a good rating. We need it 00:13:04.309 --> 00:13:06.370 for dramatic effect. We have a good rating on 00:13:06.370 --> 00:13:10.870 this podcast as far as being a wholesome podcast. 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:15.169 But I'm a little fired up about this. Rightfully 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:18.149 so. And what happened here happened really fast. 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:20.490 It did. And it went from, you know, the Senate 00:13:20.490 --> 00:13:23.299 to the House. the house knocked it down and then 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:26.159 we get a version that appeared on Friday morning 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.580 just out of nowhere right that you know spoiler 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:34.659 alert in case you aren't up to speed took local 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:37.120 governments completely out of the bill. Vanished. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.740 All funding for local governments. Vanished. 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:42.139 Just gone. Yeah. Just gone. And I had just had 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:46.480 a conversation 24 hours before with House leadership 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.379 who told us that we were going to be in the bill 00:13:50.379 --> 00:13:54.519 and was asking us to get together with the cities 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.039 and basically had said, look, we're going to, 00:13:57.100 --> 00:13:59.000 this is how this thing kind of evolved. I feel 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:00.620 like we're jumping all over the place, but they 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.580 come out of a finance committee. We were upset 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:05.600 with the amount. We let them know we were upset 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.379 with the amount. They come back and say, okay, 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.679 we know you're upset with the amount. This was 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:13.759 like on Thursday afternoon after we talked with 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:15.919 our legislative steering committee members, I 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:17.799 think, or maybe before on Wednesday afternoon. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.419 I can't remember. And they said, look, we understand 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:23.340 you're upset with the amount, but that's all 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.019 we can do or that's all we're willing to do because 00:14:26.019 --> 00:14:27.639 certainly not all they could do. They're bringing 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.860 in billions in new revenue with this tax bill. 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:36.080 But we're going to give it to you in flexible 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.419 funds so that you can use it any way you want. 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:43.360 Wouldn't you like that better? Of course, the 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.580 answer was, well, I mean, yes, that would be 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.500 preferred, although we still need money for public 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:50.960 defense. Right. But flexible funding, you know, 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:53.620 can be utilized any way that you want. And that 00:14:53.620 --> 00:14:55.600 was the conversation that we were having. Right. 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:57.159 And then they wanted us to get together with 00:14:57.159 --> 00:14:59.320 the cities and kind of talk about how we would 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.399 distribute that, et cetera, et cetera. And I 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.159 feel like we all I almost feel like we were distracted, 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:07.019 like there was almost like a fake. Right. I mean, 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.879 it was right. Like they were faking like they 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:11.730 were faking the runs. So they could throw the 00:15:11.730 --> 00:15:14.269 ball down the field while we were chasing the 00:15:14.269 --> 00:15:16.450 running back who actually didn't have anything 00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:19.870 in their hands at all, right? And so we were 00:15:19.870 --> 00:15:21.789 distracted working on that. And then Friday morning, 00:15:22.009 --> 00:15:24.850 boom, comes out this new version. No local funding 00:15:24.850 --> 00:15:29.350 at all in the bill. Nothing. Just a small mention 00:15:29.350 --> 00:15:32.929 at the bottom of the intent section, section 00:15:32.929 --> 00:15:36.549 one, where it says, we, the legislature, recognize 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:41.620 that there is. some local government funding 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:45.460 loss associated with the tax exemptions in this 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:46.899 bill. Because we haven't even talked about that 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:48.200 yet. I was going to say, we've got to get to 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:50.700 Part B here. Right. Pretty quick, yeah. And we, 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:53.600 the legislature, intend to create an account 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.679 to help offset some of those losses. And we, 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.200 the legislature, intend at some point in the 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.779 future to put general fund... into that account, 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.620 right? So essentially, we went from a guarantee 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.220 of income for public defense for something that 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:13.080 we really needed to a much lower amount that 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:16.240 was going to be provided in a flexible way to 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.279 local governments to a handful of magic beans. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.259 It was attributed to the fact that they, meaning 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:26.679 the legislature, the majority party, just two 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:31.159 years ago, Right. Passed into law the Citizens 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.440 Initiative. Yeah. That there wouldn't be an income 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.919 tax. That's right. Just two years ago. Yeah. 