Gov. Jay Inslee met with the Capitol press corps Thursday morning to discuss a variety of topics ranging from state employee and teacher pay, opening up the state’s collective bargaining process, and potential ballot measures in 2016 if the Legislature doesn’t pass cap-and-trade or a minimum wage increase this session.
To start, Inslee announced his wager on the Super Bowl with New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker: donations of Ivar’s clam chowder (Inslee), bacon (Hassan) and cream pie cupcakes (Baker), whether or not the Seahawks win. His game score prediction: 27-20, Seahawks.
He said he’s preparing to introduce his package on reducing prison time for property crime offenders, which you can read more about here.
He met with leaders of the House and Senate Democratic and Republican caucuses Thursday morning, and “despite the headlines in the fine newspapers in our state,” Inslee said he sees opportunities for bipartisan consensus on budget negotiations. Pressed to explain that, he said he believes Republicans will shift toward supporting increased funding for mental health and his position on increasing teacher and public employee’s salaries, which he said have been hampered and eaten away by inflation in recent years.
“There are disagreements about how ambitious we will be,” Inslee said. “That will narrow over time. This is a matter of fundamental fairness. They’ve been losing their wages the last five years because inflation is eating into their salaries.”
The House voted Thursday morning to pass a supplemental budget increase of $67 million and $98 million to cover mental health costs, paying for emergency services related to wildfires and the Oso landslide last year. It also includes a revenue forecast in February, a month earlier than originally scheduled. The legislation now goes to the Senate.
But Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and deputy leader of the Majority Coalition Caucus, has cast doubts on the governor’s claims about employee compensation. He wrote in his newsletter this month: “A salary analysis shows 86 percent of individuals employed by the state are paid more than they were four years ago, and the average and median salary increases over that period have exceeded inflation.” The Washington Federation of State Employees Council 28 as its own view of the compensation issue, which you can read here.
Inslee said he opposed opening the collective-bargaining process to the public, believing that would undercut the negotiations.
“We have the final result,” Inslee said of the contracts. “It’s available for an up-or-down vote.”
Asked if ballot measures in 2016 could be the answer should cap-and-trade and the $12 minimum wage increase stall this session, Inslee said he did not want to get ahead of himself, and will continue to press for both this year.
“I want to move forward with the Legislature,” Inslee said. “I don’t think this early in the session we should be taking things off the table. Our state needs to move forward on carbon in the year 2015.”
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