Saturday, August 29, 2009
Inside the Capitol
As summer draws to an end we are starting to hear murmurs from Olympia. The primary has passed and although there were not many races that captured the “political-junkies” interest outside of the big cities there were some interesting results. Perhaps the most surprising was in Seattle with the incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels coming in third and not moving forward to the general election. The state seems to be settling in to the new “Top-Two” and earlier primary system that was so controversial and it now seems to be working well.
Legislators are looking forward to January and soon they will start filling interim hearings once a month with reports about how things they have done are working, how the budget is going, and new ideas they want to present in January. Monitoring those is a primary focus of a lobbyist’s attention as summer ends.
In the TRAW we have been listening to the concerns of our members and trying to come up with ideas of our own. We have held Legislative Committee meetings in Seattle, Moses Lake and Cle Elum and made listening to members thoughts and ideas at the Tow Show our first order of business.
The Tow Show was fantastic, the biggest in many years, and it was wonderful to see and chat with members from all over the State as well as folks from other states and Canada too. The banquet was great as well and Master of Ceremonies Al Runte commented in introducing me that I had been representing the interests of the towing industry for almost twenty years now. That brought back a flood of memories of issues we have worked on and the people who have given so much time and effort to make this association such a fixture in the halls of the Capitol.
Now we have legislators wanting to know our thoughts before they introduce legislation that might affect the industry and strong committee chairmen who will tell interest groups to work with us if they want their proposals to have any chance of moving forward. Agencies seek us out to be part of discussion or “stakeholder” groups on issues that we have concerns with and on critical issues like Major Incident Response we are considered as necessary, respected part of the “team” along with the WSDOT, the WSP and others.
We won’t always get what we want, but we will be in the thick of things both protecting our interests and moving forward our vision of an effective, professional, and profitable full service towing and recovery industry. Thank you all for your help in making this possible. It serves all our members well to be known and respected in the halls of the Legislature.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Inside the Capitol
The Capitol is relatively quiet now, the session having ended and the members having gone back home to their districts. Not being an election year they have some community events such as parades and meetings and a few fundraisers but primarily they are taking a breath, reconnecting with their families, working at their real jobs, and not focusing on “issues”.
This is the time that people who do business “with” the legislature, individuals and advocacy groups, businesses and associations, local governments and state agencies to plan and develop ideas that they want to be considered by the next session in January. We are doing that too, and you are and can be a part of it.
We had a Western Washington “listening and discussion” meeting of the legislative committee on July 16th at Lincoln Towing in Seattle and another Eastern Washington one in Moses Lake on July 23rd. At both I went over several continuing issues we are working on, talked about how ideas can become laws and listened to members of the TRAW as they talked about what they felt should be done and things that bothered them or made their jobs harder. The discussions were good and what we heard will help us set our priorities as we develop the association agenda for next year. We will have another “listening and discussion” meeting on August 4th in Cle Elum from 7:00 to 9:00 PM and I will be available at times during the Tow Show in Ferndale for “one on one” discussions.
If you can’t get to one of the meetings please feel free to send your ideas and concerns to us, by email or fax to association Executive Director Mike Walcker, our Legislative Committee co-chairs Paul Bressi or Ron Madler, or me. The important thing is to do it now because even the best idea if it is brought forward during the session just won’t be able to be acted upon. Things just go too fast then.
So far the issues that seem to be foremost on members minds include sellers reports of sale, dealer transfers and the inspection and insurance of “non-rtto” towers. On those two we are already developing ideas and soon I will be writing bills.
This fall your legislative committee will discuss all the input we have received and prioritize them with an eye towards what is legally “do-able”, politically “do-able” and what would give our members the most benefit. Please take the time to be a part of this process. We will never know your concerns if we don’t hear them. And you may well find you enjoy the discussions and planning and want to be more acticve with your Legislative Committee.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Legislative Committee - Get Involved
This is the time of year that the Legislative committee of the TRAW has to do its work in preparation for the next Legislative session in January, and the key to the whole process is YOU! As your lobbyist I advise the Board and Legislative Committee on how Olympia works and what can be done to advance the association’s interests as well as advocating the positions of the TRAW to legislators and state agencies. With my twenty seven years of experience as both a legislator and lobbyist that is my area of expertise, not the day to day specifics of running a tow company. We have two experienced co-chairmen, Paul Bressi of Nisqually Towing and Ron Madler of Kitsap Towing who, with the assistance of the administrative staff, schedule and chair meetings, work on setting and prioritizing the associations agenda and act as a conduit of legislative information to the membership. The Legislative Committee itself, because it does take a time commitment, is made up of several members who have a keen interest in the laws that impact our industry and have been involved in many of the fights in the legislature to stop bad legislation and advance bills that benefit the industry as a whole. They all deserve your support, appreciation and thanks.
All that being said the most important part of the process, the key link in the chain, the factor without which we wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything is YOU the membership. We need your input in shaping our efforts into proposals that realize the greatest benefit for each and every member towing company in the state. If we don’t hear from you, if you don’t come to a meeting and speak out, if you don’t participate then your concerns may not be addressed. I have said that over and over in articles and meetings because it is so important to our efforts. I know everyone in busy, we all are, but if you let us know what you think is important, you will be playing a great part in making things better. If you don’t speak up, or if you wait until the legislature is already in session to get mad and say “why didn’t you do this?” then it will be too late. This is not just in the towing industry but in every interest group that interacts with the government. “Speak now or forever hold your peace” could well be the most important rule for any association trying to put together a legislative agenda. It’s not as hard as you might think to get involved, and once you do, you may enjoy the process and want to do even more.
How can you be heard? Well the Board has adopted a plan to schedule several membership “listening” meetings over the next two months. One all-state meeting will be held in July in Cle Elum followed by a meeting at the TowExpo and two dinner meetings in August, one on the eastside, probably Spokane, and one on the westside. You will enjoy the chance to talk about specific problems and to brainstorm workable solutions. I guarantee it. If you just can’t get out to one of these meetings take a few minutes and write down a list of things that you are concerned about, having problems with, or think could be done better, and then call one of our Legislative Committee chairs and discuss those issues with them for a few minutes. They can take notes and bring them to the meetings. If you are a District chair put a discussion like this on your meeting agenda and ask your members what their concerns are and then take notes and communicate that to the Legislative Committee chairs. You could even write a letter and send it in. We could consider your comments at one of the meetings. I know many will read this and think, “yes, I’ll do that” and maybe not come back to it. Well, the best solution for that is to take five minutes now and start a list. Ask your employees for their thoughts, then Let us know what’s important to YOU.