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:41.360 Right. So two years ago, they accept the Citizens 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.639 Initiative, hold hearings, pass it into law. 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:45.840 There will not be a income tax in Washington 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.419 state. We're now past the two years we can do 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:50.519 anything we want to. And they implement this. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.399 Right. Right. And so. Well, they think about 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.960 implementing. A Citizens Initiative. No, I know. 00:16:57.230 --> 00:16:59.789 Right. That they passed. No, I agree. And at 00:16:59.789 --> 00:17:01.990 the end of the day. Right. I mean, I think, you 00:17:01.990 --> 00:17:04.809 know, I think it would be I think we'd be less 00:17:04.809 --> 00:17:11.750 dubious or less skeptical or less irritated if. 00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:14.940 This wasn't a pattern of this type of thing. 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:17.519 I mean, we spent half of session talking about 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:21.019 all the bills and all the policy ideas that were 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.680 either going to cost us money, cost us to change 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:27.339 the way we do our work, expand services and programs 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:29.740 that we don't have the resources to do. Right. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.720 You know, undermine a lot of recent. I mean, 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:34.779 you know, and let's let's take this from a bigger 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:37.539 context to where I think I think where it really 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:40.859 starts to rub me raw a little bit is this notion 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.019 that. Year after year after year, they don't 00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:46.279 want to take the tough tax votes that we tell 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:49.039 them we think we need in order to fund the types 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.539 of things that they're asking us as their administrative 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:55.240 arm to fund, right? Whether that's 39 criminal 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.539 justice systems, whether that's regional behavioral 00:17:57.539 --> 00:18:00.480 health systems, whether that's land use and, 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:04.019 you know, I mean, pick your poison, right? Resource 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:06.460 management, et cetera, et cetera, public health, 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:11.130 on and on and on. And we then take, they give 00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:14.309 us the tools, quote unquote, to take those votes. 00:18:14.589 --> 00:18:16.569 We do them. Right, because they won't provide 00:18:16.569 --> 00:18:18.369 funding. Oh, you're right. They provide mandates 00:18:18.369 --> 00:18:20.930 for services and requirements, but they won't 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:22.009 provide the funding for it. No, but they'll give 00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:23.890 us the ability to do what they don't want to 00:18:23.890 --> 00:18:25.609 do, which is take the tough tax vote. And then 00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:29.019 we do. And then we do. Yeah. And then to beef 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:31.480 up our local programs and to provide the types 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:33.880 of services that they say we have to be providing. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:35.539 All right. But put a pin in this because you're 00:18:35.539 --> 00:18:37.299 getting ahead of us. Sorry. Sorry. Put a pin 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:39.799 in that piece. That's a really important point. 00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:41.980 That's where the burden gets me. Because let's 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:44.460 talk about how this thing also evolved. Right. 00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:46.660 Sorry. There's really two ways this bill has 00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:48.819 evolved. Yeah, that's right. One is, you know, 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:52.460 first of all, again, make it super clear. Right. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.740 Members completely divided. Yeah. WASAC did not 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:57.619 take a position. That's not what our communications 00:18:57.619 --> 00:18:59.519 weren't on that. Our communications were about 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.220 if you're going to have a funding mechanism, 00:19:01.380 --> 00:19:04.019 here's what we'd like to see. Right. And again, 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:06.500 we had members who were adamantly opposed to 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:09.720 doing that. And we had members that would have 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:12.720 adamantly opposed opposing the bill. Right. And 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.099 some who were very passionately in favor of the 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:16.519 bill and probably still are today. I would think. 00:19:16.539 --> 00:19:19.539 And we are focused really. Very narrowly, I just 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:21.039 want to be really clear on the county impacts 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.619 associated with this proposal. So we've talked 00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:27.299 about how it evolved from counties were in it 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:29.420 for public defense, then it increased, then it 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:31.680 went backwards, and now we're out. But the other 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:34.200 way this thing has evolved is... Sorry, that's 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.980 where I jumped again. That's okay. That's where 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.500 I was getting fired up. Yeah, well, there's reason 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:41.880 to be fired up about it. I don't disagree. The 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.640 other way this thing has evolved is it originally 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.450 started... with some tax breaks for local business 00:19:48.450 --> 00:19:51.390 and some new, or for small businesses, I'm sorry, 00:19:51.470 --> 00:19:54.269 and some new benefits through the Working Families 00:19:54.269 --> 00:19:58.180 Tax Credit for... Those families who are struggling 00:19:58.180 --> 00:19:59.839 in Washington State, who have lower incomes, 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:02.680 who are especially burdened by what's considered 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:07.640 a regressive tax code. What it is. I hear what 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:09.740 you're saying. I don't disagree with you. But 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:11.660 we'll acknowledge there are differing opinions 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.140 on that as well. Fair enough. And there are differing 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:15.740 studies. There are competing studies on that. