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'This is the WPA of its time'

$3 billion school construction plan would create jobs, lawmaker says

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published April 07, 2009

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A $3 billion bond proposal for fixing up public schools and putting contractors to work might rely on voter approval of a sales tax or, more likely, a "sin" tax to pay for itself.

Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, outlined his ambitious plan Monday to issue $3 billion in bonds to do a crash-construction push for public schools and universities, including completion of long-deferred maintenance and major energy-efficiency upgrades. He likened it to the Works Progress Administration projects of the 1930s that helped provide jobs in the Depression era.

"Simply, this is the WPA of its time. We're going to fix schools, we're going to create jobs, and hopefully we'll get the economy turned around a bit with this," Dunshee said.

But the proposal — which he wants to put on the Nov. 3 ballot — has a long way to go before it lands on the ballot. Fellow lawmakers and stingy taxpayers are not his only obstacles.

Democratic state Treasurer Jim McIntire said $3 billion is too much.

"It would threaten our credit rating and would affect the rest of our investments in transportation and public infrastructure," McIntire said. But McIntire said he does support the idea of a stimulus package and one that targets the needs of colleges and public schools.

"We should size this kind of effort based on what we can prudently raise and spend during the next biennium without risking our credit rating. At the outside, I would say the very maximum would be $1 billion. That might be pushing it," McIntire added.

Dunshee said he has support from House Speaker Frank Chopp for the idea, and he thinks Gov. Chris Gregoire likes the concept. But he acknowledged that national bond-rating agencies were "quaky" about the idea.

"It is one of those questions: Do you just sit and molder or do you try to do something? And this is trying to do something. If those 90,000 jobs produce a little blip up in the economy, it might pay for itself," Dunshee said.

He also told reporters that taking a do-nothing approach is like being President Herbert Hoover, who failed to stop the country's headlong slide into the Great Depression.