Inside the Capitol
June 17, 2009
The 2009 Legislative session ended six weeks ago when they adjourned “Sine Die”, which is Latin for “without a day” to reconvene. Although they could be forced to come back in a “special session” if the economy doesn’t improve and State revenues continue to decline, they aren’t formally scheduled to come back into session until the second Monday of January, 2010.
This last session was the most difficult one I have seen in twenty six years in Olympia. With the real estate market crashing, bank insolvencies, people buying less and unemployment numbers going through the roof, our state budget which is heavily based on taxes on property, sales taxes, and taxes on business activity nose-dived. For the two year cycle of 2007-2009 the general fund operating budget was about $33 Billion and legislators in January found themselves with a budget deficit that by mid-session was over $9 Billion.
Under our state constitution K-12 education is mandated to be the “Paramount Duty” of the state so basic education was to a great degree “off limits” for budget cutting. Some other aspects of state spending, like prisons and Medicaid, have their spending levels dictated either by the number of people locked up or set by Federal eligibility requirements so they weren’t areas for many cuts either. Looking at that, legislators soon found that other areas of government such as colleges were facing up to 40% cuts.
Public opinion and campaign promises pushed both the Governor and legislators to find a “no-new-taxes” solution which they eventually with the aid of Federal stimulus money were able to do. Still many fees were increased, the “rainy-day-fund” tapped and tuition was dramatically raised. Thousands of state workers were cut, and many teachers as well in areas not covered by “basic education”. Many state boards and commissions were eliminated or cut back and some entire programs put “on hold” or ended.
The effect of all this budget anguish was that the focus of the Legislature was taken away from more general “law-making” to try to come up with a way out. Agency personnel seemed more worried about whether they would have jobs in July than in working on “new ideas”. It was like a road-block on top of a log-jam with everyone just hoping they could get out of town without ending their political careers. In the end they did, with an ugly budget but no new taxes, and they sprinted out the door to go home.
Now the focus for us, and every other group, association, and company is to look internally and to discuss what we want to do or work on next year and keep an eye on ideas that other interest groups, legislators and agencies might be thinking of doing too.
I won’t go over the specific issues from the last session, if you want to read a discussion of those you can check back to prior reports that you have received or find them on my blog at: http://traw-legislative.blogspot.com/. There are issues that are starting to be developed, however, mostly from legislator-constituent interest that have now been placed on our table.
Last session Senator Phil Rockefeller filed a bill that would have required us to make several attempts to contact registered owners by telephone in addition to the required RCW 46.55 notices. After we made a strong showing at the hearing and discussed the matter with the Senator the bill didn’t move. He remains concerned about situations where a person goes on a vacation and doesn’t receive their mail under the strict timelines of the law resulting sometimes in newer and more valuable cars going to auction. Although it is a very rare occurrence we promised him we would work with him over the interim to try to find a solution. So far the best idea came from Randy Houston and it is that for some valuable late model vehicles we would go back to 30 days before auction, possibly solving his problem and allowing us some more storage on vehicles that clearly would bring a good price. This is done in some other states and may well work here.
Another issue that has resurfaced is an idea by Rep. Mike Sells from Snohomish County that would look for some way of paying towing and storage for people whose cars have been stolen. He brought this up a couple of years ago but didn’t want to make tow operators a “replacement-victim” by shifting the burden onto them. Mike wants us to work with him to find a way whether it be by some kind of fund to pay the fees or through changes in insurance to make sure people are made whole, somehow. We will work with him closely to protect our interests.
Lastly after the failure of the WSP bill this last year that would have prohibited lawsuits against law enforcement for the discretion they exercise in impounding the cars of arrested DUI drivers another legislator is looking at approaching it in a different way to get to the same result. Dan Johnson has been researching a New Jersey law called ”John’s Law” which may work very well. Instead of giving police discretion, which is asking for a lawsuit, it would make an impound mandatory for 12 hours in most circumstances and solve the problem that way. We are already engaged in discussions and providing information to legislative staff.
I’m sure we will see other issues “pop-up” but that is only half the equation, we also need to discuss internally what WE want to do. That’s our mission now. It’s your job now. Another article in this newsletter will discuss the plans of the Legislative team to do just that.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
The 2009 Legislative session ended six weeks ago when they adjourned “Sine Die”, which is Latin for “without a day” to reconvene. Although they could be forced to come back in a “special session” if the economy doesn’t improve and State revenues continue to decline, they aren’t formally scheduled to come back into session until the second Monday of January, 2010.
This last session was the most difficult one I have seen in twenty six years in Olympia. With the real estate market crashing, bank insolvencies, people buying less and unemployment numbers going through the roof, our state budget which is heavily based on taxes on property, sales taxes, and taxes on business activity nose-dived. For the two year cycle of 2007-2009 the general fund operating budget was about $33 Billion and legislators in January found themselves with a budget deficit that by mid-session was over $9 Billion.
Under our state constitution K-12 education is mandated to be the “Paramount Duty” of the state so basic education was to a great degree “off limits” for budget cutting. Some other aspects of state spending, like prisons and Medicaid, have their spending levels dictated either by the number of people locked up or set by Federal eligibility requirements so they weren’t areas for many cuts either. Looking at that, legislators soon found that other areas of government such as colleges were facing up to 40% cuts.
Public opinion and campaign promises pushed both the Governor and legislators to find a “no-new-taxes” solution which they eventually with the aid of Federal stimulus money were able to do. Still many fees were increased, the “rainy-day-fund” tapped and tuition was dramatically raised. Thousands of state workers were cut, and many teachers as well in areas not covered by “basic education”. Many state boards and commissions were eliminated or cut back and some entire programs put “on hold” or ended.
The effect of all this budget anguish was that the focus of the Legislature was taken away from more general “law-making” to try to come up with a way out. Agency personnel seemed more worried about whether they would have jobs in July than in working on “new ideas”. It was like a road-block on top of a log-jam with everyone just hoping they could get out of town without ending their political careers. In the end they did, with an ugly budget but no new taxes, and they sprinted out the door to go home.
Now the focus for us, and every other group, association, and company is to look internally and to discuss what we want to do or work on next year and keep an eye on ideas that other interest groups, legislators and agencies might be thinking of doing too.