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:22.059 That's true. So let's just assume that sales 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:25.420 taxes and property taxes do tend to be... pretty 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:27.180 regressive on those with lower incomes. Sure. 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:30.299 Just from that point of view. So this bill included 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:35.619 some major benefits for folks who could qualify 00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:37.460 for the Working Families Tax Credit, put more 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:39.859 money in the program, expanded the eligibility 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:42.559 for those who might be eligible for the program, 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.220 right? But then they started to add some tax 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:49.160 exemptions. Yes, they did. Okay. And they added... 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:51.650 personal hygiene products. That was the very 00:20:51.650 --> 00:20:54.910 first one, right? And that was a sales tax exemption 00:20:54.910 --> 00:20:58.490 on items that you buy at the retail level for 00:20:58.490 --> 00:21:00.269 personal hygiene. And it included things like 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.609 soaps and cleaners and toothpaste and mouthwash 00:21:03.609 --> 00:21:06.130 and different things like that, right? And that 00:21:06.130 --> 00:21:10.930 was not just limited to the state portion of 00:21:10.930 --> 00:21:13.609 the sales tax, but to the local portion as well. 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:19.049 And then they added... Right. So they added all 00:21:19.049 --> 00:21:22.750 of the sales taxes that they added under Senate 00:21:22.750 --> 00:21:26.509 Bill 5814 last year. They put in a rollback as 00:21:26.509 --> 00:21:31.049 of 2030. Then they moved that up to 2029. Then 00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:34.230 they added diapers. And then on Friday, in a 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:36.609 surprise move that no one had talked about and 00:21:36.609 --> 00:21:39.450 no one had seen that had never gotten into the 00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:42.710 bill in committee, there was a new exemption 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:45.630 for over -the -counter drugs. That's right. So 00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.509 all of these things combined, benefits for consumers, 00:21:49.789 --> 00:21:51.769 benefits for residents, straight across the board. 00:21:52.250 --> 00:21:56.309 But it's not just state sales tax that you pay 00:21:56.309 --> 00:21:59.829 when you buy these products. That's right. And 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:04.069 even your statement about benefits for consumers, 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:06.509 benefits for families, I think there's an argument 00:22:06.509 --> 00:22:09.369 to be made that while it may seem like that on 00:22:09.369 --> 00:22:13.079 some level. If your local government then ends 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:17.440 up taking the hit because of that sales tax rollback, 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:21.000 when we're using that as a mechanism to fund 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.619 many of the essential programs that families 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:29.039 rely on, regardless of income level, then it 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:33.359 isn't as... neutral maybe or as harmless as it 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.599 seems maybe on the surface level so a lot of 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.740 people don't get this right and they don't understand 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.740 sales taxes but six and a half percent of every 00:22:40.740 --> 00:22:42.660 local sales tax goes to the state that's right 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:44.799 straight right off yep that's the it's the vast 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.279 majority yeah so the state gets all of that money 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:51.859 yep locals have one percent apiece cities and 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:54.420 counties so it's about two percent right and 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.359 then On top of that, there's these other little 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.900 pieces. Little bits and bits. You know, one tenth 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:03.380 over here. One tenth over here. Two tenths over 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:05.680 here. Yeah, right. You know, another three tenths 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.400 over here. Which, again, gets back to my point 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.299 of this cobbling together of we need extra money 00:23:10.299 --> 00:23:12.559 to do X, Y, and Z. Right. The state's saying, 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:14.519 hey, you guys need to beef up how you're paying 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:16.599 for X, Y, and Z. Right. Here you go. Go take 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:19.160 these one tenth taxes. Right. And raise the money 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.099 locally to do this work. So, for instance, law 00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:24.500 and justice now is heavily funded by these specials. 