Tag Archives: education

My letter to the Attorney General on Critical Race Theory

The majority party pushed through several bills focusing on race this past legislative session. Some of the worst are attempts by the state to mandate Critical Race Theory to local districts. I believe firmly that CRT, as it’s known, sows discord and undermines the fabric of our society, especially if it’s being forced on unsuspecting children. I asked our Attorney General to weigh in on the constitutionality of these curricula after other state’s found they were in violation.

 

You can read that letter here.

Fortunato bill seeks relief for families from school taxes

Most of Washington’s public schools have been closed to in-person learning for nearly a year, forcing countless families to struggle at balancing work and childcare in addition to ensuring their children are learning remotely. State Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, sees the massive shift in how schools operate as a reason to bring fairness to the state tax code. His Senate Bill 5257 would exempt property owners from state and local school levies if their students are homeschooled or attend a private school.

“We’ve seen significant changes in how people are educating their children,” said Fortunato. “More and more parents have chosen to homeschool or send their students to private schools in the wake of this pandemic, and because of recent policy decisions on mandatory sex-ed policies. “Since the state is not living up to its obligation to provide basic education, parents are forced to pick up the slack, which is hitting family budgets. This bill will provide some financial relief and provide the children with the education they deserve.”

Projections indicate Washington’s public-school enrollment has declined by as much as 5 percent, equal to about 50,000 students. That has saved the state roughly $500 million this fiscal year alone, not including an additional $600 million in savings from reduced transportation costs.

Despite an economic downturn tied to the pandemic, and dire predictions for the 2021-23 budget made in mid-2020, state revenue growth is expected to remain positive. The state’s already bloated spending level could grow by an additional 7 percent without new taxes. Even so, and despite the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Fortunato noted, the Legislature’s majority Democrats are still pursuing more taxes to further boost state spending.

“The state’s budget is in good shape. We can afford to give parents some timely tax relief instead of growing government even more,” Fortunato said. “They can use those resources to help their children get the education they deserve – something the state is failing to do.”

Update from Olympia

FloorGreetings from Olympia,

It’s been a busy week in your state Capitol. We’ve been working late into the evenings voting on all kinds of bills, mostly proposals by the majority party to increase energy costs, raise property taxes, impose new taxes on consumers, and grow government. You can be assured that I’ve been voting “No” on those efforts. Instead, I’ve taken opportunities to speak up for you on the Senate Floor, pointing out the facts. We don’t need to tax you more.

Thanks to the federal tax cuts and deregulation, our state is projected to receive billions more of your tax dollars than we expected. These aren’t my words. Our state economist was on TVW saying the same thing. In fact, the state’s budget is edging past $50 billion, and too many in Olympia think it’s still not enough.

Whether it’s affordable housing, education or transportation, the only solutions coming from those in charge are MORE TAXES!

I’ve adopted a three-pronged strategy to deal with these pressing issues before the Legislature:

  1. Transportation;
  2. Education; and
  3. Housing and Homelessness.

Read more about my approach to addressing these problems below.

Fully Funding Transportation

Phil's plan

In my last e-news update, I asked your input on how the state should address transportation funding. The results are clear. In case you missed it, you can read more about my plan by clicking here. Right now, we are stuck in an endless cycle of creating project lists and raising taxes to pay for them. In the transportation package being considered now, I was able to secure a lot of great things for our district, but to get them I’ll have to vote for billions in new taxes, including an $8 billion carbon tax and increase in the gas tax. I’ll be fighting to use the money you already send Olympia to meet our growing infrastructure needs.

Driving More Money into the Classroom

Classroom

There are over 1,400 unfunded mandates from the state on our local schools. These cost money. Conversations in Olympia are focused on how we get more money for schools. I want to know how we can get the billions we are already spending where they need to go – educating kids in the classroom. We spend about half of a $50 billion two-year budget on K-12 education. If we were able to save just 5 percent by reducing these mandates, that’s over $1 billion more for our students. Click here to learn more about my proposal.

Fighting for the American Dream

While our state is in the midst of a self-imposed housing crisis, I’m committed to finding real solutions. I sponsored legislation to make building single-family homes more affordable. The problem is that government regulations and fees are making the costs to build too high. Now, an entry-level home is more than $400,000. That puts the biggest driver of wealth creation for low- and middle-income families – their own home – out of reach. Instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into government-subsidized housing, which costs more per unit than the private sector, we need to look at the underlying costs. Click here to watch a short video and here for a write-up I did on how we can make home ownership a reality for more people.

It is an honor serving as your state senator. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns you have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Fortunato Signature

Phil Fortunato,

Your 31st District Senator

Keeping more education dollars in the classroom

Many school districts are concerned about the cost of unfunded mandates from the state. Those can be solved with additional funding. The problem is where to get the additional funding from. As of latest count, the state has passed over 1477 regulations down to the local school districts. I’ve introduced legislation that would allow districts to obtain waivers from these costly regulations that don’t directly contribute to the education of the child in the classroom.