President-elect gets governor’s attention
Lou Marzeles
Editor
Deborah Heart has the governor’s ear.
The local educaton professional is one of a lot of people in the state tapped for input to the governor on the issue of state finances. Her role is a particularly prominent one. Heart is president-elect of the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA). She’s also one of the few people actively solicited for input to the governor east of the Cascades, serving on a panel of close to three dozen leaders from across the state. The panel is known as the Committee on Transforming Washington’s Budget.
“Everything is on the table,” Heart says of the range of options for bettering the state’s financial affairs. “There are no sacred cows.”
To help develop Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget for 2011–13, the Office of Financial Management invited participation from individuals and agencies around the state, and additionally scheduled a series of four hearings to present information on the governor’s priorities and to solicit input from citizens, who are invited to attend and testify. Three of the four hearings have now been completed.
A number of members of the governor’s committee have been in attendance at each session. Their role is to question and serve as a sounding board for the governor and her budget staff.
Committee and audience members hear brief presentations from OFM budget analysts for each of the six value areas in the budget for the first hour of each hearing. The second hour of the hearings has been set aside for citizen comment.
“There were more than 400 people at each of the first hearings,” Heart says, “in Everett and Tacoma. The response has been very good.”
“As difficult as the past two legislative sessions have been, the 2011 session will be even more challenging as the economy is still recovering,” Governor Gregoire said. “Forty-six states have faced—or still face—budget deficits, so we know that Washington is not unique in adapting to an uncertain economy.”
The governor announced her plan last month to transform how the state budget is built. OFM will layer the Priorities of Government, or POG, process with an additional filter of questions to determine the most essential government services, whether they are being delivered in the most cost-effective manner and whether they are yielding results.
“The usefulness of POG is that starts with a zero base and adds only those services that are identified as mission critical,” said OFM Director Marty Brown. “By starting from scratch, we ensure that every program demonstrates its worth to Washington’s taxpayers. The governor’s questions add another dimension of rigor.”
Given the number of citizens expected to attend, those who offer testimony have been asked to limit their comments to two minutes to accommodate others who wish to speak. Written testimony was also accepted.
“Some of the best input to the governor has been coming from students,” Heart says. “That’s no surprise.”
Materials related to the hearings and the ideas site are available at http://www. governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/default.asp. The OFM has prepared a report on the new budget process, now available at http://www. governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/transformbudget.pdf.
TVW taped the Tacoma and will record the Spokane hearings for later replay. Visit http://www.tvw. org/index.cfm?bhcp=1 for more information.
The last hearing is July 29 in Spokane.
Bash adds dunk tank this year
On Saturday, Aug. 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Goldendale Church of the Nazarene will host the Fourth Annual Back-To-School-Bash, to be held on the lawn of the Klickitat County Courthouse and featuring bounce houses and carnival games, hot dogs and popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones.
Every student who attends will receive a bag of school supplies and have the opportunity to enter a drawing for a backpack completely filled with supplies for the coming school year. Two backpacks per grade will be given away. The drawing will take place at 1 p.m., and kids must be registered by 12:30 p.m.
The Back-To-School-Bash has grown each year, thanks to widespread community support that has increased for each event. This year the Bash adds a dunk tank, always a favorite. Several agencies are involved, including the Goldendale Fire Police Departments.
The entire event is free, and the community is invited.
Back to school prep should start with immunizations
It may seem early to think about the end of summer break, but it’s time for children to get ready for school. With outbreaks of whooping cough, flu, and chickenpox during the past year and a large measles outbreak just across the border in Canada, parents should make sure their kids are protected by being fully immunized.
Childhood vaccinations are among the most effective ways to protect children against serious, preventable illnesses — some of which have no cure or treatment. Parents should use the next several weeks to ensure their kids have all the immunizations they need to attend school. This is the busiest time of year for children to receive shots and if parents wait to schedule appointments, they may have difficulty getting in before school starts, say officials.
All recommended vaccines for children under 19 are provided at no-cost through the state’s Childhood Vaccine Pro-gram. This includes vaccines required for school and child care, and vaccines that aren’t required but are recommended for best protection, such as human papilloma-virus (HPV) for pre-teens. You may still be charged an office visit or administration fee.
Several immunizations are required before children can attend school and child care. Students in kindergarten through ninth grade must be vaccinated against whooping cough. This is especially important with recent outbreaks in the state.
Kindergarteners through second graders need two doses of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine or must have a health care provider document that they’ve had the disease. Kids starting third, fourth, and sixth grades must get one dose of the chickenpox vaccine or their parents must document that they’ve had the disease.
Parents of teenagers should consider having them vaccinated with Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) if they did not have it at sixth grade entry as well as Meningococcal vaccine, and the Human Papilloma Virus. All students should have a flu vaccination, which will be offered at both the health departments and local provider offices later this fall.
Local medical providers carry childhood vaccines. Klickitat County Health Department also offers vaccinations by appointment only.
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