The TNT's Joe Turner today blasted House and Senate leaders for their continued radio silence on major cuts and tax increases under consideration. Both House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown seem unhappy that reporters haven't paid more attention to recent legislation…
Nonprofit groups walk a bit of a tightrope when lobbying for or against something, which is why press releases from them often come with a peculiar caveat like this one: "Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the…
Worried about "fly-by-night roofers, unlicensed movers and fake mortgage brokers," among others, the state Department of Revenue has set up a website where you can quickly check to see if a business is licensed, has paid its taxes, and find out where to get help…
Gov. Chris Gregoire is sick today, her office says. That meant missing a scheduled appearance this morning before the state Labor Council, where Gregoire planned to talk about the federal and state stimulus efforts and to field questions from the crowd.She sent her labor advisor,…
Mary Verner at a recent community event.
Today was a critical deadline for many bills to clear their first committees in the Senate. If they didn't, they're probably dead. (A similar deadline fell Friday in the House.)So what great legislative ideas fell to the cutting room floor this evening? Here -- with…
Lawmakers have been hinting heavily -- or in a few cases simply saying outright -- that they're likely to ask voters to approve tax increases to offset budget cuts. From an Olympia luncheon with Spokane child-advocates earlier this week:It’s “more than likely,” Senate Majority Leader…
Here's an audio excerpt from the Senate Ways and Means Committee earlier today. The bill being discussed is SB 6051, which extends a state law steering part of King County's hotel/motel tax to museums and other arts and heritage programs.Committee chairwoman Margarita Prentice's advice to…
Yes, golden parachutes on state boards are nice, Sen. Darlene Fairley says, but there's serious budget cutting to do.At issue was Senate Bill 6065, which would save $728,000 over the next two years by replacing the three-person, paid Liquor Control Board with part-time volunteers. The…
But I reckon they all would like to see "all options on the table," which has come to mean "raise taxes" in much the same way "tax reform" means "pass an income tax." -Richard Davis, in a blog post about a spat over the economist…
Managers at the state Department of Fish and Wildlife have been telling more than 100 workers this week that their jobs may be axed, a victim of the state's $8 billion budget shortfall.On the chopping block: biologists, administrative staff, fish hatchery workers, computer technicians, budget…
Top House and Senate lawmakers this afternoon unveiled their plan for spending $341 million in federal transportation money that's coming to the state from President Obama's economic stimulus plan.Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen described the plan as a back-to-basics, fill-the-potholes approach. Rather than building new road,…
Lawmakers must speak well of Olympia to their family members.Yesterday, the state House of Representatives welcomed new Rep. Laura Grant-Herriot, D-Walla Walla, who was appointed to the seat recently vacated by her late father, Rep. Bill Grant.Now Pat Hailey, wife of former state Rep. Steve…
OLYMPIA – To state Sen. Chris Marr, it’s a simple cost-benefit analysis.The cost: an estimated $18.2 million a year in state road damage from metal tire studs hammering away at concrete pavement.The benefit: better traction only during a relatively rare driving condition: a roadway slick…
OLYMPIA – In what one senator described as “Spokane versus Spokane,” health and government officials clashed Monday over a proposal to remove most of the elected officials who now oversee the Spokane Regional Health District. “Unfortunately, our regional health district has been politicized,” Sen. Chris…
Armed with barbecued chicken and ribs, children's advocates from Spokane made the pilgrimage to Olympia Monday to urge local lawmakers to look elsewhere when making billions of dollars in budget cuts.Setting the theme: tin cups, apples for a nickel, and a song: Bing Crosby's 1932…
Looks that way. The Associated Press is reporting that: "A senior administration official says that President Barack Obama's likely third pick for Commerce secretary is former Washington Gov. Gary Locke."
Much going on today. In the meantime, here's some lunchtime reading:-Effin' Unsound parses last week's discusson of a marijuana bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling it "surreal at times."-Sen. Pam Roach and husband plant two trees for the future: "Jim just bought two walnut…
Economist Arun Raha's revenue prediction yesterday, was met without much apparent surprise by the folks on the state forecast council.(“I don't think this has changed a lot from what our internal expectations were for the last couple of weeks,” etc.)But that has been follwed by…
For the remainder of the 07-09 biennium: down $721 million from what was thought in Nov.For the 09-11 biennium: down $1.587 billion. Biggest drops: sales and use tax ($823 million) and real estate excise tax ($394 million).Total loss from November's numbers: $2.3 billion.
Three months after a state revenue forecast left Washington looking at a $5.7 billion budget shortfall over the next year and a half, a top legislator says she expects things to be $2 billion worse when that forecast is updated in about 15 minutes."I don't…
Worthwhile reading on your lunch hour:-Unions, others are polling on what state tax increases voters would find palatable. From the Tacoma News-Tribune's Joe Turner:Meanwhile, the shadow legislature of unions and other stakeholders is out their holding "focus groups" in communities. They're trying to figure out…
Whoever wrote this summary of Senate bill 5870. It summarizes the bill like this:Declares it is the duty of the sheriff or any deputysheriff to kill any dog found running at large (after the firstday of August of any year and before the first day…
In tomorrow's paper: A controversial “cap and trade” plan that would put Washington at the forefront of efforts to combat global warming has been dramatically watered down under pressure from businesses and rural Republicans.Nonetheless, proponents say they remain optimistic. The bill, requested by Gov. Chris…
Some emotional speeches this morning in the House and Senate, which honored Japanese-American war veterans and the roughly 12,000 Japanese-American citizens who were rounded up and herded into internment camps in 1942 under Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066.The House passed House Resolution 2009-4617 this…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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