Teachers and their union are profoundly underwhelmed by House Bill 2261, which passed the Senate yesterday with much fanfare. Proponents say the bill is a path to the biggest overhaul in school funding in decades -- billions of dollars -- but Republicans and the Washington…
I'm sitting in the House hearing on a proposed .3 percent sales tax hike, HB 2377.The proposal, from Rep. Eric Pettigrew, would raise just over $1 billion in three years. Much of that money would be steered into health care: mental health services, hospitals, nursing…
The House will hold its first hearing Friday morning on a proposal to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for health care by boosting the sales tax about a third of a cent for three years. But as Olympia struggles to agree on a major…
Photo: Colleen Beimer, from Bonney Lake, cries while holding a picture of her grandchildren. Richard Roesler - The Spokesman ReviewLawmakers, parents and a local prosecutor on Thursday blasted state child-protection officials, saying the state is too quick to remove children from their families."The system is…
"Does it cover toilet paper?" -Sen. Jerome Delvin, expressing misgivings about Senate Bill 2287, which would mandate that state government use recycled paper whenever possible.(Answer, from bill Sen. Jim Hargrove, whose district includes a major recycling mill: "No, this is actually print paper.")The bill passed,…
The Senate has begun debating SB 2261, which would redefine basic education, setting Washington on course to steer more money into education over nearly a decade.Democrats say it's a long-needed overhaul to a funding system that largely dates back to the 1970s. Republicans say it's…
Conservative religious groups are preparing a voter referendum to overturn a bill granting same-sex partners most of the rights and responsibilities of spouses.Senate Bill 5688 passed the legislature yesterday and is headed to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it into law. Proponents…
In a bill closely watched by schools advocates, the state Senate plans to vote on -- and presumably pass -- an amended version of HB 2261 this afternoon."We're working with the governor and members of the House to agree on a bill to responsibly reform…
Here's a link to my weekly column.
In tomorrow's paper:In an 11th-hour push, education advocates in Olympia are calling on lawmakers and the governor to update the decades-old rule that spells out what the state should pay for in public schools."We've studied this long enough," said state school superintendent Randy Dorn.Dorn, along…
House Democrats have put together a bill to boost the state sales tax by 3/10 of 1 percent.It begins:An unprecedented shortfall in state general fund revenues has threatened the state's ability to fund vital health services and has harmed working families. For this reason, the…
After long debate, the state House of Representatives this afternoon approved an "everything but marriage" bill granting same-sex domestic partners most of the rights and responsibilities of spouses.The bill passed, 62-35. It now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it into…
There were no torches, but there were some pitchforks. Thousands of people descended on the state capitol today for a demonstration blasting taxes and government spending. "We're here to remind lawmakers that they work for us," said Lynn Harsh, with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, which…
(This admittedly falls into the category of better-late-than-never news, but I suspect that proponents would say the same thing of the bill itself.)Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed into law a bill -- closely watched in Spokane -- to extend the statute of limitations for some…
Those little lead weights clipped onto your tires may soon may go the way of lead type, lead toy soldiers and lead paint.Washington's state Senate on Tuesday voted to ban the installation of lead tire weights by 2011. Tire dealers will be required to use…
State Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane, will hold a telephone town-hall-style meeting tonight from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.Lawmakers, particularly those in large Eastern Washington districts (paging Sen. Schoesler) are increasingly using these group phone calls to interact with constituents. Want to listen in or ask…
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown has been issuing a Harper's-like index of statistics over the past few days. Today's looks at taxes. Here's an excerpt -- and the last line is the key one:-Number of states where households pay more in state and local property…
For weeks now, Sen. Ken Jacobsen has been trying to revamp the state's Fish and Wildlife Commission. The backstory, from an earlier blog post I wrote:Commercial fisherman say the board is tilted too far in favor of sport/recreational anglers. The latter say that the board…
In a startling moment on the Senate floor, a bill to allow child care workers to collectively bargain with the state was largely gutted Monday night after lawmakers instead turned the bill largely into a study."Was it a surprise? Yeah," said Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane,…
This has nothing whatsoever to do with politics, and yet I'm quite confident it will be my best-read post of several today:Plagued by ground squirrels at Spokane's Finch Arboretum, the city's parks and recreation folks have strapped on their Rodenator Pro, a device that pumps…
Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton, this morning introduced HB 2344, which would do away with the existing 7 percent limit on tuition increases at the state's four-year colleges.Under the bill, lawmakers would set tuition levels every two years when they write the budget.Haigh suggests that higher…
A new poll re: possible tax increases to support state parks comes back with these results:-$5 fee to park at parks and trails? 55 percent support, 43 percent don't.-an (unspecificed) tax on motor homes and campers? 52 percent support, 43 percent don't.-A 1-cent-per-$1,000-value property tax…
Alan Parmelee, an inmate at the state penitentiary at Walla Walla, has filed a large records request for "any and all records in any format, from any agency and/or person, relating to the prospective and subsequent passing, directly or indirectly, of HB 1181 and SB…
Washington's Secretary of State's office has been pretty innovative in bring yellowed-paper archives out of their boxes in cool storage and into the digital age. The state's Digital Archives has scanned in -- and hand-indexed -- years of territorial newspapers, old marriage and other personal…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