00:23:24.589 --> 00:23:27.190 sales tax just last session in fact yeah we got 00:23:27.190 --> 00:23:29.369 an additional one -tenth yeah so there's now 00:23:29.369 --> 00:23:32.210 there's now almost a half a percent that's dedicated 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:36.150 exclusively to the single largest budget item 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:38.369 for counties right for counties yep law and justice 00:23:38.369 --> 00:23:42.250 right um there's affordable housing dollars there's 00:23:42.250 --> 00:23:44.630 mental health dollars right for behavioral health 00:23:44.630 --> 00:23:48.029 services that all go into or that are all paid 00:23:48.029 --> 00:23:50.880 for by these sales taxes Because the legislature 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:53.799 wouldn't give us resources. They gave us a taxing 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:55.940 authority. It's the only taxing authority they 00:23:55.940 --> 00:23:58.160 gave us. We took advantage of it because it's 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:00.859 the only choice we had in order to fund those 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:02.539 programs. Now, you may be out there listening 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:06.019 to this podcast going, I'm glad I'm getting tax 00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:09.380 breaks. Sure. I get it. Me too. Believe me. I 00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:13.839 love tax breaks too. Where your local programs 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.819 are concerned, they're going to get hurt by these 00:24:16.819 --> 00:24:18.940 tax breaks. Well, I mean, look at the irony of 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:21.579 that. They just passed a bill, the session 2442. 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:25.480 They had an additional one -tenth for family 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:28.720 and youth services, right? Right. That we had 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:31.480 been asking for because we needed to beef up 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:35.039 those programs. So on one hand, they're giving 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:37.539 us the authority. More taxing authority, which 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:40.400 we're going to have to use. have to use because 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:42.859 right they're taking they're taking local governments 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:45.019 running away that's right in this bill that's 00:24:45.019 --> 00:24:49.160 right so again yeah i mean it the irony of it 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:51.839 is thick i think a little bit it's it's almost 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:57.279 dystopian it's definitely cognitive dissonance 00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.579 right at a minimum i mean the bottom line is 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:03.369 legislature's passing a bill A millionaire's 00:25:03.369 --> 00:25:05.210 tax, whether you agree with it or you don't agree 00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:07.250 with it, new revenue for the state estimated 00:25:07.250 --> 00:25:11.789 at $3 .5 billion per year. Yeah. $7 billion in 00:25:11.789 --> 00:25:15.230 a biennium. Yeah. Right? Huge money. Huge. They 00:25:15.230 --> 00:25:17.250 make an acknowledgment finally. I mean, that's 00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:19.309 almost a tenth of the budget. Yeah. They make 00:25:19.309 --> 00:25:21.849 an acknowledgment finally in the first version 00:25:21.849 --> 00:25:24.210 that they've got a responsibility around public 00:25:24.210 --> 00:25:26.670 defense that they never really acknowledged before. 00:25:27.089 --> 00:25:30.910 Right. That ends up going away. Then they offered 00:25:30.910 --> 00:25:36.049 general fund revenue to cities and counties. 00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:39.349 The number, by the way, that they've said they're 00:25:39.349 --> 00:25:42.049 going to put in there is $200 million, but not 00:25:42.049 --> 00:25:44.769 until the future. So all we end up with in the 00:25:44.769 --> 00:25:49.230 bill is this intent language. At the same time, 00:25:49.250 --> 00:25:51.829 they've got all these new tax exemptions that 00:25:51.829 --> 00:25:54.730 don't just affect state revenues, but affect 00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:57.309 the local revenues in a negative way as well. 00:25:57.470 --> 00:26:00.539 And by the way, that $200 million, isn't enough 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:03.400 to cover the losses between cities and counties 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:05.960 no uh the cities and that's just the losses that 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:08.099 doesn't even count the loss if you remember the 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:10.220 what was probably an hour and a half ago when 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:13.299 we started this podcast the the part of the conversation 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:15.400 around public defense right which was the whole 00:26:16.459 --> 00:26:18.839 Which we're spending, by the way, just as counties, 00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:22.400 over $220 million on today. And we expect that 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:24.259 to nearly triple in the next 10 years because 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:27.220 of the new caseload studies. And again, go back 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:29.400 to that other podcast. You can listen to more. 00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:31.099 I mean, I just kept describing it as digging 00:26:31.099 --> 00:26:34.420 potholes for us. Right. And then giving us half 00:26:34.420 --> 00:26:36.640 the dirt we needed to fill them back in. Right. 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:39.640 I mean, it was just like. Imagine your neighborhood 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:41.980 street. Right. Public Works comes along, digs 00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:43.680 some potholes. Big old holes. And then fills 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:45.630 them half full and says, there you go. guys hope 00:26:45.630 --> 00:26:47.789 that hope that ought to be good. Right. At least 00:26:47.789 --> 00:26:49.410 your neighbors will be happy. Yeah. Aren't you 00:26:49.410 --> 00:26:51.269 guys going to be happy with that? Right. Of course 00:26:51.269 --> 00:26:53.269 you're, of course not. Right. Right. And now 00:26:53.269 --> 00:26:55.369 you've got a, now you've got a new problem. And 00:26:55.369 --> 00:26:57.630 your bigger problem is still not solved, which 00:26:57.630 --> 00:27:00.730 is the public defense issue. Right. Remains unsolved. 00:27:00.750 --> 00:27:02.650 But now you have this other now new problem. 