Under the dome for Feb. 21

The Olympian, news services | • Published February 21, 2008

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Today is the 39th day of the 60-day legislative session.

QUOTED

“There are states out there literally begging to have companies like Microsoft come to their state.”

— Iowa state Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, main backer of a tax-breaks measure designed to get Microsoft Corp. to locate a data center in that state. The state Senate sent Iowa’s governor the tax package on a 45-2 vote Wednesday, raising the ante in Washington, where Microsoft, Yahoo and others have a $17 million sales-tax incentive package pending before the Legislature.

“This is a company that made over $14 billion in profit last year and we’re offering them welfare … When are we going to stop the corporate welfare train?”

— Iowa Sen. Dick Dearden, DDes Moines, one of two senators to vote against the package.

“I don’t think we’ll do it … I don’t see how given our budget forecast.”

— Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, on a proposal by Microsoft, Yahoo and others for $17 million in sales-tax breaks on large data centers that could bring jobs to rural areas.

TODAY

Backers of Head Start and the Early Childhood Education programs plan a rally at 2 p.m. on the Capitol steps.

The Association for Career and Technical Education holds a legislative day in the State Reception Room from 8 a.m. to noon.

The Autobody Craftsman Association holds a legislative reception from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Columbia Room.

The Spanaway High School choir performs at noon in the Rotunda.

NOTEWORTHY

Tax activist Wynn Cannon said Wednesday that he was filing an initiative to voters that would roll back property-tax valuations by 25 percent in January and cap tax rates.

That would reduce tax collections and give tax relief to homeowners, said Cannon, the chairman of the League of Washington Taxpayers. The league has pushed other initiatives in the past that did not qualify for the ballot.

Cannon, who said he wrote the measure, declined to release the text of his proposal until after the Code Reviser’s Office finishes reconciling the language with existing law. He said the initiative was necessary after lawmakers failed to take action on major reforms or tax reductions.

There are nearly 150 propertytax bills before the Legislature this year, about half of them filed since January and half from last year.

Cannon said that despite past failures, he thinks he can collect the roughly 225,000 valid voter signatures needed by early July “because we have 21,000 people … to get the signatures.”

“Our idea was, we’ll take people first, money second,” he said.

VISITOR

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray paid visits to the House and Senate Democratic caucuses, getting up to speed on their activities this session and sharing her concerns about the national economy.

Murray said the state economy remains good, but the national view is that recovery from a feared recession might take “a while” because a wave of credit-card defaults could follow the mortgage problems.

UPDATE

The Senate unanimously approved the $278 million public works trust-fund loan bill Wednesday that earlier passed the House on a unanimous vote. The Senate vote was 46-0.

House Bill 2437 goes back to the House for final approval because one Senate amendment allows smaller, poorer jurisdictions to receive lower interest rates. The bill authorizes loans for 52 projects, including $6 million for a pair of Thurston County projects.