Coming this week
Budget talks, budget unveiling, budget hearing
Spin Control archive for May 2015
SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015
Sunday Spin 2: A slippery slope for openness
During one of the special session’s rare committee hearings, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Andy Hill zeroed in last week on what Republicans contend is a problem with the way state employee contracts are negotiated between union officials and the governor’s office. And danced close to saying flat out the governor was in the pocket of the unions.
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2015
Sunday Spin: What shall we call this thing?
OLYMPIA – The mostly idle Capitol press corps – made so by the mostly idle Legislature – is struggling with a proper label for the legislative period the state finds itself in.
FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015
Just in case there's no budget deal
OLYMPIA – Although Gov. Jay Inslee says he doesn’t expect a state government shutdown on July 1 and legislative leaders say they are doing everything to avoid one, the state budget office Friday posted a list of what each agency will do if a budget deal isn’t reached by June 30.
Special Session 2, Day 1: This looks familiar
OLYMPIA -- The first day of the 2nd Special Session is like most days of the 1st: Blink and you missed any sign that the Legislature was "in session."
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2015
One special session down, one to go
OLYMPIA – The Legislature will go into double-overtime in an effort to reach a deal on how to spend some $38 billion on state programs, agencies and salaries over the next two years.
Special Session Day 30: Senate GOP releases budget 2.0
OLYMPIA -- Senate Republicans set the stage for the upcoming second special session by releasing a new 2015-17 budget that they contend meets many of Democrats' requirements without raising taxes. A leader of House Democrats said it still relies on "gimmicks".
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2015
Special Session Day 29: House passes transpo budget
OLYMPIA -- The House passed a $5.1 billion transportation budget on a bipartisan vote. The compromise spending plan now goes to the Senate, which could pass it before the first special session ends tomorrow.
Special Session Day 29: Senate a fan of U.S. Open
OLYMPIA -- Back at nearly full strength for the first time in weeks, the Senate started the day with a resolution in support of the upcoming U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. Well, mostly in support.
1st Special Session Day 29: A transpo budget in the offing?
OLYMPIA -- The House is expected to vote on a transportation budget sometime today.
TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015
Senate GOP: Open up state union contract talks
OLYMPIA -- Contract negotiations between the state and its employees' unions should be open to the public and legislators, Senate Republicans argued Tuesday. Union leaders said that would be different from nearly all negotiations in the private sector and that the leaders of the committee conduct their budget negotiations behind closed doors.
Unemployment rate in Spokane nearly double King County
OLYMPIA -- Further signs of a two-economy state: King County unemployment 3.3 percent; Spokane County unemployment 6 percent.
Special Session Day 28: Public worker union contracts bill
OLYMPIA -- One of the Senate Republicans' pet peeves -- that negotiations between the public employees' unions and the governor's office are closed to them and the public -- is the subject of a bill that gets a hearing in Senate Ways & Means Committee today.
MONDAY, MAY 25, 2015
Coming this week
It's the end of the special session. And likely the beginning of the second special session.
SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015
Sunday Spin 2: Kate McCaslin leaving Spokane
Former Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin, who was a force in local politics even before she spent two terms on the county board, is leaving for points east.
SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015
Sunday Spin: Legislature in a box, over "the box"
OLYMPIA – There is much talk in the capital these days about “the box,” which may have the public asking what box, and where is it?
FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015
State agency unveils weekly marijuana report website
OLYMPIA -- Want to know how much legal marijuana was sold last month or grown this year? The Washington State Liquor Control Board has a site for you.
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015
Spin Control: Kids get trikes thanks to gov's raise
The children in Jennifer Gonzalez’s pre-school class at Windsor Elementary next fall probably won’t care, but they will owe their new tricycles in large part to a citizens’ commission that recently gave state’s elected officials a raise, a governor who didn’t feel right about taking it and a Legislature deadlocked over the budget.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015
4 pot stores caught selling to minors in state sting
OLYMPIA -- Four licensed marijuana stores in Western Washington sold pot to a minor working with the state agency on "compliance checks. The owners face a $2,500 fine and possible suspension. The seller could be charged by a local prosecutor.
Study: 6 in 10 minimum wage workers in WA and ID are women
About six of every 10 minimum wage workers in Washington and Idaho are women, a national center says. For an interactive national map, go inside the blog.
WA unemployment rate at 5.5%
OLYMPIA -- Washington's unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent, almost the same as the nation's 5.4 percent. In the booming Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, however, it's down to 4.3 percent.
TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015
Note to legislators: W.C. Fields was right about working with children
OLYMPIA -- A hearing on a bill to penalize teachers for one-day strikes featured a walkout by Democrats, questions of legal authority and denunciations of the education unions by conservative think tanks. And it was all upstaged by a 10-year-old who said "We need to support our teachers. They should get paid for their strike days."
Hookerville, Hookerville, Hookerville...
Michael Alderman said “Bridge to Hookerville” 30 times last night in front of dozens of people and on public access television.
Is Legislature any closer to a deal with more revenue?
Gov. Jay Inslee said today the Legislature should be able to reach a deal on the 2015-17 budget thanks to several hundred million dollars of extra revenue that may come in. Senate Republican leaders said it should be able to reach a deal, thanks to the new revenue. But the road they describe to reach the deal was very different.
Anti-Islam pastor ran for Washington governor
Shahram Hadian, the Spokane-area pastor who speaks about the dangers of Islam but insists he's not anti-Muslim, was a candidate for governor of Washington in 2012.
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
Blog Archives
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