00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:04.829 Right. Got holes all over the place that are 00:27:04.829 --> 00:27:07.609 half full. So yeah. And this, and we brought 00:27:07.609 --> 00:27:11.309 this to the state and they said. They just shrugged 00:27:11.309 --> 00:27:13.369 their shoulders. I almost said something that 00:27:13.369 --> 00:27:15.829 needed to get bleeped out. It was on the tip 00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:17.250 of my tongue right there. You and me both, my 00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:19.970 brother. But they basically said, look, we've 00:27:19.970 --> 00:27:22.670 spent the rest of the money. So let me get this 00:27:22.670 --> 00:27:24.230 straight. You're going to bring in $7 billion 00:27:24.230 --> 00:27:27.609 over two years. You're not only not going to 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:33.130 fund local governments at all with it, you're 00:27:33.130 --> 00:27:37.109 keeping it all for yourself. Well, there's an 00:27:37.109 --> 00:27:41.519 intent. Yeah, we intend to provide you with some 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.980 assistance. Some remuneration. Yeah, some remuneration, 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:48.559 but it's not assistance. Assistance is not taking 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.640 care of half of the problem that you created. 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:54.920 That's not assistance, right? And so, I mean, 00:27:54.940 --> 00:27:58.660 it's surreal. Yeah, it is. I mean, it's almost 00:27:58.660 --> 00:28:01.019 silly to talk about, right? I mean, in some ways. 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:05.670 I mean, if it weren't so potentially... Right. 00:28:05.950 --> 00:28:07.930 And again, we have to be clear at this moment, 00:28:08.009 --> 00:28:10.950 they haven't passed a bill. It's not, you know, 00:28:10.970 --> 00:28:13.519 I. we probably should shift into this conversation 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.440 a little bit of whether they will or won't pass 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.500 this bill by the time, you know, maybe they're 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:18.680 doing it right now when we're on the podcast. 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:21.900 Well, let me check. What's interesting about 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:24.079 that is it's Monday. Well, that's the thing. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:26.119 And I prefaced this podcast by saying it was, 00:28:26.140 --> 00:28:29.220 it's three 25 in the afternoon. And that is significant. 00:28:29.460 --> 00:28:32.180 Right. And because we've got after today, there's 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:34.579 three days to go. That's it. And there are big 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:36.420 things on the horizon. They've got to do concurrence. 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:38.039 They've got to do committee. They've got to do 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.240 budgets. Yeah. All the budgets still have. to 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.480 be passed, and that's not going to be easy. Just 00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:47.799 the sheer mechanism, just the logistical stuff 00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:49.599 they have to do to get through session. Right. 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:52.779 And to end on time. And I checked, and I've been 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:58.240 checking on this bill today. There are 79 amendments 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:03.799 on the bar. And those aren't just minority party 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:05.420 amendments. I was a little surprised, actually. 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:07.359 There's a little bit of mixture in there. There 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:11.390 is. How long do you think it would take? them 00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:14.289 if they went through 79 amendments in debate 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:17.950 if they chose the if particularly the minority 00:29:17.950 --> 00:29:20.490 party if they chose the tactics they have they 00:29:20.490 --> 00:29:23.589 have utilized on other bills so far this session 00:29:23.589 --> 00:29:26.289 where there's been significant controversy i 00:29:26.289 --> 00:29:32.569 would be surprised if it would take it would 00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:35.950 take 24 hours 36 hours easily to get through 00:29:35.950 --> 00:29:39.549 yeah yeah easily of non -stop and that's only 00:29:40.349 --> 00:29:44.170 Maybe 15 minutes per. Yeah, and they've got the 00:29:44.170 --> 00:29:46.309 two -minute rule. I mean, they've got all the 00:29:46.309 --> 00:29:50.109 stuff to try to expedite it. But they'll ask 00:29:50.109 --> 00:29:51.910 for roll call votes. They'll ask for readings. 00:29:52.230 --> 00:29:56.910 They'll pull out every mechanism they have, which 00:29:56.910 --> 00:30:00.289 is the purpose of having. That's why minority 00:30:00.289 --> 00:30:03.789 parties have those tools. So why do you think 00:30:03.789 --> 00:30:06.900 it's now 3 .56 p .m.? And they're still not on 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:09.519 the floor. Yeah, I don't know. On Monday. I don't 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.819 know. Like I said, I mean, it feels to me like, 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.160 I mean, you know, this place can change at the 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:17.559 drop of a hat, right? Just like we saw on Friday. 00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:23.740 Yep. You never know. I'm not sure that this bodes 00:30:23.740 --> 00:30:26.640 well. I don't know if these are indicators to 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:31.579 me that they've got a deal internally. With themselves, 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:34.079 they being the majority party. It looks a little 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:35.819 shaky. It does look a little shaky to me. Yeah. 00:30:35.900 --> 00:30:39.660 I mean, if this were a done deal. Well, remember, 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:41.619 the plan was to run this Saturday. Well, yeah. 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:43.319 Initially. And that's the way it was feeling 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:45.460 on Friday. And that's basically what I was told. 