I won’t go over the specific issues from the last session, if you want to read a discussion of those you can check back to prior reports that you have received or find them on my blog at: http://traw-legislative.blogspot.com/. There are issues that are starting to be developed, however, mostly from legislator-constituent interest that have now been placed on our table.
Last session Senator Phil Rockefeller filed a bill that would have required us to make several attempts to contact registered owners by telephone in addition to the required RCW 46.55 notices. After we made a strong showing at the hearing and discussed the matter with the Senator the bill didn’t move. He remains concerned about situations where a person goes on a vacation and doesn’t receive their mail under the strict timelines of the law resulting sometimes in newer and more valuable cars going to auction. Although it is a very rare occurrence we promised him we would work with him over the interim to try to find a solution. So far the best idea came from Randy Houston and it is that for some valuable late model vehicles we would go back to 30 days before auction, possibly solving his problem and allowing us some more storage on vehicles that clearly would bring a good price. This is done in some other states and may well work here.
Another issue that has resurfaced is an idea by Rep. Mike Sells from Snohomish County that would look for some way of paying towing and storage for people whose cars have been stolen. He brought this up a couple of years ago but didn’t want to make tow operators a “replacement-victim” by shifting the burden onto them. Mike wants us to work with him to find a way whether it be by some kind of fund to pay the fees or through changes in insurance to make sure people are made whole, somehow. We will work with him closely to protect our interests.
Lastly after the failure of the WSP bill this last year that would have prohibited lawsuits against law enforcement for the discretion they exercise in impounding the cars of arrested DUI drivers another legislator is looking at approaching it in a different way to get to the same result. Dan Johnson has been researching a New Jersey law called ”John’s Law” which may work very well. Instead of giving police discretion, which is asking for a lawsuit, it would make an impound mandatory for 12 hours in most circumstances and solve the problem that way. We are already engaged in discussions and providing information to legislative staff.
I’m sure we will see other issues “pop-up” but that is only half the equation, we also need to discuss internally what WE want to do. That’s our mission now. It’s your job now. Another article in this newsletter will discuss the plans of the Legislative team to do just that.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Inside the Capitol
May 20, 2009
It’s been almost four weeks since the Legislature finished up it’s business and adjourned. Early talk of coming back for a short special session to deal with several bills that they didn’t come to agreement on in the final hours changed to not coming back when Legislative leaders and the Governor realized that they still couldn’t come to agreement. The Governor has been reviewing and signing bills and just signed the budget after vetoing several sections and cutting out about another $80 million in spending.
One bill she did sign was our Certified Mail bill, House Bill 1426. In talking with some state agency folks after the session I found that they had used the “electronic” method before not knowing that it wasn’t legally authorized. When I explained to them that the postcard method and the electronic method were two totally different Postal Service products they said “Oh my gosh, you’re right. Thank you”. Many thanks go to Dan Johnson for bringing this opportunity to save money to our attention.
It appears that the recession, if not getting better, has started to bottom out with state revenues not going down as much. It is still possible that with new official revenue forecasts this summer and fall may show more decreases and require a special session to adjust the budget, but that is looking less likely. That would be wonderful as it would make budgeting more predictable and legislators wouldn’t shy away from proposals that might cost small amounts of money to implement.Now is the time for us to start working towards next year.
To be successful we need to reach out to members, find out what their concerns are, evaluate whether they can be solved legislatively or not, figure out how that can best be done, resolve any internal disagreements, prioritize those issues, draft the bills, reach out to other groups, agencies, and associations to try to gain their support or address their concerns, re-write the bills if necessary, re-prioritize if necessary, and talk to key legislators to get them on board. It’s not an easy process, and it’s one that needs to start early. It’s not one I can do alone but one that I will need the active participation and commitment of a broad based Legislative Committee. If you would like to be involved and represent your District please contact our Legislative Committee co-chairs, Paul Bressi and Ron Madler. Even the best of ideas if brought up late in the fall will have to wait a year.
As I have mentioned before, and as an example of the difficulty changing state law, between three and four thousand bills are filed every year but only a few hundred ever get to the Governor. The prime sponsor of our Certified Mail bill and last years TRAW co-Legislator of the year Rep. Sam Hunt, prime sponsored 24 bills for various groups and agencies this year and our bill was the only one of them that actually passed into law.. even though he is the chairman of the House State Government committee.
I look forward to working with the Legislative Committee and Board over the summer and fall to get prepared for a great session next year.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
It’s been almost four weeks since the Legislature finished up it’s business and adjourned. Early talk of coming back for a short special session to deal with several bills that they didn’t come to agreement on in the final hours changed to not coming back when Legislative leaders and the Governor realized that they still couldn’t come to agreement. The Governor has been reviewing and signing bills and just signed the budget after vetoing several sections and cutting out about another $80 million in spending.
One bill she did sign was our Certified Mail bill, House Bill 1426. In talking with some state agency folks after the session I found that they had used the “electronic” method before not knowing that it wasn’t legally authorized. When I explained to them that the postcard method and the electronic method were two totally different Postal Service products they said “Oh my gosh, you’re right. Thank you”. Many thanks go to Dan Johnson for bringing this opportunity to save money to our attention.
It appears that the recession, if not getting better, has started to bottom out with state revenues not going down as much. It is still possible that with new official revenue forecasts this summer and fall may show more decreases and require a special session to adjust the budget, but that is looking less likely. That would be wonderful as it would make budgeting more predictable and legislators wouldn’t shy away from proposals that might cost small amounts of money to implement.Now is the time for us to start working towards next year.
To be successful we need to reach out to members, find out what their concerns are, evaluate whether they can be solved legislatively or not, figure out how that can best be done, resolve any internal disagreements, prioritize those issues, draft the bills, reach out to other groups, agencies, and associations to try to gain their support or address their concerns, re-write the bills if necessary, re-prioritize if necessary, and talk to key legislators to get them on board. It’s not an easy process, and it’s one that needs to start early. It’s not one I can do alone but one that I will need the active participation and commitment of a broad based Legislative Committee. If you would like to be involved and represent your District please contact our Legislative Committee co-chairs, Paul Bressi and Ron Madler. Even the best of ideas if brought up late in the fall will have to wait a year.
As I have mentioned before, and as an example of the difficulty changing state law, between three and four thousand bills are filed every year but only a few hundred ever get to the Governor. The prime sponsor of our Certified Mail bill and last years TRAW co-Legislator of the year Rep. Sam Hunt, prime sponsored 24 bills for various groups and agencies this year and our bill was the only one of them that actually passed into law.. even though he is the chairman of the House State Government committee.
