OLYMPIA — State lawmakers Monday asked the Supreme Court for more time to comply with a contempt order in the McCleary case.
They asked justices to put off acting on sanctions “until the final special session adjourns” and the governor deals with a new state budget and any education funding bills that reach his desk.
In a 17-page filing, they argue budgets passed by the House and Senate, along with pending bills on levy reform, will satisfy the contempt order and keep lawmakers on track to adequately fund basic education by a 2018 deadline imposed by the court.
But it is unclear how justices will respond.
They ruled in 2012 in the McCleary case that the state was not putting enough money into elementary and secondary schools and was making districts rely too much on local levies to pay for such things as teacher salaries.
In September, they found lawmakers in contempt for not having a plan to get it all done. But the Supreme Court deferred consideration of any punishment until after the 2015 session.
On Monday, an attorney for the two families that filed the original case said he expects justices will refrain from punishing them.
“My hunch is that the Court will yet again show extreme patience by allowing legislators a little more time to comply with the Court’s order since, as everyone also knows, the legislature HAS to pass a budget relatively soon to avoid a government shutdown,” attorney Thomas Ahearne wrote in an email.
Senior Assistant Attorney General David Stolier filed the memorandum Monday on behalf of the Legislature.
It acknowledges up front that lawmakers did not do what the court wanted.
But he explains the proposed House and Senate budgets each contain the money needed to pay for student transportation, all-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes in kindergarten through third grade as required in the McCleary case. There’s also enough for materials, supplies and operating costs at each school.
Stolier also details four bills — three in the Senate and one in the House — dealing with school districts overreliance on local levies. It’s uncertain if any of the four will pass.
Stolier concludes that unless directed otherwise by the court, the Legislature will provide another update after “the final special session adjourns” and Gov. Jay Inslee has acted on the budget and pertinent bills.
Ahearne said he wasn’t surprised by anything he read from the state’s lawyers.
“Today’s filing is just one more illustration of the kick-the-can-down-the-road approach that the Washington Legislature’s been using since before the McCleary and Venema families filed this suit over 8 years ago,” Ahearne said.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said he thinks asking for a delay is warranted and joked that the filing by the attorney general truly must have been brief.
“How long should it have taken the AG’s office to say that nothing has been done to this point?” he said.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623;
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