We know that the combination of poor economic conditions and budget cuts has heaped more of the costs of college onto students and their families.  By the end of the 2011-13 biennium the state share of the cost of educating a student at our institutions will have dropped from around 81.4 percent a decade ago to approximately 34 percent. Because of our prior commitment to low tuition, this state had previously ranked in the top 10 (according to the Project on Student Debt) in terms of the least amount of debt our students were graduating with.  Due to the rising cost of tuition, more and more students are turning to some sort of financial aid package to foot the bill for their education.  The average debt load for college students in Washington is now $23,300; one-quarter of borrowers owe more than $28,000; about 10 percent of borrowers owe more than $54,000. As our state continues to recover from the great recession, a well-educated work force will be critical, and yet the ballooning cost of that education is saddling our students with what amounts to a small mortgage as they come into a soft job market.  This is not the right recipe.

I joined the legislature first as a House member in 2011 and then in the Senate in 2012.  Though we had to authorize tuition increase in 2011 to stem a massive budget deficit that would have eviscerated our institutions even further, I worked exceptionally hard to include language prioritizing that significant portions of those funds would be plowed back into financial aid.  In 2012, I came into the Senate and took the position that there should be no more cuts to higher education funding – period.  I introduced legislation to fund – not eliminate – the Work Study program.  Though that bill did not pass, I can confidently say that the hearing that the bill was given was critical to our eventual maintenance of Work Study financial aid in the final budget as dozens of college students testified to the Senate about the vital role that Work Study played in their career paths and in financing their educations.

Representative Chris Reykdal and I introduced the Hope Act early in the session, a comprehensive structural tax reform proposal that set a marker for how to reinstate our financial commitment to state support for higher education and universal access to college for Washingtonians.   During the budget fight late in the session, I offered an amendment – one of the only ones accepted that night – to restore money to a scholarship fund that had been on the chopping block.

There were two significant pieces of legislation that I was heavily involved – and which did pass – that will benefit our college students attempting to finance their education. SB 6121 is to provide a web based counseling curriculum of information and “best practices” to better prepare students for the long-term debts that they may be taking on to finance their education.  Prior to the passage of Senate Bill 6121, students were signing themselves into long-term debt without a firm understanding of their obligation or responsibility.  Many testified that obtaining a loan was as simple as downloading an app or a song on one’s smart phone.  Once this curriculum is made available, I believe students arriving on our campuses will have a better understanding of their long-term debt, an issue that is reaching the forefront of the national debate on student loans.  The federal “Know Before You Owe Act of 2012″ is a near-copy the Washington legislation, requiring schools to inform students of their options before they take on private student loan debt.   I am also proud that I worked across party lines to add an amendment to a higher education reform bill that that requires a 21-day notice by Regents before any hearing on potential tuition increases in order to give students more time to organize and respond.  This was a top priority of student groups.

In my two short years in the legislature, I have been honored to work with students from our community college and four year baccalaureate institutions, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  I was advised early on by Olympia veterans that “college students are transient players in Olympia because they graduate and move on.”  I think students and their families counting on a vibrant and high quality higher education system need a voice to reverse the downward spiral in our public policy toward higher education in this state.  I have been proud to play even a small role in taking up that fight, and I will continue to do so in the years ahead.

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Dear Neighbors,

I was appointed to the State Senate a few weeks before this legislative session started. I worked to hit the ground running making it easier for kids to get a high quality education, ensuring that the most vulnerable are cared for and protecting consumers.

This summer, I will be out knocking on doors throughout North Seattle, Lake Forest Park and Kenmore, listening to you and preparing to bring your concerns to Olympia.  Please email or call me anytime with your ideas about making state government work better. I ask for your vote.

Here’s what I will be talking about on the campaign trail:

Making it easier for kids to get through college

I led the effort to restore work study and restored a scholarship fund in the final days of the legislative session that had been scheduled for cuts. Additionally, I passed legislation providing a counseling curriculum of information and “best practices” to better prepare students for the long-term debts they may be taking on to finance their education.

Championing our Public Schools

I secured funding to renovate three Seattle schools to help reduce overcrowding in the Seattle School District. I will always fight to ensure that public education is the state’s paramount duty.

Protecting the most vulnerable

Working with Representative Ruth Kagi, I helped reduce bureaucratic overhead and provide more certainty for low-income families who know they will have steady and dependable childcare in order to allow them to find steady work.

Making sure consumers get a fair shake

I led the fight for the Fair Tenant Screening Act. This breakthrough legislation overcame several years of stalemate to require landlords to disclose information about their tenant screening processes to prospective tenants and provides a way to respond if housing is denied on the basis of information in those screening reports. I also fought for foreclosure fairness and protections for homeowners going through a short sale.