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:48.500 It's done. It's going Saturday. This thing's 00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:53.809 happening. Yeah. You know. The minute that amendment 00:30:53.809 --> 00:30:56.369 went on the bar, you know, the governor's out 00:30:56.369 --> 00:30:58.630 with his press release. I'm here in the Senate, 00:30:58.730 --> 00:31:00.390 you know, likes it, and they're going to quickly 00:31:00.390 --> 00:31:03.970 concur. I read that in an article in one of the 00:31:03.970 --> 00:31:06.009 periodicals just this morning. No, I know. You 00:31:06.009 --> 00:31:07.910 know, oh, well, this bill's about to pass. The 00:31:07.910 --> 00:31:10.210 Senate's likely to concur. The governor's going 00:31:10.210 --> 00:31:12.490 to sign it. Sign it as fast as he possibly can. 00:31:12.549 --> 00:31:15.569 Right, yeah. And now it's 358. Yeah, and here 00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:19.170 we are. And they're still. On break. Not on the 00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:22.670 floor. Not doing the people's business. All day. 00:31:22.990 --> 00:31:25.849 All day. This is all day at this point. All day 00:31:25.849 --> 00:31:28.569 long. They've put some stuff out, but they haven't 00:31:28.569 --> 00:31:30.450 done anything. Nothing significant. Right. They 00:31:30.450 --> 00:31:32.529 haven't done anything significant. Well, it's 00:31:32.529 --> 00:31:34.950 interesting. It is interesting. And I think it 00:31:34.950 --> 00:31:37.970 goes to show, you know, I don't know that we 00:31:37.970 --> 00:31:43.289 were the only ones maybe being. misdirected right 00:31:43.289 --> 00:31:45.250 in terms of where this bill was going to go or 00:31:45.250 --> 00:31:47.210 who was liking what part of it or who was being 00:31:47.210 --> 00:31:49.710 promised what or you know i mean i think it goes 00:31:49.710 --> 00:31:51.289 to show because there's a there's huge parts 00:31:51.289 --> 00:31:53.690 of this bill that we are completely agnostic 00:31:53.690 --> 00:31:57.049 on and don't have any cares about right but lots 00:31:57.049 --> 00:31:59.250 of members of the legislature do well lots of 00:31:59.250 --> 00:32:01.450 our members do too well yeah no yeah totally 00:32:01.450 --> 00:32:04.309 but there's a lot there's a ton of other special 00:32:04.309 --> 00:32:06.329 interests out there that have pieces of this 00:32:06.329 --> 00:32:09.509 that they want to see yeah and And that all translates 00:32:09.509 --> 00:32:11.650 up to individual members who are going to vote 00:32:11.650 --> 00:32:14.769 on this stuff. And, yeah, that's a lot to wrangle 00:32:14.769 --> 00:32:17.329 in a short period of time. Well, let's just run 00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:19.829 this back really quickly, just the facts. The 00:32:19.829 --> 00:32:23.109 latest version of 6346 cuts local government 00:32:23.109 --> 00:32:25.049 funding out of the bill entirely. That's right. 00:32:25.109 --> 00:32:26.930 The only thing that's mentioned in there about 00:32:26.930 --> 00:32:29.890 local governments is that they acknowledge some 00:32:29.890 --> 00:32:34.130 impacts in Section 1, which is the intent section. 00:32:36.039 --> 00:32:39.059 couple of sentences about their intent to provide 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:42.500 some funding at some future date to offset some 00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:44.880 build a budget marker of those impacts right 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:47.220 yeah we've heard very clearly the amount that 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:49.279 they're targeting is 200 million dollars now 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:52.079 i will say that's more than 150 for sure that 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:55.200 we thought was was the offer on thursday of last 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:58.279 week so that is a good thing but it's not in 00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:02.000 the bill And it's not in the budget. And it's 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:04.900 not enough to fill the holes. Yeah, it's not 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:07.440 enough to fill the holes. And to be clear, the 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:10.400 holes that we were able to actually capture a 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:15.670 real number for are about 273. million for both 00:33:15.670 --> 00:33:17.529 cities and counties combined that does not include 00:33:17.529 --> 00:33:20.210 your public facilities districts that's right 00:33:20.210 --> 00:33:23.690 your transportation benefit districts sound transit 00:33:23.690 --> 00:33:26.710 which is a major player in this game and a major 00:33:26.710 --> 00:33:29.470 loser yeah of revenue people are not going to 00:33:29.470 --> 00:33:32.750 love to hear that if you're into making sure 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:35.349 that you know that whole system gets built out 00:33:35.349 --> 00:33:38.549 and is operating efficiently yep that's going 00:33:38.549 --> 00:33:41.329 to be a big loss for them so it doesn't include 00:33:41.329 --> 00:33:43.609 any of those other entities just cities, and 00:33:43.609 --> 00:33:45.890 counties, and it doesn't include the over -the 00:33:45.890 --> 00:33:48.289 -counter drugs exemption that was thrown in at 00:33:48.289 --> 00:33:49.809 the last minute. Yeah, that's true. There's been 00:33:49.809 --> 00:33:51.750 no assessment. I don't even know how you calculate 00:33:51.750 --> 00:33:53.509 that. Yeah, there's been no assessment of that 00:33:53.509 --> 00:33:57.009 at all. So let's just be clear. Again, these 00:33:57.009 --> 00:33:59.390 are the facts. The $200 million that they're 00:33:59.390 --> 00:34:03.170 saying they'll put in the budget. will be supposedly 00:34:03.170 --> 00:34:06.029 in the four -year outlook portion. Now, the four 00:34:06.029 --> 00:34:08.269 -year outlook, for people who don't know, we've 00:34:08.269 --> 00:34:10.530 talked about this, and Brian and I talked about 00:34:10.530 --> 00:34:12.909 it quite a bit on the budget -related podcast. 00:34:13.050 --> 00:34:14.769 We have a two -year budget, but we have a four 00:34:14.769 --> 00:34:17.050 -year outlook, which the four -year is the extra 00:34:17.050 --> 00:34:19.030 two years that just kind of estimates what the 00:34:19.030 --> 00:34:21.110 impacts of the two -year budget decisions are 00:34:21.110 --> 00:34:23.980 going to be in four years. They're non -binding. 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:26.420 It's not something that says this is definitely 00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:28.800 going to happen, right? So you've got those things 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.139 going on, and that's pretty much it for local 00:34:31.139 --> 00:34:33.099 governments, other than the fact that there are 00:34:33.099 --> 00:34:35.219 several tax exemptions included in the bill. 00:34:35.949 --> 00:34:39.030 for personal hygiene products, for diapers, for 00:34:39.030 --> 00:34:41.610 over -the -counter drugs, and rolling back all 00:34:41.610 --> 00:34:45.230 of the professional services changes that they 00:34:45.230 --> 00:34:48.309 made in Senate Bill 5814 last year by January 00:34:48.309 --> 00:34:53.550 1st, 2029. And that all takes money out of the 00:34:53.550 --> 00:34:55.829 pockets of local governments. Not just money, 00:34:55.829 --> 00:35:00.050 but... general fund money, the most flexible 00:35:00.050 --> 00:35:02.489 funds we have. Program support dollars. And program 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:04.429 support dollars that are specifically geared 00:35:04.429 --> 00:35:06.550 towards things like behavioral health. Public 00:35:06.550 --> 00:35:09.329 safety, criminal justice. All that stuff. So 00:35:09.329 --> 00:35:11.809 that's really kind of the set of facts that we're 00:35:11.809 --> 00:35:15.769 dealing with here. Now, bill hasn't passed. Tick 00:35:15.769 --> 00:35:18.050 -tock, tick -tock. Yeah, 79 amendments on the 00:35:18.050 --> 00:35:20.090 bar. Not sure what's going to happen. We've done 00:35:20.090 --> 