I look forward to working with the Legislative Committee and Board over the summer and fall to get prepared for a great session next year.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
Inside the Capitol
April 15, 2009
There are only nine days left in the 2009 legislative session.. maybe.
In odd numbered years, after the legislators are elected, their primary task is to adopt a two year State Budget. To do that the legislative session is longer, 105 calendar days as compared to 60 in the even numbered years. Although that is the time limit there is always a possibility of a “special” session of 30 days following if they haven’t been able to complete their work on time. This may be one of those “extra-inning” years. With state revenues $9 Billion less than they had predicted much of this session has been devoted to hand wringing and floating ideas for cuts in programs as well as speculation on whether any temporary increase in taxes might be part of their budget-balancing mix.
As the final day approaches it seems the legislators are getting farther apart rather than closer together. Miracles may happen but unless they can come to agreement in a week and a half they possibly could be here for a long time.
The Towing and Recovery Association of Washington has done well this year. Although several “Bad” bills surfaced we managed to kill or amend them all and in the event the legislators look to a tax increase it would be almost certainly be a small temporary sales tax increase on the ballot and not business taxes that they would consider.
As I have said many times our most important mission in Olympia is to work to stop bad things from happening to the industry. The worst threat we had this year was Senate Bill 5524 dealing with requiring repeat telephone call notification of impounds. This was a constituent request through Senator Rockefeller resulting from a vehicle being impounded while the owner was on vacation. We marshaled opposition at the hearing, bringing together other groups including the WSP to kill the bill. Special thanks to Doug Faber for his direct contacts with the chair of the Senate Transportation committee, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen.
A bill we had to amend dealt with impounding vehicles driven by the patrons of prostitutes. As it was originally drafted we could have become a collector for law enforcement of a civil penalty in the amount of $500. We amended the bill to make sure that we didn’t have that responsibility and additionally to protect us if we release a vehicle depending on a fraudulent document authorizing release.
We have now passed our bill, House Bill 1426, allowing officially the use of “electronic return receipts” with certified mail. With this bill’s passage we can save up to $1.20 for each letter we send out, slightly less if we use a mail service vendor. The Governor has about three weeks to sign the bill but that is almost a foregone conclusion that she will.
The budget crisis here, as in most other states, has put a damper on getting through any good changes in the law that cost any money whatsoever to implement including even minor new rules. Hopefully after they stabilize this budget we can then move forward on the important issues that will not just defend the industry but give us a better business environment to operate in.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
There are only nine days left in the 2009 legislative session.. maybe.
In odd numbered years, after the legislators are elected, their primary task is to adopt a two year State Budget. To do that the legislative session is longer, 105 calendar days as compared to 60 in the even numbered years. Although that is the time limit there is always a possibility of a “special” session of 30 days following if they haven’t been able to complete their work on time. This may be one of those “extra-inning” years. With state revenues $9 Billion less than they had predicted much of this session has been devoted to hand wringing and floating ideas for cuts in programs as well as speculation on whether any temporary increase in taxes might be part of their budget-balancing mix.
As the final day approaches it seems the legislators are getting farther apart rather than closer together. Miracles may happen but unless they can come to agreement in a week and a half they possibly could be here for a long time.
The Towing and Recovery Association of Washington has done well this year. Although several “Bad” bills surfaced we managed to kill or amend them all and in the event the legislators look to a tax increase it would be almost certainly be a small temporary sales tax increase on the ballot and not business taxes that they would consider.
As I have said many times our most important mission in Olympia is to work to stop bad things from happening to the industry. The worst threat we had this year was Senate Bill 5524 dealing with requiring repeat telephone call notification of impounds. This was a constituent request through Senator Rockefeller resulting from a vehicle being impounded while the owner was on vacation. We marshaled opposition at the hearing, bringing together other groups including the WSP to kill the bill. Special thanks to Doug Faber for his direct contacts with the chair of the Senate Transportation committee, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen.
A bill we had to amend dealt with impounding vehicles driven by the patrons of prostitutes. As it was originally drafted we could have become a collector for law enforcement of a civil penalty in the amount of $500. We amended the bill to make sure that we didn’t have that responsibility and additionally to protect us if we release a vehicle depending on a fraudulent document authorizing release.
We have now passed our bill, House Bill 1426, allowing officially the use of “electronic return receipts” with certified mail. With this bill’s passage we can save up to $1.20 for each letter we send out, slightly less if we use a mail service vendor. The Governor has about three weeks to sign the bill but that is almost a foregone conclusion that she will.
The budget crisis here, as in most other states, has put a damper on getting through any good changes in the law that cost any money whatsoever to implement including even minor new rules. Hopefully after they stabilize this budget we can then move forward on the important issues that will not just defend the industry but give us a better business environment to operate in.
Stu Halsan
TRAW Lobbyist
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Inside the Capitol
February 15, 2009
The 2009 Legislative session began on January 12th amid the worst economic times in my 27 years of experience in Olympia. The latest estimates have the deficit of expected revenue below carry-forward budget costs at almost $8 Billion out of a $33 Billion budget. No clear plan has been developed but there are many bills abolishing boards and commissions, cutting reimbursements of medical costs, and making deep cuts all through state government. The underlying question is whether or not they can cut their way out of a twenty percent hole while still educating children as the constitution requires and keeping criminals in prison as people want.
Your TRAW legislative team has been busy, very busy so far making sure bad things don’t happen and trying to make progress on long standing goals.
We have one bill, HB 1426 which is moving through nicely. It would enable anyone who uses certified mail return receipt requested to utilize instead an electronic return receipt by email. Each piece of mail sent in this manner is $1.20 cheaper than the “post card” version and even if a mailing service is used it amounts to a savings of about $0.80 a letter. The bill passed out of committee and is in House Rules.
We had to clarify another bill, HB 1362, wanting to impound cars used by “johns” of prostitutes and imposing a $500 penalty on them. The bill was very unclear as to how we would handle these impounds but we modified it to make clear upfront notation on the impound orders, that we not handle the penalty money, that a clear document authorize the release and that we would be held harmless for relying on seemingly official receipts for payment.
