The big question going into the upcoming session of the Washington state Legislature is what will lawmakers do with about $1.4 billion in revenue they didnt know theyd have?


Don Brunell, president of the Olympia-based Association of Washington Businesses, says better-than-projected real estate excise-tax revenues and a jump in sales-tax revenue from construction-materials sales have generated an unanticipated additional $1.4 billion in revenue for the 2005-2007 biennium. The Legislature and Gov. Christine Gregoire approved the budget for the two-year biennium last year based on the lower projections.


Some business leaders are calling for the state to put the surplus aside in case of a shortfall.


High fuel costs will hit the economy in 2006, says Brunell. We might not be able to generate the same amount of revenue next year.


Still, Eastern Washington advocates have their wish lists ready in case the state opens up its wallet this session.


Jeff Selle, public affairs manager with the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, says the chamber has identified a number of projects in Eastern Washington for which it would like to secure state funding, including in higher education, transportation, and civic projects.


Project advocates wont know until the session is well under way whether the Legislature will revisit the capital budget and add funding for projects, but Selle says some legislators have indicated a reluctance to do so, especially for community projects.


The chambers top priority in the higher-education arena, a $63 million Washington State University biotechnology-life science research facility in Pullman, wouldnt necessarily need money from the capital budget.


WSU is asking for authorization from the Legislature to sell revenue bonds to build the facility.


The school would pay off the bonds with interest payments it receives from revenue generated by timber sales on WSUs trust land, the school says. WSU says it used the same financing method for a renovation at Fulmer Hall and a Todd Hall addition years ago.


If the funding method is approved, WSU could begin construction of that project next spring.


Other education-related project funding the Spokane chamber is advocating, all of which would need money from the capital budget, include $22 million for replacement of the west wing at Spokane Community Colleges old main building and $2.2 million for pre-design work on improvements at Eastern Washington Universitys Patterson Hall and Martin-Williamson Hall.


Community capital-budget requests the chamber is advocating include $2 million for the proposed Armed Forces Aerospace Museum, $1 million for Northeast Community Center improvements, and $1.5 million for the next phase of the Mobius science and technology center, among others.


In the transportation arena, the chamber will push hardest for funding of the north-south freeway.


Other projects that it will lobby for include the Interstate 90 viaduct and future I-90 widening projects; the Bridging the Valley bi-state project intended to eliminate about 75 at-grade railroad crossings in Eastern Washington and North Idaho; and U.S. 195 improvements.


In addition to capital projects, business groups will push for money to promote economic development.


Star USA Inc., the company here that led Spokanes successful effort to bring the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships to town, now is looking to land the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships.


To do so, the company is seeking $700,000 from the state to make its bid, says Toby Steward, who operates Star USA with his wife, Barb Beddor. He says the company will look for an additional $700,000 from other sources.


Well be competing against high-quality cities, says Steward, pointing out that many cities that previously have hosted the world championshipsCalgary, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C, among othersare much larger than Spokane. We believe we can be their best choice. We believe we can do the best job.


Gregoire has said the state should support Spokanes effort to land the world championship event.


Health care issues


Rich Hadley, CEO of the Spokane chamber, says the Chamber will monitor a few health-care industry issues closely during the legislative session.


Specifically, the chamber will seek continued added funding of Spokane-area hospitals for care provided to Medicaid patients. Earlier this year, the Legislature appropriated $6.5 million to augment inadequate Medicaid reimbursement paid to Spokane-area hospitals. Hadley says the chamber hopes to win approval in the upcoming session of another $4.5 million to augment Medicaid reimbursements.


Also, Selle says, the chamber will lobby to hold the line on changes to state law that would require health-care insurers to cover alternative types of treatments, such as massage therapy and chiropractic medicine. Along those lines, the chamber will ask the state to allow health-insurance providers to offer plans that dont cover alternative treatments. Such plans would be less expensive for both employers and employees.


In addition, the chamber will lobby for many of the same malpractice judgment-curbing measures included in Initiative 330, which voters defeated in the Nov. 10 election, though Selle doubts that any action will be taken along those lines.


Unfortunately, when an initiative fails, it gives political cover to elected officials, he says.


Holding the line


Brunell, of the AWB, says that group has two main issues it will be tracking this session, in addition to lobbying for the state to save rather than spend the $1.4 billion in unanticipated revenues.


First, he says, AWB will push legislators to place a moratorium on new mandates that would increase the cost of doing business in the state.


Also, the group will lobby to change a mechanism for calculating unemployment-insurance benefits.


Last year, the state changed the method so that unemployment benefits are figured by averaging what a recipient had received on the job over a six-month period, rather than a 12-month period.


When those payments are calculated on just six months of income, seasonal workersconstruction workers and fishermen, among otherscan receive substantially more in unemployment benefits during their usual off-months than they could if a full year of their income were factored in.


We want to try to have people look for jobs during the off-season and reduce the cost of the system, Brunell says.


Selle says the Spokane chamber is backing the same change.


Also, the association is advocating for increased funding to prepare kindergarten-through-12th grade students to take the Washington Assessment of Student Learningand is pushing to keep the WASL.


Starting in 2008, high school students in Washington state will be required to pass the WASL in order to graduate.


Brunell says such a test is necessary to make sure students are prepared to enter the work force if they dont go to college. The number of jobs that require little or no skills is declining rapidly, he says.


There are a whole bunch of kids who cant write and certainly cant do simple mathematic equations, Brunell says. We spend a bunch of money on remediation, in other words teaching kids things they should have learned in high school.


Selle says the Spokane chamber also is supporting additional funding for a number of work-force training initiatives.