00:35:22.469 some speculating, but the only people who really 00:35:22.469 --> 00:35:25.210 know are the people that are in those rooms and 00:35:25.210 --> 00:35:26.349 those caucus discussions. They're not talking 00:35:26.349 --> 00:35:28.110 to anybody. They're not talking to anybody right 00:35:28.110 --> 00:35:29.989 now. They're not talking to anybody. Yeah. Yeah. 00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:32.400 Well, there's still a lot to go then. There is. 00:35:32.420 --> 00:35:34.719 I mean, you know, it feels like as close as we 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:36.820 are to the end, it feels like we're miles away, 00:35:36.940 --> 00:35:40.219 you know? It does. Miles to go before we sleep 00:35:40.219 --> 00:35:43.420 or whatever the... That old saying goes. That 00:35:43.420 --> 00:35:45.639 old saying, right? Before we rest. Yeah, I mean, 00:35:45.659 --> 00:35:48.690 right? I mean... Yeah, I mean, this will be a 00:35:48.690 --> 00:35:50.989 very interesting next couple of days. You know, 00:35:51.070 --> 00:35:54.090 Friday was a big day. It was. Right? And usually 00:35:54.090 --> 00:35:56.250 that's the biggest day of the session. I know. 00:35:56.349 --> 00:35:59.250 That last four cutoff. Things live and they die 00:35:59.250 --> 00:36:00.710 based on that last four cutoff. Well, and what 00:36:00.710 --> 00:36:02.750 was so weird about it is not only was it a huge 00:36:02.750 --> 00:36:04.690 day, but it was a huge day where they didn't 00:36:04.690 --> 00:36:06.969 do all that much. Right. That's what was weird 00:36:06.969 --> 00:36:09.449 about it as a cutoff. Like, there wasn't a lot 00:36:09.449 --> 00:36:11.869 of drama. There wasn't a lot of, at least on 00:36:11.869 --> 00:36:13.289 the stuff they were running, they were running 00:36:13.289 --> 00:36:16.570 a lot of bills that didn't have amendments. didn't 00:36:16.570 --> 00:36:19.530 have any, you know, weren't controversial and 00:36:19.530 --> 00:36:20.989 didn't have, you know, blah, blah, blah. And 00:36:20.989 --> 00:36:23.550 yet there was still this this tension on the 00:36:23.550 --> 00:36:26.929 Hill that was definitely stemming from this millionaire's 00:36:26.929 --> 00:36:28.969 tax. Right. That you could just cut with a knife. 00:36:29.090 --> 00:36:32.630 Right. I mean, it was just. thick up there and 00:36:32.630 --> 00:36:35.090 and i think it still is yeah well yeah i mean 00:36:35.090 --> 00:36:37.250 that's that's the weird thing is right usually 00:36:37.250 --> 00:36:39.730 you can't just burn a day like this they're just 00:36:39.730 --> 00:36:42.030 burned another no you can't not not when you 00:36:42.030 --> 00:36:43.949 not on a short session right i mean the time 00:36:43.949 --> 00:36:47.489 is and you've got big stuff to do right this 00:36:47.489 --> 00:36:51.369 this this day yeah in most sessions whether it's 00:36:51.369 --> 00:36:54.570 a long session or a short session is just a ho 00:36:54.570 --> 00:36:58.179 -hum Yeah, it's just you churn out. There's nothing. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:00.900 You churn out the. Everything that's left is 00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:03.760 predictable. It's just the mechanisms of the 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:06.500 process. Probably no surprises. You know, you're 00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:08.239 starting to think about, oh, it's time to write 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.420 my end of session report. You know, it's time 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.320 to start cataloging. Looking at interim planning 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:14.579 and see how did we do? How did we finish up? 00:37:14.739 --> 00:37:16.780 Exactly. You know, what do we need to work on 00:37:16.780 --> 00:37:19.960 for next year? Right. But we're actually sitting 00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:22.699 here watching. Just watching. You know, on the 00:37:22.699 --> 00:37:25.539 edge of our seat, literally going, okay, what's 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:28.320 going to happen here? Yeah. It's a very unusual 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:30.719 finish. It is, and it's definitely unusual in 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:32.559 a short session to be doing that. I mean, to 00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:35.639 have this level of gravity kind of still pulling 00:37:35.639 --> 00:37:40.760 on this. in one of our short sessions is, yeah, 00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:43.659 I don't know. It's fascinating at a minimum, 00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:48.460 morbidly so maybe. Well, on that note. If you're 00:37:48.460 --> 00:37:50.519 a political wonk. Yeah, right, right. You know, 00:37:50.539 --> 00:37:53.619 the one thing I didn't mention, Brad, there is 00:37:53.619 --> 00:37:56.159 disagreement, by the way, and I want to just 00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:57.820 let the members know this. There is disagreement 00:37:57.820 --> 00:38:01.610 between how we are calculating our losses. Under 00:38:01.610 --> 00:38:04.329 these sales tax exemptions and how the legislature 00:38:04.329 --> 00:38:06.070 is calculating our losses. Yeah, that's true. 00:38:06.150 --> 00:38:07.829 We didn't touch on that. Yeah, and it's a big 00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:10.289 piece. And our numbers aren't close. Yeah, they're 00:38:10.289 --> 00:38:12.710 not very close at all. The legislature is claiming 00:38:12.710 --> 00:38:15.949 that our losses are only $61 million per year. 00:38:16.070 --> 00:38:19.150 So by putting $200 million into this local government 00:38:19.150 --> 00:38:20.010 account. They've more than covered everything 00:38:20.010 --> 00:38:22.750 and given us a little extra to play with. Exactly. 00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:26.150 But what they're not necessarily telling you 00:38:26.150 --> 00:38:28.130 or maybe what you need. Or what they're not building 00:38:28.130 --> 00:38:29.989 into their own calculations. Yeah, what you need 00:38:29.989 --> 00:38:33.159 to find out. in that math is all of those rollbacks 00:38:33.159 --> 00:38:35.659 that they're doing for the service -related, 00:38:35.820 --> 00:38:38.139 professional service -related changes that they 00:38:38.139 --> 00:38:40.860 made in 58 -14 last year, they're considering 00:38:40.860 --> 00:38:44.599 that as non -revenue. Right, because of their 00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:46.659 fiscal cycle. Right, their fiscal cycle is different 00:38:46.659 --> 00:38:50.500 than ours. And our members, especially the larger 00:38:50.500 --> 00:38:53.739 members where a lot of that revenue will be realized. 