Another bill, SB 5524 would have required law enforcement to give us phone numbers and require us to call vehicle owners three times if mail came back undeliverable. It also would have allowed requests for hearing on the impound up until the date of auction but not changed the five day notice from the court to the tow companies meaning vehicles would be sold before hearing. With a strong showing of TRAW members at the hearing and discussions with the prime sponsor it appears this bill may stop in it’s tracks.
We have been trying to make progress on our “single plate” or RTTO’s as “all purpose” vehicle handlers by offering amendments to a hulk hauling bill, SB 5381, to exempt us from having to be licensed as a hulk hauler if we came upon a hulk in our ordinary course of business. This issue is still in play but it is possible we may get the exemption.
This is a difficult session because any idea that costs any money whatsoever to implement is not being favorably received because of the budget deficit. We will continue to keep alert to protect the towing industry and make improvements where we can find a way.
Be sure to come down this week for the Board meeting Tuesday the 17th and the TRAW Legislative Day on Wednesday the 18th. Meet your legislators and help us with our issues!
Stu Halsan
TRAW - Lobbyist
The 2009 Legislative session began on January 12th amid the worst economic times in my 27 years of experience in Olympia. The latest estimates have the deficit of expected revenue below carry-forward budget costs at almost $8 Billion out of a $33 Billion budget. No clear plan has been developed but there are many bills abolishing boards and commissions, cutting reimbursements of medical costs, and making deep cuts all through state government. The underlying question is whether or not they can cut their way out of a twenty percent hole while still educating children as the constitution requires and keeping criminals in prison as people want.
Your TRAW legislative team has been busy, very busy so far making sure bad things don’t happen and trying to make progress on long standing goals.
We have one bill, HB 1426 which is moving through nicely. It would enable anyone who uses certified mail return receipt requested to utilize instead an electronic return receipt by email. Each piece of mail sent in this manner is $1.20 cheaper than the “post card” version and even if a mailing service is used it amounts to a savings of about $0.80 a letter. The bill passed out of committee and is in House Rules.
We had to clarify another bill, HB 1362, wanting to impound cars used by “johns” of prostitutes and imposing a $500 penalty on them. The bill was very unclear as to how we would handle these impounds but we modified it to make clear upfront notation on the impound orders, that we not handle the penalty money, that a clear document authorize the release and that we would be held harmless for relying on seemingly official receipts for payment.
Another bill, SB 5524 would have required law enforcement to give us phone numbers and require us to call vehicle owners three times if mail came back undeliverable. It also would have allowed requests for hearing on the impound up until the date of auction but not changed the five day notice from the court to the tow companies meaning vehicles would be sold before hearing. With a strong showing of TRAW members at the hearing and discussions with the prime sponsor it appears this bill may stop in it’s tracks.
We have been trying to make progress on our “single plate” or RTTO’s as “all purpose” vehicle handlers by offering amendments to a hulk hauling bill, SB 5381, to exempt us from having to be licensed as a hulk hauler if we came upon a hulk in our ordinary course of business. This issue is still in play but it is possible we may get the exemption.
This is a difficult session because any idea that costs any money whatsoever to implement is not being favorably received because of the budget deficit. We will continue to keep alert to protect the towing industry and make improvements where we can find a way.
Be sure to come down this week for the Board meeting Tuesday the 17th and the TRAW Legislative Day on Wednesday the 18th. Meet your legislators and help us with our issues!
Stu Halsan
TRAW - Lobbyist
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Legislative "Cut-Off" Calendar
2009 Session Cutoff Calendar
The self imposed schedule for consideration of bills as they progress from one house to the other except for budgets or budget related legislation.
Opening Day: January 12, 2009 (1st Day)
Committee of Substance Cutoff: February 25th 2009 (45th Day)
(Regular committees)
Fiscal Committee Cutoff: March 2, 2009 (50th Day)
(Ways and Means, Transportation, Appropriations, Revenue)
Crossover Cutoff: March 12, 2009 5PM (60th Day)
(Out of the house of origin)
Opposite Committee Cutoff: March 30, 2009 (78th Day)
(Regular committee in “other” house)
Opposite Fiscal Cutoff: April 6, 2009 (85th Day)
(Ways and Means, Transportation, Appropriations or Revenue in “other” house)
Opposite Floor Cutoff: April 17 2009 5PM (96th Day)
(Out of the “other” house)
Bills in Dispute, Budgets and Budget Related
(During this period differences in bills are worked out)
Sine Die: April 26, 2009 (105th Day)
(This is the end unless a special session is called to complete important items)
The self imposed schedule for consideration of bills as they progress from one house to the other except for budgets or budget related legislation.
Opening Day: January 12, 2009 (1st Day)
Committee of Substance Cutoff: February 25th 2009 (45th Day)
(Regular committees)
Fiscal Committee Cutoff: March 2, 2009 (50th Day)
(Ways and Means, Transportation, Appropriations, Revenue)
Crossover Cutoff: March 12, 2009 5PM (60th Day)
(Out of the house of origin)
Opposite Committee Cutoff: March 30, 2009 (78th Day)
(Regular committee in “other” house)
Opposite Fiscal Cutoff: April 6, 2009 (85th Day)
(Ways and Means, Transportation, Appropriations or Revenue in “other” house)
Opposite Floor Cutoff: April 17 2009 5PM (96th Day)
(Out of the “other” house)
Bills in Dispute, Budgets and Budget Related
(During this period differences in bills are worked out)
Sine Die: April 26, 2009 (105th Day)
(This is the end unless a special session is called to complete important items)
Inside Olympia
January 8, 2009
The 2009 Legislative session is set to start on next Monday the 12th and legislators are working their way to Olympia, some needing snowplows and some boats. The weather has impacted preparations a bit as members, staff and yes, even lobbyists, have not been able to get to and work at the Capitol as they usually do in the weeks before opening day.
News travels though, in these electronic times, and the old adage that “bad news travels fast” is still true. The deep national recession has hit Washington with a vengeance making budget development not only the center of attention but the driving force behind every other aspect of the coming session. States can’t print money, obviously, so the budgets must be balanced and all the spending fit within expected revenue before they can leave town.
There are three budgets that need to be written, first the “general fund” or “operating” budget, half of which is just education and the other half everything else in general government. Second the “transportation” budget which is for highway construction, maintenance and related services such as the State Patrol, and lastly the “capital” budget which is the building construction and maintenance budget. All three have different sources of revenue, for construction they use long term bonds, the gas tax can only be used for transportation, and general taxes for general government and schools.