Protecting our clean air and water

I led the effort to become the first state in the nation to ban toxic coal tar sealants. This will protect our urban lakes and waterways and protect human health from known carcinogens.

www.Frockt.com            Facebook            Twitter

So much has happened in this short 24 month period.  State government has been buffeted by continuing budgetary crises stemming from the most significant downturn in our state’s economy since the Great Depression.   And tragically, we lost our Senator on the eve of the second session of this legislature.  I was humbled to have been given the chance by you to replace Scott for this session.  I was honored to have been asked by my colleagues to join the Senate leadership team, as I was in the House.

And now, I come to you again to ask for your support to fill out the last two years of this Senate term.  

In seeking your support again, I want you to know what I have done and tried to do in representing this district.  In the House, I:

• Helped draft the critical mediation provisions of the Foreclosure Fairness Act designed to counter the big banks that caused this financial crisis and to keep more people in their homes.

• Passed a bill to make Washington the first state in the country to ban carcinogenic coal tar pavement sealants, protecting human health and our urban lakes and waterways from this toxic runoff.

• Passed legislation to insure fairness for domestic violence victims by insuring that when an abuser sought to lift a protection order, the victim did not have the burden of reproving her case all over again.

• Passed legislation to give Seattle Public Schools more opportunities to host before and after school programs to provide wrap around services for kids with working parents.

• Worked to restore a funding formula for Children’s Hospital and for funding to improve their emergency room.

• Pushed in the House for passage of our late Senator’s bill to authorize emergency transit funding for King County.

• Fought for economic fairness for working people at our airports, driving our taxis, and in the construction trades.

• Fought to restore cuts to teacher pay and to fund early childhood education investments.

• Fought for funding for North Seattle Community College’s new technology building, a project that was finally funded this year.

My amendment to require Chase bank to fully disclose their ATM fees to our poorest citizens was adopted by bi-partisan majorities.  The bank initially said they didn’t have the technical capability to make this change but – low and behold – after our amendment passed, they found a way.  And now our state agency is reexamining their entire contract to determine whether we can get a better deal for our taxpayers and our poor.

Lastly, I co-sponsored legislation to close tax exemptions and became one of the key legislative architects of our strategy to set up a legal challenge to the constitutionality of Tim Eyman’s 2/3 rule for raising taxes – a policy that continues to inhibit our policy choices in this state and frame the overall budget debate.  That suit is in progress as we speak and I believe we have made a strong case to have it declared unconstitutional.

That was the first year.

I did not expect to be serving in the Senate, of course, but I tried to hit the ground running when I was appointed.

We faced another budget shortfall that framed the entire debate this session, but I made holding the line on higher education and financial aid funding my top budgetary priority.  I fought hard within the Democratic caucus for that policy and was pleased when our initial budget made no further cuts to k-12 or higher ed.   And I was even more pleased when the Republicans reversed their budget cuts in this area and came around after we exposed their doublespeak on the Senate floor in that long 10-hour debate on the night that they took control of the budget process.

I was a strong advocate for passage of Washington’s health care exchange, the next step to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.  This bill will expand health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of the more than one million in our state that are uninsured.  I pushed back against the big insurers who sought to whittle down reasonable market rules and regulations.

In my first month in the Senate, I also came right out and proposed a plan for broad based tax reform in our state, the HOPE Act, that would eliminate the B&O tax (including its five separate rates, and 167 exemptions) and replace it with a lower, but broader based sales tax and a constitutionally capped personal income and gross corporate profits tax.

In the short session, I was also able to pass or help pass several important policy measures, including:

• The Fair Tenant Screening Act, breakthrough legislation that requires landlords to disclose information about their tenant screening processes to prospective tenants and provides a way for tenants to respond if housing is denied on the basis of information in those screening reports.

• A bill to establish a 12-month authorization period for the state’s Working Connections childcare program. The bill, several years in the making, will reduce bureaucratic overhead and will provide more certainty for low-income families who know that they will have steady and dependable childcare in order to allow them to find steady work.  Recent studies from WSU and the federal government supported this policy change.  I was honored to work with my friend Representative Ruth Kagi on this important policy change.

• Legislation to authorize Transportation Benefit District rebate authority for Seattle. This measure could help to address the regressive nature of some local option funding mechanisms for transportation and transit packages.  I continued to fight for local transit funding options for our city.

• A bill to develop a counseling curriculum of information and “best practices” to better prepare students for the long term debts that they may be taking on to finance their education.   We have a growing student debt crisis in this state and nation, and our legislation gained broad bipartisan support.

• An amendment to require a 21-day notice by university Regents before any hearing on potential tuition increases in order to give students more time to organize and respond.  This was a top priority of student groups.

