It’s a new year, but the problems remain the same for state legislators.

Representatives from the 47th and 5th Legislative Districts, in which Covington and Maple Valley are located respectively, all listed the state budget as their number one priority.

They each have other issues they’d like to tackle, but this session, unlike the last one, the reality is that there will be little time to work on much beyond the budget.

Besides, as Glenn Anderson, a Republican from the 5th pointed out, “All the other issues are dependent, and what we would do with them, a little or a lot, with the fact that state budget is solvent.”

“We can’t do any of the things that need to be done, or undone for that matter, we need to get back to solid ground,” Anderson said. “Last year was nine months ago and that was the high water mark of the recession. The reason we’re having this conversation again is nothing was done in the Legislature last year.”

The session began Jan. 11 and will run 60 days.

In 2009, Anderson said, the budget shortfall was handled by measures of thirds with one-third being spending cuts, one-third tax increases and the final third from federal bail out money for the states.

The problem now, Anderson explained, is that nothing is moving in the other Washington.

“So, the current three-legged stool is a two legged stool,” Anderson said. “Which means bigger spending cuts or higher taxes. The truth of the matter is, it does hamstring everything for everybody. There are things that I would like for the 5th Legislative District, especially K-12 issues. We need to re-set how we fund schools as well as the expectations for teachers and kids and parents.”

Anderson said it’s important for the legislature to find ways to help businesses create jobs that are “non-government jobs, long-term sustainable jobs.”

He hopes that the legislature will go beyond creating an environment for entrepreneurs to develop ideas because “we’re really good at snuffing them out just when they’re getting big enough.”

And education ties into job creation and a business friendly climate in the state.

“That’s why education is so important, we’ve got to have a K-12 education that prepares them for a globally competitive environment,” Anderson said. “The key thing is a stable solid budget, protecting our K-12 school system and making sure the economy can create good long term private sector jobs.”

State Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, said, “government right now needs to exercise common sense.”

“We have to make a dollar stretch just like everyone else,” Pflug said. “I think there will be some reality checks this year. We’re at a place where by 2015 we’ll be paying pensions out of the general fund. These are train wrecks of epic proportion that are not that far off.”

Pflug said she was recently talking to teachers and students at Tahoma Junior High and “for the first time, the teachers weren’t asking about salaries and benefits, they were asking about the economy and jobs.”

There are proposals to create revenue or cut spending, Pflug said, that just don’t make sense.

“You have to really think about the consequences of some of these proposals,” she said. “We need to go line by line through every budget and see how we can do things better.”

Aside from the budget, Pflug said, she will be looking at health care and transportation issues this session.

“Washington has some really great people in health care and if we can be successful in a bipartisan approach down here, and I’m cautiously optimistic that we can do that, then we can probably pass some bills down here that will have us on the front end of what needs to happen to create good outcomes for patients,” she said.

As far as transportation goes, Pflug declared Maple Valley Highway “absolutely a mess” and that state Route 18 also needs work.

“There’s no money on the table for that right now, so, I’ll be looking at getting money for that in the future, at least for some early designs,” she said.

Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said that dealing with a potential $2.6 billion shortfall this year after last year’s epic budget holes “will be a tough challenge… to say the least, the real effort will be to get done on time.”

Sullivan said he had raised the idea of focusing just on the supplemental budget and bills that needed to be voted on then go home early, but, the proposal didn’t succeed.

“I’m the Ways and Means vice chair, so, I’m literally in budget meetings six hours a day,” he said. “It is amazing the amount of work that goes into putting the budget together.”

Education is one of his top priorities, Sullivan explained, particularly how to better fund the state’s public school systems.

Transportation is another key topic for Sullivan as Kent Kangley Road, which runs east-west from the Kent Valley through Covington, Maple Valley and beyond, needs work.

“We’ll obviously continue to look for money for improvements for SR 516,” he said.

Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, will work with his seatmates from the 47th to work on transportation issues.

“It’s a tough time to talk about making more investments in transportation,” Simpson said. “Last year we had the largest (road) construction year ever in Washington. Those are the kinds of projects that are smart because they allow people to spend more time with their families and it is also good for our economic health. On so many fronts it just makes sense.”

Simpson also wants to see education funding fixed.

“We need to step up and be responsible for education for our kids,” he said. “How do we find our way out of this economic crisis we’re in if we’re cutting off the goose that laid the golden egg. We can make cuts in education now and pay more for prison costs later.”

In fact, Simpson is going to oppose certain proposals to reduce the budget.

“I’m not going to vote for budget cuts that end up harming my constituents further,” Simpson said. “It’s time to be responsible. A lot of politicians will try to tell you that they can make further cuts and still do a good job of funding education. That’s just not true, you can’t do both.”