Education, budget cuts and tolls on the SR 520 bridge were front and center during a forum of more than 60 people with 48th District Washington State legislators at Kirkland City Hall Jan. 7.

Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Bellevue), Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) and Rep. Deb Eddy (D-Kirkland) affirmed their commitment to hold on to funds for education that will be threatened by budget cuts, through the new legislative session that began Monday. The 48th District includes parts of Redmond, including Overlake and downtown.

“We have to support education first,” said Tom. “This is the first time in 60 years we have had negative growth in income. You can’t dig your way out of this. We are not going to make it by brawn.”

But Hunter said that while the state may get help from the federal government for the current budget problems, it is not a long-term solution. Hunter told the group that U.S. Congressman Adam Smith indicated that the state may get $700 million from the federal government, but no one knows for sure. The range could be no money up to $900 million.

“The problem with the budget right now is that we don’t have enough information yet,” said Hunter, citing his son as an example, who works in a photography business in Kirkland. “They (the company) saw their best (holiday) season since 2006. But we need to see the sales report (that will be released Feb. 10).”

Hunter said signs indicate that people are paying down debt instead of spending their money but that the economy could be recovering.

There were many ways discussed to bridge the budget gap that could be $2.6 billion. Hunter said he thinks the state should get out of the liquor business, while all the legislators talked about the need for a “rainy day fund” for education in the future.

“It is hard to do cause you don’t want to do it when times are good,” said Tom of the rainy day fund. “But this might be our opportunity.”

Supporting public schools

The questions from the audience were dominated by education. Public school teacher Barbara Galler told the legislators that she gets upset when companies complain about the public school system and then look for every loophole to get out of paying taxes to support it.

One area that Hunter said he will work on this session is a law that exempts out-of-state businesses from Business and Occupation (B&O) taxes if they have representatives working in the state. The law was originally meant for “pink cadillac” companies like Mary Kay and it was passed in the 1990s. But a recent ruling by the State Supreme Court on a lawsuit brought by Dot Foods changed the law to include a wider range of companies, which could cost the state up to $700 million in lost B&O taxes.

“Now you have a situation where a food company might employ a single person in the state to get a huge tax break,” said Hunter. “We have to change that.”

It took three separate questions from audience members before the legislators got specific on what would be the first thing to be cut in education if the budget axe once again falls on schools.

“First thing we will cut out of k-12 is class size reduction money,” said Hunter. “We are not going to start charter schools this year.”

520 tolling

During the first 20 minutes of the nearly two hour meeting, the legislators took questions about 520 bridge tolling. One of the biggest concerns had to do with the specific amount that commuters will have to pay to cross the bridge.

“We will have a toll on all lanes and they will be variable,” said Eddy. “Because when you have variable tolling it changes behavior.”

That variable will be by time of day and congestion. Eddy told the crowd that at the lowest point the toll could be 50 cents, but that would probably be during the middle of the night. At peak rush hour times the toll could go as high as $3.50 in each direction, but the rates have not been set.

One audience member said that despite living just north of 520, he will take I-90 to cross the lake if there are no tolls on the other bridge. Eddy said that her own husband has said the same thing. The state has been authorized to start tolling on the 520 bridge in October 2011 but not on I-90, causing the possibility of commuters jamming the south bridge.

“Everybody knows that (tolling on I-90) is going to happen,” said Eddy.

“Once you do enough diversion the people on Mercer Island will want a toll. We encourage you to divert,” said Hunter to a room full of laughter.

But diversion could have the additional effect of jamming up 405 and Bellevue Way through Bellevue.

“We don’t know exactly what it will do,” said Hunter.

Hunter joked that with the economy the way it is, state leaders don’t want to discourage people from going to Bellevue Square, which is located on Bellevue Way.

The legislators said that the Seattle side of the bridge still does not have a plan and that the tolls will be first used for Eastside improvements.

Another question from the audience was about the three-person carpool lane and why it wasn’t two.

“They want to have (cars moving) at least 50 miles per hour,” said Tom. “We are looking at a 40-minute improvement from Seattle to Redmond. Forty minutes speaks to people.”