• Working with Phyllis Kenney, I helped pass legislation to provide consumer protections for short sale homeowners, leading negotiations on the measure when it came over to the Senate. The idea is to insure that homeowners have full information and the knowledge that they can push back on their lenders by demanding a full release, while statutorily shortening the time that banks can hold any deficiency over their heads

• Legislation to increase sentencing to the manslaughter range for DUI vehicular homicide cases.   Current law provided a sentencing range of 31 to 41 months, with a typical work or home release in 24 months.  This was one of the major priorities for prosecutors as well as the families of several recent high-profile DUI-related tragedies in Seattle and around the Puget Sound region.

• Legislation providing a civil legal remedy for individuals impersonated on social networking and online bulletin board sites. This bill is the second of its kind in the country and was supported by the Washington Technology Industry Association.

• Legislation establishing a new type of corporate form in Washington: the social purpose corporation.  This measure establishes a new and innovative corporate form that will allow entrepreneurs and companies more flexibility to adopt corporate goals other than maximizing profits.

I fought for teachers by opposing an abrogation of their rights to collectively bargain their health care benefits. Also, I fought for reproductive rights including access to contraception and I will continue to be a supporter.

Finally, I am very proud to have been the lead Seattle Senator pushing for $9.4 million in funding to renovate and reopen three Seattle public schools.  This includes John Marshall, which is intended to help relieve overcrowding at Eckstein Middle.

We have much to do in months and years ahead. I expect to continue my work to expand the doors of opportunity for higher education that will train our workforce. I will continue to fight for tax reform.  I expect to be appointed to at least one of the legislative committees to work on our response to the McCleary decision to find a dedicated funding source to meet our education funding obligations.  I am excited to have been recently appointed to the board of Innovate Washington, an agency dedicated to supporting innovative companies and entrepreneurs in our state, particularly in the clean energy sector.

Perhaps most importantly, I will not stop until every person in this state has access to quality and affordable health care and no longer faces the prospect of economic ruin if they get sick.

Friends, I have worked hard to be an effective progressive leader in Olympia.   We have more work to do.  I hope that you will allow me the honor of continuing to work for the residents of the 46^th District in the State Senate.  I respectfully ask for your nomination, your endorsement and for your vote in November.

www.Frockt.com          Facebook.com/frocktcampaign           Twitter.com/frocktcampaign        

Senator Frockt is featured in this Washington Environmental Council video about the work they are doing to protect our clean air and water.

Washington Environmental Council from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.

OLYMPIA—At a bill-signing ceremony in the state capitol on Thursday, Washington became the first state in the nation to enact a statewide ban on a type of pavement sealant that has been linked to fish kills, cancer risks and toxic contamination of lakes and streams.

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a law proposed by Rep. David Frockt (D-Seattle) that prohibits sales of coal-tar pavement sealants after June, 2012, and bans their application the following year.

“This is pretty noxious stuff for health and our environment, and since safe alternatives are readily available there is really no reason for using coal-tar sealants,” said Frockt, the lead sponsor of House Bill 1721.

Coal-tar paving sealants are marketed as a shiny black coating for asphalt driveways, parking lots and playgrounds. But unlike rival asphalt-based sealants, the coal-tar products are saturated with high concentrations of toxic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), coal-tar sealants have PAH levels that are 1,000 times higher than asphalt alternatives.

PAHs are probable human carcinogens and have been tied to cancers, reproductive problems, and deformities in fish and other aquatic organisms. Weather and normal use cause particles of these compounds to dislodge from the sealant and enter the environment as stormwater runoff that washes into lakes and streams or as dust that can be inhaled or tracked into homes.

“Washington’s first-in-the-nation ban on coal-tar sealants is a big step forward to ensure we are protecting children’s health and the environment from harmful water pollutants,” said Mo McBroom, Policy Director for the Washington Environmental Council. “Cleaning up this toxic substance is expensive—it’s much better to prevent the contamination from happening in the first place.”

USGS scientist Peter van Metre told state lawmakers in hearings on Frockt’s bill that coal-tar sealants are the leading cause of rising PAH levels in 40 American lakes that were studied, including Lake Washington and Lake Ballinger in Washington state.

Last July, a rainstorm washed a fresh coat of coal-tar sealant from a parking lot and killed all aquatic life in a 1.5-mile section of Hodges Creek in North Carolina.

Van Metre also reported that house dust in apartments located near coal-tar sealed parking lots had PAH levels that were 25 times higher than dust from apartments near parking lots that had other kinds of surfaces.
Although today’s bill signing makes Washington the first state to ban coal-tar paving sealants, the product has been banned locally in places such as Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. The chambers of commerce in both of these two cities told Frockt that none of their local businesses had reported any problems or adverse impacts from the local bans.

In Washington State, a number of leading retailers, including Home Depot and Lowes, have voluntarily stopped selling coal-tar sealants because of the toxic risks.