00:38:54.750 --> 00:38:57.309 They booked that. Right. They're living off that 00:38:57.309 --> 00:39:00.309 revenue this year. That revenue kept them from 00:39:00.309 --> 00:39:02.650 having to make more drastic cuts. Right. Because 00:39:02.650 --> 00:39:04.590 we are able to do the same revenue, the same 00:39:04.590 --> 00:39:07.010 budget maneuvers. That the state can. That the 00:39:07.010 --> 00:39:09.690 state can. Right. And they're going to be living 00:39:09.690 --> 00:39:12.050 on that revenue for two more years. Sure. And 00:39:12.050 --> 00:39:14.889 then the state's going to cut it off. I know. 00:39:14.969 --> 00:39:18.250 Right. And the state says that's not a loss. 00:39:18.510 --> 00:39:20.969 Right. Right. And so they're not counting that, 00:39:21.090 --> 00:39:24.909 which is why our number of 273 million, plus 00:39:24.909 --> 00:39:27.010 the over -the -counter drugs, which is going 00:39:27.010 --> 00:39:29.369 to be several million dollars more. I've used 00:39:29.369 --> 00:39:32.570 a lot of ibuprofen sessions. I don't know about 00:39:32.570 --> 00:39:35.670 you. But we all have probably a few Tums. I was 00:39:35.670 --> 00:39:38.429 going to say, yeah, that's true. Maybe some Pepsid 00:39:38.429 --> 00:39:40.710 at the same time. I won't even go into the Imodium 00:39:40.710 --> 00:39:46.369 conversation. But you know what I'm saying? There's 00:39:46.369 --> 00:39:50.469 a big difference there in that revenue and how 00:39:50.469 --> 00:39:52.730 they make that calculation. And we're saying, 00:39:52.789 --> 00:39:55.559 look, all of that revenue, is important. Our 00:39:55.559 --> 00:39:58.960 members are living off it today. You left us 00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:02.559 last year in a lurch because the governor refused 00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:07.179 our other revenue bill that we finally had the 00:40:07.179 --> 00:40:09.639 stars aligned on, and that was relief of the 00:40:09.639 --> 00:40:13.139 1 % arbitrary property. Tax limit. Tax growth 00:40:13.139 --> 00:40:16.679 limit year over year. The governor said no. Right. 00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:20.440 Right. And, you know, here we are in the next 00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:22.840 year, and the governor is, you know, he wouldn't 00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:24.559 sign that bill, wouldn't help local government. 00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:29.079 We did benefit from the sales tax in 5184, so 00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:30.860 now we're living off of that. Yeah. And here 00:40:30.860 --> 00:40:32.659 they are opposed to not only take that away, 00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:35.119 but cut even deeper into local government. Year 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:38.800 two. Right. Same governor. That's right. I know. 00:40:39.019 --> 00:40:42.199 Year two. Year two. Right. Two years in a row. 00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:44.739 Yeah. Pretty tough spot for us to be in from 00:40:44.739 --> 00:40:47.320 a local government point of view, from a county's 00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:49.280 point of view, especially since it seems like 00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:52.139 all we talk about with them is the fiscal constraints 00:40:52.139 --> 00:40:54.159 that we face. Yeah. And I think it's going to 00:40:54.159 --> 00:40:57.059 give us a lot to reflect on, circling back to 00:40:57.059 --> 00:40:59.960 that, you know, in terms of depending on however 00:40:59.960 --> 00:41:03.679 this session ends, whether it's with a flurry 00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:08.039 or a thud, to think about how we position ourselves. 00:41:08.650 --> 00:41:11.150 going into the next biennium in terms of where 00:41:11.150 --> 00:41:13.250 we're wanting to put our priority, what our priorities 00:41:13.250 --> 00:41:15.389 are, how we want to communicate those priorities 00:41:15.389 --> 00:41:18.889 and, and how we feel like we need to work them 00:41:18.889 --> 00:41:21.369 with a legislature that doesn't seem to fully 00:41:21.369 --> 00:41:23.449 get it at this point. And what's weird, Brad 00:41:23.449 --> 00:41:26.050 is, you know, I have the benefit of being in 00:41:26.050 --> 00:41:28.809 those meetings that sometimes you're there, but 00:41:28.809 --> 00:41:31.050 sometimes you're not. Certainly our members are, 00:41:31.150 --> 00:41:32.809 you know, but as the government relations director, 00:41:32.929 --> 00:41:35.670 I am in that meeting. Right. And I was in a meeting 00:41:35.670 --> 00:41:39.630 on Friday morning with, With a member, a key 00:41:39.630 --> 00:41:41.409 member of the House leadership, and that key 00:41:41.409 --> 00:41:45.230 member basically regurgitated our message, said, 00:41:45.329 --> 00:41:48.469 we understand. We hear counties have less financial 00:41:48.469 --> 00:41:51.150 resources than any other government. We know 00:41:51.150 --> 00:41:53.349 you're the least revenue diversified. We know 00:41:53.349 --> 00:41:55.590 you're especially challenged. We know that you're 00:41:55.590 --> 00:41:57.570 paying for most of public defense and that those 00:41:57.570 --> 00:42:00.550 rates are going to go up exceedingly in the next 00:42:00.550 --> 00:42:03.889 several years. We know all of that, and we're 00:42:03.889 --> 00:42:06.829 still doing this. Hearing, listening, and action. 00:42:07.610 --> 00:42:09.630 are three very different things. So it's not 00:42:09.630 --> 00:42:11.550 that they're not hearing. Right. They're hearing. 00:42:12.090 --> 00:42:14.550 Whether they're listening, I'm not sure. We're 00:42:14.550 --> 00:42:16.309 definitely not seeing any action. It's strange. 00:42:16.610 --> 00:42:19.599 Yeah. Yeah, it's very strange. Well... I don't 00:42:19.599 --> 00:42:21.219 know what else to say. I don't know. We'll see. 00:42:21.260 --> 00:42:24.079 We'll see how this podcast ages over the next 00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:25.739 couple of days. Over the next couple of hours. 00:42:25.860 --> 00:42:28.000 Fair enough. True. We'll buckle up tight, folks. 00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:31.679 It's not the end. It's only three days to go 00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:33.380 and it's not even close to the end. That's right. 00:42:33.380 --> 00:42:35.320 Here we are. All right, Brad. Thanks, Paul. I 00:42:35.320 --> 00:42:36.940 appreciate it as always. Thanks, everybody, for 00:42:36.940 --> 00:42:38.840 all the work that you do. Thanks for your sacrifices 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:40.739 and your dedication as county commissioners. 00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:43.800 We certainly appreciate it here at WASAC. Hope 00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:46.059 you can join us for our next chat. And until 00:42:46.059 --> 00:42:49.969 then, take good care. Thanks for tuning in to 00:42:49.969 --> 00:42:52.190 County Connection. Stay in the loop by subscribing 00:42:52.190 --> 00:42:54.710 to us through your preferred podcasting app and 00:42:54.710 --> 00:42:57.329 following us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. 00:42:57.570 --> 00:42:59.730 And don't forget to join the hub, your go to 00:42:59.730 --> 00:43:01.730 source for the latest news and updates from the 00:43:01.730 --> 00:43:04.130 Washington State Association of Counties. Until 00:43:04.130 --> 00:43:06.389 next time, stay connected and stay informed.