The economy has hit all three, and hit them hard. Both sales tax and the B&O fund general government and with people not buying things those are down substantially. High gas prices cause people to drive less and since the gas tax is “per-gallon” the money for highways is down as well. Bonds are a form of borrowing so the capital budget is impacted by the slowdown of lending and the lack of ability to get credit. To put things in perspective the “general fund” budget was about $30 billion for the last two years and there is now about $6 billion less expected over the next two. A twenty percent drop.
The Governor has proposed a balanced “no-new-taxes” budget with deep cuts but even that assumes about a billion dollars of aid from the Federal government and predictably has brought several lawsuits from state employee unions. The legislature isn’t buying off on it yet, but they realize that even huge increases in sin-taxes, a perennial favorite for supposedly painless revenue, will only gain them about $500 million. This session will be the biggest nightmare in my 25 years in Olympia.
Everybody from agencies, state officials, lobbyists and interest groups have been told “don’t ask for anything that costs money, period” and even “what part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”. Clearly expectations are low and proposals in legislation will be more form than substance. Many will have “delayed effective dates” to push implementation out to a future when the economy comes back on an even keel. Regulations that “shift” costs of “new ideas” out to the private sector will be a constant threat and although increased taxes will be the danger everyone will watch for at least the lack of money will be a good argument against any expensive new programs.
Hang onto your hats, and your wallets.
The 2009 Legislative session is set to start on next Monday the 12th and legislators are working their way to Olympia, some needing snowplows and some boats. The weather has impacted preparations a bit as members, staff and yes, even lobbyists, have not been able to get to and work at the Capitol as they usually do in the weeks before opening day.
News travels though, in these electronic times, and the old adage that “bad news travels fast” is still true. The deep national recession has hit Washington with a vengeance making budget development not only the center of attention but the driving force behind every other aspect of the coming session. States can’t print money, obviously, so the budgets must be balanced and all the spending fit within expected revenue before they can leave town.
There are three budgets that need to be written, first the “general fund” or “operating” budget, half of which is just education and the other half everything else in general government. Second the “transportation” budget which is for highway construction, maintenance and related services such as the State Patrol, and lastly the “capital” budget which is the building construction and maintenance budget. All three have different sources of revenue, for construction they use long term bonds, the gas tax can only be used for transportation, and general taxes for general government and schools.
The economy has hit all three, and hit them hard. Both sales tax and the B&O fund general government and with people not buying things those are down substantially. High gas prices cause people to drive less and since the gas tax is “per-gallon” the money for highways is down as well. Bonds are a form of borrowing so the capital budget is impacted by the slowdown of lending and the lack of ability to get credit. To put things in perspective the “general fund” budget was about $30 billion for the last two years and there is now about $6 billion less expected over the next two. A twenty percent drop.
The Governor has proposed a balanced “no-new-taxes” budget with deep cuts but even that assumes about a billion dollars of aid from the Federal government and predictably has brought several lawsuits from state employee unions. The legislature isn’t buying off on it yet, but they realize that even huge increases in sin-taxes, a perennial favorite for supposedly painless revenue, will only gain them about $500 million. This session will be the biggest nightmare in my 25 years in Olympia.
Everybody from agencies, state officials, lobbyists and interest groups have been told “don’t ask for anything that costs money, period” and even “what part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”. Clearly expectations are low and proposals in legislation will be more form than substance. Many will have “delayed effective dates” to push implementation out to a future when the economy comes back on an even keel. Regulations that “shift” costs of “new ideas” out to the private sector will be a constant threat and although increased taxes will be the danger everyone will watch for at least the lack of money will be a good argument against any expensive new programs.
Hang onto your hats, and your wallets.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
A few days and still counting...
On election night it looked like Democrats might pick up a seat or two in both the House and Senate. Now it looks possible that they may lose a seat in each chamber but still retain large majorities..
In the Senate, Senator Don Benton (R-17) who trailed on election night has now pulled ahead and returns are trending his direction. Incumbent Senator Marilyn Rasmussen (D-2) has now fallen behind her challenger, Randi Becker. If those results hold, the result would be a one seat loss for Senate Democrats.
In the House, two incumbent Republicans, John Ahern in the 6th District (Spokane) and Norma Smith in the 10th District (Island, Skagit, Snohomish) have pulled very close after trailing on election night. Given late vote trends and the amount of votes remaining to be counted, they may well pull ahead. Incumbent Democrat Don Barlow, also in the 6th District, continues to trail and Republicans will pick up a seat in the 26th District (Pierce and Kitsap). Democrats earlier picked up a seat in the 17th District (Clark).
Best guess at this point. The House will be 62 D and 36 R and the Senate will be 31 D and 18 R.
It appears that Congressman Dave Reichert will maintain his lead and win in the end and that Randy Dorn will be the new Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Lands Commissioner race is still too close to call.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Finally! The Morning After
The last month has been crazy, with all the elections in the final stretch. Those of us who "work" the legislative process have been as crazy as the rest, following the trends, talking to the candidates and their camapign teams and trying to figure out who will be in place to address the issues of the next session.
Here is a run-down of the results that I have prepared.. totals may change.
The Governors race stands at Gregoire 53.5 and Rossi 46.5 and the remaining ballots won't change the result except to increase her lead. Of 830,000 votes remaining to be counted 380,000 are in her stronghold of King County and about 320,000 in other counties where she leads at this time. Here's a map showing the dispersion of results by county.. the "Cascade Divide" is even more apparent than it was four years ago.
http://vote.wa.gov/elections/wei/ResultsByCounty.aspx?ElectionID=26&RaceID=13&CountyCode=%20&JurisdictionTypeID=2&RaceTypeCode=O&ViewMode=Results
Congressionally the only real race is still up in the air with Rep. Dave Reichert (R) barely ahead of his "repeat" opponent Darcy Burner (D) 50.32 to 49.68. That could change. My guess is that the slower returns might be in the more ethnically diverse south end of the district which with Obama's win might favor Burner, a former Microsoft manager.
For State wide offices two are still up in the air.. Lands Commissioner where incumbent Doug Sutherland (R) trails challenger Peter Goldmark (D) by 49.5 to 50.5. The overwhelming outstanding ballots in liberal areas will, I believe, secure Goldmark's victory. In the other one, the non-partisan Superintendent Of Public Instruction, challenger Randy Dorn barely leads incumbent Terry Bergeson by 50.8 to 49.2. As both are really Democrats and the teachers aren't excited about either of them it is hard to predict how the remaining votes will fall. I would guess that it might go Bergeson based only on name familiarity with more infrequent voters.
