Supreme Court Rules That Legislative Fines Will Continue
Basics of the ruling:
- the fines continue
- the Legislature must open an account and put the fine money into it
- the Legislature must have a plan - with funding and implementation - by the end of the 2017 Legislative session
- the Court is leveling no other sanctions against the Legislature
From the ruling in the section labeled Background:
Overall, the court observed, the State's report showed that it knew what progress looked like and had taken some steps forward, but could not "realistically claim to have made significant progress when its own analysis shows it is not on target to implement ESHB 2261 and SHB 2776. Reiterating that the State had to show through immediate and concrete action that it was achieving real and measurable progress, not simply making promises, the court directed the State to submit by April 30, 2014, "a complete plan for fully implementing its program of basic education for each school year between now and the 2017-2018 school year," which addresses "each of the areas of K-12 education identified in ESHB 2261, as well as the implementation plan called for by SHB 2776 and must include a phase-in schedule for fully funding each of the components of basic education."They go on to talk about assigning the fine onto the Legislature in September 2014. They state that the Legislature HAD made progress in all-day kindergarten,MSOCs and transportation but that there was "not a complete plan for full state funding of basic education by 2018." They also note that the Seattle Schools Community Forum: Supreme Court Rules That Legislative Fines Will Continue: