Washington

Those are the words of state Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Finance Committee.

Hunter was referring to the $766 million plan by the Washington State Trade and Convention Center to expands its squatting presence straddling Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle.

I was interviewing Hunter a few minutes ago while he was driving to the state capital. We were talking about the upcoming session.

"That plan is not ready for prime time," he said. "It may make sense to do a new convention center, but they are years and years and years (yes, he said 'years' 3 times) away from being smart enough about all the details to plan for a new center.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy released a report today that says literacy fell slightly in Pierce County from 1992 to 2003.

Nine percent of adults in the county lacked basic prose literacy skills in 2003, up from 8 percent in 1992.

The same trend can be seen in Washington as a whole, which went from 7 percent to 10 percent.

That rating included adults who couldn't pass a test or who could not be tested due to a language barrier.

As you might imagine, the scores are lower in some of the more rural ares of the state.

For more information visit nces.ed.gov/naal.

Get in line.

One of my readers from the "other" Washington forwarded me an e-mail about this so I Googled it and found out it was true.

I hesitate to say that Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt was being tongue in cheek, but he probably was.

Here's a link to the story on MSNBC. They say XXX DVD sales are down 22 percent.

I just listened to President Barack Obama's brief remarks on TV about his proposal for a $775 billion bailout package, and heard no specific reference to help for the poor porn guys.

As my D.C. reader said, "Only in America."

From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau:

WASHINGTON - He's been campaigning for it for weeks, but today it became official - Republican Rep. Dave Reichert was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The committee is one of the most powerful in the House, dealing with taxes, health care and trade.

Apparently Washington's 8th Congressional District has a reserved seat on the committee. Reichert's predecessors from the 8th, Jennifer Dunn and Rod Chandler, were also on the committee.

Not surprisingly, Reichert is thrilled, saying the appointment will "enable me to continue my tireless advocacy for enacting free trade agreements, keeping taxes low for families, business and individuals and ensuring access to affordable, high quality health care."

Reichert joins another Washington state representative, Democrat Jim McDermott, on the committee.

Gov. Chris Gregoire might be out of the country visiting with National Guards troops in Iraq and Germany, but her office is still busy. Today she announced she has chosen a new staff attorney, Marty Loesch.

Loesch replaces Richard Mitchell, who left last year for the private sector. Loesch is "inter-governmental affairs director and tribal attorney for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’" and now will serve as "general counsel and senior adviser" to Gregoire.

Here’s the text of the governor's news release:
"I have known Marty for 16 years and greatly respect his legal and policy guidance," Gregoire said. "In addition to serving as my legal counsel, I have asked Marty to serve as a senior advisor to guide our decisions on a host of policy matters.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few days, you probably know that warmer air hasn't brought any relief from winter storms to Washington State.

Instead of record snow, we're being soaked with unending downpours - and rivers everywhere are flooding their banks.

Rising water and mudslides have shut down Amtrak Cascades service between Portland and Seattle. A twenty mile stretch of Interstate 5 in Centralia and Chehalis is closed (Milepost 68 to Milepost 88). And all three of the state's major passes - Stevens, Snoqualmie, White - are also closed, leaving only one road open across the state: U.

An ad hoc committee has picked three finalists for Pierce County auditor:

• Katie Blinn of University Place, assistant director of elections for the Secretary of State’s Office. Blinn is the only nominee of the local Democratic Party to make the cut.

• Richard McEntee of University Place, a Republican who ran an unsuccessful campaign for state auditor last fall.

• Former state Rep. Jan Shabro of Lake Tapps, a Republican.

The five-member committee’s recommendations were given in alphabetical order and are not ranked. The full County Council will interview the candidates next Tuesday before making an appointment.

More to come.

Here is another post from our McClatchy News partner Les Blumental from Washington, D.C.:

WASHINGTON — He’s been campaigning for it for weeks, but today it became official — Republican Rep. Dave Reichert was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The committee is one of the most powerful in the House, dealing with taxes, health care and trade.

Apparently Washington's 8th Congressional District has a reserved seat on the committee. Reichert's predecessors from the 8th, Jennifer Dunn and Rod Chandler, were also on the committee.

Not surprisingly, Reichert is thrilled, saying the appointment will "enable me to continue my tireless advocacy for enacting free trade agreements, keeping taxes low for families, business and individuals and ensuring access to affordable, high quality health care."

Reichert joins another Washington state representative, Democrat Jim McDermott, on the committee.

Marty Loesch, now attorney for the Swinomish Tribe, will take over as Gov. Chris Gregoire's personal lawyer and adviser next week.

"Loesch has a strong background in environmental, insurance, international and Tribal law. He also served as an international elections monitor in South Africa, Bosnia and Republika Srpska and an international law consultant with Catholic Relief Services regarding the lessons learned in humanitarian operations in Kosovo."

Sounds like a pretty varied background. He'll make $139,000 a year.

Gov. Gregoire appoints Marty Loesch as General Counsel and Sr. Advisor

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced she is appointing Marty Loesch as her general counsel and senior advisor.

Here is a post from our McClatchy News partner Les Blumental from Washington, D.C. He's looking at the perennial sales-tax deduction measure pushed by two Northwest lawmakers:

WASHINGTON - Like an annual rite of passage, two Washington state lawmakers have again introduced legislation that would make the state sales tax deduction on federal returns permanent.

Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Democratic Rep. Brian Baird have tried to do this previously and the issue always gets wrapped up in an end-of-session, last train leaving the station piece of legislation that extends the sales tax deduction only temporarily. Last year, Congress extended it for the 2008 and 2009 tax seasons.