Legislatively it appears the Democrats will increase their majorities by a small amount perhaps losing Rep. Don Barlow (D) in Spokane but with the Republicans also possibly losing Rep. John Ahern (R) north of there.
Other Republicans in trouble include Rep. Glenn Anderson (R), Rep. Norma Smith (R), Sen. Don Benton (R), and Rep. Skip Priest (R).
Sen. Marilyn Rassmussen (D) leads in a tight race and no other Democratic incumbents appear in trouble but the Republicans may get a pickup in the seat of retiring Rep. Pat Lantz (D) where Jan Angel (R) leads by about 600 votes and there is a very close race in the seat of retiring Rep. Joyce McDonald (R) with the Republican leading by less than 200 votes.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
More Winners !
Thank you Jackie Currie and Dan Johnson (who signed in as DJ7) for being the latest folks signing up to be able to comment. Your prizes await you at the Christmas party! There are eight more prizes to go to the next eight signers-uppers.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Congratulations to Mike Bartolotti -
Congrats to Mike Bartolotti for becoming the first "comment-er-er" on the Blog!
He didn't know it but by doing that he won a really neat prize at the TRAW Christmas party.
The next ten people who sign up and comment will also recieve prizes then.. but not quite as neat as Mike's.
(Hint.. Remember I am a Civil War nut).
Spread the word about how easy it is!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Chief George Tellevik - A Good Man
From the Seattle Times:
By Charles E. Brown
Seattle Times staff reporter
Retired Washington State Patrol Chief George Tellevik, who rose through the ranks to head the agency from 1985 to 1993, died Saturday (Sept. 20) at his Olympia home after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 74.
"Chief Tellevik was really about service," said current State Patrol Chief John Batiste. "People all over this state are safer because George Tellevik knew that police agencies could be no better than their leaders."
Mr. Tellevik, the agency's 14th chief, was credited with increasing the number of troopers on the road to improve service to motorists. He also was credited with moving the agency into the world of high technology, and making it almost invisible politically.
He persuaded the Legislature to fund a statewide computerized fingerprint system, had the Patrol designated as a clearinghouse of information about missing children, and moved the Patrol into DNA tracking. He also won legislative support to improved State Patrol facilities at a time many had been housed in old gas stations and World War II-era military buildings.
Mr. Tellevik retired in 1993 after eight years as chief and 37 years with the agency. His first assignment with the Patrol in 1956 was two weeks as a driver's-license examiner. He later was assigned to Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities, then promoted to a major and Western Washington field commander. He was appointed agency head by former Gov. Booth Gardner.
"He was a great man who believed in our organization," said State Patrol Capt. Mark Couey, who joined the agency in 1985 under Mr. Tellevik's tenure.
Batiste recently reinstituted the Tellevik-era agency motto, "Service with humility."
Mr. Tellevik is survived by his wife, Karen, of Olympia, and two daughters. Funeral arrangements are being made.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Legislative Report - September 10th
Below is the Legislative Report from the latest Newsletter:
The first ever “top-two” primary is over and the general election is less than two months away and perhaps the “hottest” National election in decades is in full swing. The recession has finally crept into Washington’s revenue stream and the state is predicted to have around $2.7 Billion less coming in over the next two years than it had expected. It was with that backdrop that Legislators gathered in Olympia this week for a monthly “committee assembly” and specific issues sometimes seemed to take a backseat in conversations to “who’s ahead”, “how much have they raised” and what are the latest “numbers”.
This is the time for us to look inward, to talk among ourselves and with our contacts in state agencies to get ready for the next session in January. It is a time to prepare and prioritize. Obviously the most important thing we do in Olympia is to watch everything and make sure that nothing bad for the towing industry makes it through, but if we want to ask for something we have to do a lot of work months ahead of time.
I went over to Spokane last Monday and had a great gathering of Eastern Washington towers to listen to their concerns and start the process of developing our legislative agenda. Many thanks go to Bettie for putting it all together. We will have a Western Washington “Round-Table” on the 23rd at 6:00 PM at Columbia Towing. Because legislative sessions are so fast paced, and the deadlines for consideration of bills so strict, if ideas aren’t well thought out and worked with other groups before it starts there is no-chance that they will be seriously considered. Almost 3,000 bills are filed every session and only about 300 make it to the Governor’s desk.
Insurance coverage for recovery operations, questions about hulks, postage, non-RTTO inspections and insurance, the list goes on and on. Be sure to attend and share your thoughts and experiences with the Legislative Committee.
Shortly I will begin a new feature for the association, the TRAW- Legislative News and Forum “blog”. For those that are unfamiliar with them it is short for “Web-Log” and is basically an on line diary that allows readers to comment on the entries. I will use it to get out information and get feedback on our Legislative efforts as we move towards and into the session. The address is: http://traw-legislative.blogspot.com and I hope to have a link on the association web-site as well as posts to read soon.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Timeline for development of the Legislative Agenda
In early August I met with Paul Bressi and Ron Madler the co-chairs of the Legislative Committee and we developed the following "Timeline" for the development of the TRAW 2009 legislative agenda for circulation. We had the Eastern Washington discussion group on Septemeber 8th and with the "Round-Table-West" meeting next Tuesday we will be at the stage of putting together the priorities and then the actual bill language. About a week behind but still in very good shape:
Legislative Agenda Timeline:
Legislative Committee co-chairs Paul Bressi and Ron Madler met recently with our lobbyist, Stu Halsan, and set a schedule for development of the 2009 TRAW Legislative Agenda. Although good ideas can come up anytime, even the best idea can’t be successful in the legislature without “laying the groundwork” and a lot of preparation, discussion and drafting months ahead of time. In order to give us the best chance next year we will follow this timeline:
1) In the first two weeks of September two meetings will be scheduled, East and West to talk about issues and take input from membership. Any written suggestions should be sent to the committee chairs before September 10th.
2) Around September 15th the Legislative Committee will meet, discuss the concerns and input from members, consider the feasibility of potential solutions, and prioritize the issues into a legislative agenda for the association.
3) Around October 15th the Legislative Committee will review draft bills and make suggestions for language changes and refinements before they are put into final form.
4) In late October and during November the bills will be promoted to key legislators and sponsorship sought from them.
