Professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman turned in over 300,00 signatures for his latest anti-government crusade, I-1033. This would permanently lock in the billions of cuts made by the legislature this year and force further cuts in the future. That's more laid off teachers, more people dropped from health care, and less investment in our state.

The NO on I-1033 campaign is just starting, but you can join me in adding your name to the list of people opposing the initiative at www.fusewashington.org/page/s/no1033

 Learn more about the truth and impacts of I-1033 at www.no1033.com

Joining the ehthusiasm of today's rally on climate change (see Fuse's site here),  Governor Gregoire signed an executive order this morning that will set a low-carbon fuel standard, implement a west-coast electric highway, and create transit oriented communities.

http://governor.wa.gov/news/news-view.asp?pressRelease=1242&newsType=1

On Monday, the State Senate released its "all-cuts" budget.  The House is releasing its proposed budget today.

• Fuse is in Olympia covering budget hearings.  Follow us on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/fuse_washington
• The Seattle Times summarizes the Senate budget here.
• KIRO's Dave Ross discusses the budget with State Senators.
• What do you think of the budget?  Tell your legislators here.
• See cuts in the House's budget and make your changes via our YouBudget game.

Fuse staffer Aisling Kerins dropped by Drinking Liberally Tuesday night, participating in a roundtable discussion on the State Budget with David Goldstein, Joel Connelly, Sandeep Kaushik, and John Wyble.

The discussion talked about the real impacts of closing the $9 billion budget gap with an all-cuts budget, different revenue options, voter support for a ballot measure this year, and long-term ideas for reform.

You can listen to the podcast at http://horsesass.org/?p=14408. The budget discussion starts at 24:00.

You can propose your budget solution with our YouBudget game, available at http://www.YouBudget.org

At 4:30 today, the state's Office of Financial Management will release a draft update of revenue projections. With the slowing economy, state tax collections (especially the sales tax) are slowing.  Some predictions (like this story in today's Seattle Times) predict the shortfall in the state's budget has grown from $6 billion to $8 billion.

In looking at how to balance the budget, the Governor had proposed a budget with drastic cuts in education, health care, people, and the environment.  Fuse's special report on the budget (see www.FuseWashington.org/budget) tells the story of how these cuts hurt real people and may be not save money over the long term.

The legislature is starting to look at both sides of the budget and potential revenue options in addition to budget cuts.  From the Times article: 

Lawmakers have said for weeks that a proposal to create a new tax, increase an existing tax or eliminate certain tax breaks was possible. But this is the first indication they've gotten serious about developing a tax measure for the ballot.

Gregoire has opposed tax increases, but Democratic lawmakers said that even deeper budget cuts could cause unacceptable harm to residents and the economy.

"We're concerned about the fact that cutting state services that deeply could not only compromise the safety net at a time when people need it the most, but also exacerbate the job-loss problem because so many jobs are tied to providing those services and programs," [Senate Majority Leader Lisa] Brown said.

[House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Kelli] Linville agreed. "The standard for me about something going on the ballot is we've attempted to do this through cuts. But some of the cuts that are being recommended are the kinds of cuts that irreparably damage our service delivery or individuals," she said. "If that's what we're left with, I think in good conscience I couldn't say we shouldn't go out to the voters."

If the Legislature does ask voters to increase taxes, the proposal would go directly to the ballot without a signature from the governor.

Updated:  The new budget shortfall is now $8.3 billion.  More to come...

What can I do locally to combat  Global Warming?  Actually, a lot. In Washington State, Greenhouse gases  come primary from how much we drive, and our energy use.

Both of which are decided by the decisions we make with new buildings.

King County Executive Rom Sims proposes that new constrution in King County reduce its emisions by up to 15%.  According to an article in the Seattle Times,

"In an age of global warming, we all have to do our part to reduce the carbon released into the atmosphere and we need to prepare for the impacts we already know are coming," Sims said.

[If approved by the County Council, the ordiance] would apply to large apartment projects, residential subdivisions and commercial projects such as shopping centers and large stores. Most single-family homes, short plats and small stores wouldn't be affected.

Developers could meet the new standards through a combination of measures, including improved insulation, energy-saving appliances, greener building materials, better access to buses and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Several cities, including Dallas, San Francisco and Baltimore, have adopted carbon-restricting regulations, said Sims' strategic planning director, Jim Lopez.

This proposal is an example of the sorts of things local government can do to reduce greenhouse gases.  With buildings having a useful lifespan of 50-75 years, how we build and where we build can have huge impacts on climate change.

Another global warming bill proposed in the legislature, Transit-Oriented Communities, make sure that development is in sync with investments we are making in transit.

Updated: the Stranger has a great writeup on Futurewise's transit-oriented communities bill here.