The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus; what's it mean to Puyallup

The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus.

It’s a fancy label that has generated more buzz about Washington State government then perhaps than the disputed governor’s race of 2004.

Patch.com sat down with newly elected Sen. Bruce Dammeier of Puyallup, and member of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus (SMCC), for an insider’s perspective on this unique convergence in Washington State politics.

The SMCC was formed shortly after the 2012 general election, when Sen. Rodney Tom, a democrat from Bellevue, became the senate majority leader. Unseating Democratic Sen. Ed Murray of Seattle, Tom, along with Sen. Tim Sheldon of Shelton, joined forces with the Senate Republicans, creating what came to be known as the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus.

“Our intent is straightforward and unprecedented,” wrote Sen. Tom and Republican Sen. Mark Schoesler Ritzville of the SMCC in an article published by the Seattle Times in December 2012, “to change how the Senate works, encouraging its members to cooperate and collaborate like never before and establishing a style of lawmaking that promotes policy over politics.”

“Jobs, education and a responsible budget, those were the founding principles of the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus,” said Sen. Dammeier, a Republican. “We prioritized on things that mattered most to the state of Washington. Our most important job was passing a responsible budget – and that had to be our primary focus. The SMCC was not going to lose focus by addressing divisive social issues.”

The origins of the SMCC can be traced to what became known as the “Roadkill Caucus,” of the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions.

Named because of the tendency for middle-of-the-road members being run over like roadkill by partisans in both parties, the Roadkilll Caucus was created to bring Republicans into the budgetary process. Among the members was Puyallup Democrat and candidate for secretary of state, Jim Kastama.

In a state where both houses of the legislator is dominated by Democrats, this was a move rarely seen in the government of Washington State.

“The [Roadkill] Caucus was formed to pass a budget, one that couldn’t otherwise have happened,” Dammeier said.

Both the Roadkill Caucus and the SMCC represent a shift in the senate away from what Dammeier calls the “Seattle-centric democrats.”

In a state that overwhelmingly supported President Obama and elected Democrat Jay Inslee by a thin margin in 2012, this shift would appear even more of an anomaly.

The 2013 legislative session was dominated by the McCleary decision, the case in which the State Supreme Court that decided that Washington isn’t doing its duty paramount duty to fully fund education.

“In our budget, the SMCC said that we’re taking Article IX of the State Constitution seriously,” said Sen. Dammeier. “We’re going to prioritize. We’re going to put education first. We put an additional $1 billion in the State’s education fund to meet our McCleary obligations. Our Constitution clearly says that education gets our first dollar, not our last dime.”

Sen. Dammeier also explained his disagreement with the House’s operating budget.

“The Democrats in the House wanted more money in, but made it contingent on raising taxes, by as much as $1.3 billion altogether. To me, their budget proposal was the opposite of the Constitution in the sense that you fund schools with additional taxes once you’ve funded everything else,” he said.

“The final operating budget, on the other hand, the one passed by both the House and Senate, reflected that schools, both K-12 and higher education, get first priority. Education funding grew about 10% this session, while the rest of State government grew by about 3%.”

One of the most visible results, according to Dammeier, is the fact that tuition for State-funded colleges and universities will remain flat [not be increased] for the first time since 1986.

The subject of special interest resistance, from targeted ads to Governor Inslee calling out the SMCC specifically as the main reason for the budgetary impasse when calling for a second special session, was discussed as well. Dammeier said that one-party dominance is the key reason.

“We’ve had dominate, one-party [Democratic] control in this state for a long time. So it’s natural that the special interest groups that have benefited from this control don’t like the fact that we now have split control, at least in the Senate.

“I’ve never had radio ads that called me out personally,” chuckled Sen. Dammeier. “It was a unique experience.”

When asked how the actions of the SMCC have affected the residents of Puyallup, and Washington State for that matter, Dammeier didn’t mince words.

“I would say very clearly that we were able to pass an operating budget that prioritized an additional $1 billion into schools, with no increases to college tuition, and, most importantly, without any new taxes.

“We proved it could be done. Both the Democrats in the House and Governor Inslee wanted to raise taxes by $1.3 billion. The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus proved that it’s possible to prioritize state spending, without having to raise taxes on the average citizen. I think that will be our greatest legacy.”