5) Early in December the bills should be ready for “pre-filing” for consideration by the 2009 session.
6) January 12th the Legislature convenes for a frantic session of 105 calendar days.
Let us know your thoughts! But please remember this timeline or the ideas will have to wait for 2010.
Legislative Report from June
There have been some questions about the process the Legislative Committee is going through to develop the Legislative Agenda for the 2009 session of the legislature. Below is the Legislative Report I sent out in June asking for input from the membership:
Legislative Report
Since the Legislature is not in session and legislators are focused on running for re-election, all of the activity is at the “Agency Level” in working on problems with WAC rules and preparing for the next session in January.
The Association is working in several areas. First, there is a proposed set of National recommendations for the so-called “NUG” or National Unified Goal regarding Incident Response and Management. A work group of the TRAW led by Rich Steele who sits on the Board of the local Washington State “NUG” committee went over all the draft language on a conference call and submitted comments reflecting the programs we have implemented here to bring towers into the co-ordination of Incident Response and suggestions for improvements that might be considered for the final draft.
Additionally, the TRAW is working with the Department of Licensing and the Washington State Patrol on an issue that was brought to our attention by members regarding the legal ability of RTTO’s to deal with hulk vehicles. There are differences of opinion as to how these should be handled and whether a Hulk Hauler license is needed, but both the WSP and DOL want to work with us to come up with an interim solution pending a “fix” in January that may well be in the tiered licensing system that we have suggested that would clarify that RTTO’s under one plate could do all the various tasks of handling motor vehicles while at the same time regulating and inspecting Non-RTTO’s.
Now is the time as well for members to be referring to the Legislative Committee any ideas and problems they have had for consideration regarding our proposed Legislative Agenda for the 2009 session. There is a lot of preparation that needs to be done for any proposed change in the law and suggestions made close to, or during the session would have to wait a year.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
District 2 meeting combined with West-Side Legislative "Round-Table" discussion
There will be a "West-Side" Legislative Committee "Round-Table" discussion next week in preparation for the legislative session next January. It is the same evening as the District 2 meeting. The following is Jackie's meeting notice:
Hi Everyone…..
Amazing, it’s already September and time for District meetings to begin. We will be combining our District #2 meeting with the “West Side” legislative meeting. TRAW’s lobbyist Stu Halsan will be on site to listen to comments, ideas and suggestions about what TRAW would like to accomplish in Olympia in 2009. This meeting is open to all members so it’s a MUST that you RSVP if you’re planning to attend. Dinner will be served (everyone is invited) at a cost of $15.00. Without an RSVP, it will be impossible to guarantee that there will be enough for everyone. The schedule is as follows:
DATE: Tuesday - September 23
TIME: 6:00pm – Social
6:15pm – District 2 meeting - Mike Bartolotti
6:45pm – Dinner Served, $15 per person. Everyone is invited for dinner.
* MUST have RSVP no later than Friday, September 19th
7:00pm – Legislative Meeting - Stu Halsan
PHONE: 206.722.2535 or 800.303.2535 *Please let our dispatcher know your company & how many will attend.
LOCATION: Columbia Towing, 5907 M. L. King Way South, Seattle.
If you have questions or Mike (206.364.2000) or I can help in any way, please give us a call.
See you on the 23rd.
Thank you,
Jackie
Monday, September 15, 2008
How to set up a "Short-Cut" to this blog on your computer
As we get closer to the Legsialtive Session I expect many of you may want to check for information on this blog more often and instead of looking up the TRAW website and then going through all the steps to finally get here there is a quick and simple way to put an "icon" on your computer screen that will do it all with just two clicks. It's called "creating a short-cut".
First move your cursor to the middle of this page and press the right button on your mouse once. A menu will appear.
Select "create shortcut" and right click once.
A question box will pop up asking if you want to create a "shortcut" on your "desktop" (That's your computer home screen). Click "yes".
Now close or minimize the blog and you will see a new red "icon" on your "desktop" a kind of puffy red "B" called "TRAW-Legislati...".
Now every time you want to go to the blog and read Legsilative News just put the cursor directly on the "icon" and left click twice quickly. The blog website will pop right up.
And yes, you can by following the same steps create a "shortcut" to the TRAW website or any website that you want quick access to every day.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
How to sign in to make a comment
To comment on a post I have made:
1) Move the cursor down to the bottom of the post you want to comment on and place it on the underlined word "comments" and left click once. A comment page will pop up.
2) Type your comment in the box on the right.
3) There will be a non-sense word in weird script below. This is a safeguard so that automated computer systems can’t post and a real person needs to figure out and re-type the word in the “word verification” box provided below it.
4) If you have blogged before on a “Google-Blogger” site you then type in your user name (email address) and password in the space provided.
5) If you have not blogged before move the cursor down, place it on the underlined "sign up here" and left click once. A “Create a Google account” page will pop up.
6) Type in your normal email address, and then type it in again to confirm it.
7) Pick a password at least 8 characters long. Letters and numbers together make a strong password such as maybe your middle name and birth year or something like that but easy for you to remember. Type it in and re-type it for confirmation.
8) Pick a “display name” which is the name your comment will be “signed” with. Your name, both first and last, along with your company name would be good so we will know who you are and if we want to call you we will know who to call.
9) Next is another “word verification” to prevent automated hacking so look closely at the non-sense word in script and re-type it in the box provided.
10) Put the cursor on the blank box that says “I accept the terms of service” and left click once. The box will then be “checked”.
11) Click the orange “Continue” arrow at the bottom. Sometimes it will ask you to do some of these steps over and it will tell you in red what to do. Usually this is because the “verification word” in script was hard to read and you didn’t type in the right letters. Be patient and do it again until you get it right. If you make a mistake a couple of times it gets a bit easier to see.
12) The “leave a comment page” will pop up again and you will be signed in.
13) Type or modify your comment and when it is just like you want it, there is another “word verification” protection where you need to re-type a nonsense word in script. This may seem to be a pain by now but it makes sure no-one can pretend to be you and there will be a lot less of them the next time you “log on” as this one page is all you will have to deal with.
14) Now put the cursor on the orange “publish your comment” bar at the bottom and left click once. You’re done!
Your comment will be forwarded to me for review and unless it tells the world something that we should only share privately, or is not nice, I will click a button on my control screen and it will be placed on the blog.
I hope this has helped you and I apologize if for you experienced bloggers if it seems a bit simplistic. Have fun!
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