The Washington state Department of Transportation has also stopped using coal-tar sealants. In a Feb. 11 letter to Frockt, state materials engineer Thomas E. Baker said the coal-tar products are no longer used because “asphalt based products are comparable in performance and price, and do not pose the environmental risks that have been associated with coal-tar emulsions.”

Frockt’s measure passed the House, 64-32, and the Senate, 36-12.

“I’m proud that Washington is a national leader in environmental protection, and proud that we’re building on that tradition today,” said Frockt.

OLYMPIA – With support from 48 Democratic sponsors, the 11 newest members of the House Democratic Caucus today introduced a bill that would end more than $170 million worth of tax exemptions. The money would be redirected for smaller class sizes in K-3 to provide young children with more individualized attention.

House Bill 2078 would close a pair of tax exemptions – a B&O exemption for corporate banks and the sales tax exemption for out-of-state shoppers. Ending those two exemptions would generate $170.3 million for K-3 classrooms in 2011-13, an investment linked to basic education reforms that have stalled due to a $5.1 billion shortfall in the state’s budget.

“Smaller class size is one of the best investments we can make in the future of our state,” said Rep. Andy Billig (D-Spokane), a member of the House of Education Committee. “We need to prioritize our children and their academic achievement over the continuation of special tax breaks.”

The B&O exemption for banks, worth $86.6 million over the next two years, will be limited in scope to protect community banks while ensuring that Wall Street banks pay their fair share. The state Department of Revenue has no knowledge of any other state offering a similar exemption.

“When we’re faced with a choice to cut education funding or cut tax breaks for tourists and big Wall Street banks that can afford million-dollar bonuses for their CEO’s, it’s an easy choice,” says Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma). “If JPMorgan Chase can afford to give Jamie Dimon a $19 million raise, they can afford to give up this tax break. This is about making banks pay their fair share, just like they have to do in every other state.”

“As a former school board member, I’ve seen the impact of dwindling resources on our students and classrooms,” said Rep. Kristine Lytton (D-Anacortes). “Now, as a state representative, I hear from concerned parents and teachers in our community every day, urging us to find any possible way to fund our state’s paramount duty. This bill does just that. I came to Olympia to do what’s best for all of us in Washington, not just those who benefit from an outdated tax code.”

The freshman Democrats, who have dubbed themselves the “11 in 2011,” said they were inspired by the thousands of people who have been rallying and protesting in Olympia to end certain tax breaks to help protect funding for education and human services. They said the two-thirds vote requirement to close loopholes that was enacted by voters last fall isn’t a deterrent.

“Tax exemptions deserve the same level of scrutiny as any other kind of state spending,” said Rep. David Frockt (D-Seattle). “Our paramount duty is to fund education, not preferences that disproportionately benefit the bailed out financial institutions whose business practices got us into this mess. We hope two-thirds of our colleagues will agree and will support this bill.”

The other freshman sponsors include Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien), Connie Ladenburg (D-Tacoma), Luis Moscoso (D-Mount Lake Terrace), Chris Reykdal (D-Tumwater), Cindy Ryu (D-Shoreline), Derek Stanford (D-Bothell) and Steve Tharinger (D-Sequim).

OLYMPIA—With a stroke of her pen on Wednesday, Gov. Chris Gregoire strengthened  legal protections for victims of severe domestic violence by making it harder for their abusers to terminate or weaken long-term protection orders.

“This law tells survivors of domestic violence that Washington is on your side and will work harder from now on to protect your safety and peace of mind,” said David Frockt (D-Seattle), the author of the new protections.

Long-term protection orders are typically issued only in extreme cases of abuse and danger to the victim. But this is the first time the Legislature has established guidelines for when these orders can be terminated or amended at the abuser’s request.

The absence of legislative guidelines led to a 2010 Washington Supreme Court decision—In re Marriage of Freeman—that effectively required victims of domestic violence to re-prove their need for protection every time their abuser filed a motion to end or amend the court order.

The new law ensures that abusers—not victims—have the burden of proof when a long-term protection order is challenged.  Instead of requiring victims to show that their fear of their abuser is still justified, the law will require abusers to prove they are no longer a threat to the victims.

The measure also makes it harder for abusers to harass their victims in court hearings. It requires abusers to show that a new hearing on a long-term protection order is justified before the victim is forced to make a court appearance. As a further deterrent, the law also allows courts to require abusers to pay their victims’ court costs and attorney fees.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate passed Frockt’s House Bill 1565 unanimously after hearing dramatic testimony that abusers were using legal motions to harass and intimidate victims.

Advocates for victims of domestic violence hailed today’s bill signing.

“This bill puts the burden back on the abuser to prove that a long-term protection order should be terminated,” said David Ward, staff attorney at Legal Voice.  “We applaud Representative Frockt for his leadership in helping domestic violence victims keep protection orders in place against their abusers.”