State lawmakers could be held in contempt, but likely won’t get jail time

The Washington Supreme Court has ordered lawmakers to explain why they haven’t followed its orders to fix the way Washington pays for public education.

The court has ordered the state to appear before it on Sept. 3 and show the court how it has followed its orders in the 2012 McCleary decision or face contempt.

An April deadline for a funding plan came and went without the Legislature coming up with a plan.

KIRO Radio Morning News host Dave Ross asked who would go to jail if the state Legislature was found in contempt.

“I actually don’t think they can do that,” said State Representative Ross Hunter, chair of the appropriations committee. Instead, he says, “The sanctions that (the court) can impose range from writing a very embarrassing order, all the way up to provoking a very serious constitutional fight to appropriate money.”

The court has also hinted at the possibility of closing schools, which Hunter says will only hurt kids.

“I think there are steps they can take that will appropriately apply pressure but that don’t damage children by shutting down the public education system.”

The attorney for the coalition that sued the state over education funding was excited about the court order issued on Thursday.

Thomas Ahearne says the order shows the court is taking the state’s lack of progress seriously and isn’t just going to let the Legislature keep procrastinating.

Lawmakers have been arguing over how to fund the schools properly for two years. It’s estimated the costs could be over $2 billion to meet the court’s orders.

The McCleary decision said lawmakers are not meeting their constitutional responsibility to fully pay for basic education. They were given until 2018 to fix the problem.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.