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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

WA Lege SpecSess: Senators called back

OLYMPIA -- Senators are coming back today to do more than just open the session and go right into recess. Democrats have a caucus to discuss progress on talks to figure out a tax plan that solves the problem they've had for months:

Namely, that the Senate has enough votes to bump up the sales tax, but the House doesn't. The House has enough votes to raise a handful of other taxes that raises about what a sales tax hike would, but the Senate doesn't.

The fact that they are coming back for a briefing and a discussion could be seen as a hopeful sign of a deal in the offing. Could be -- but not necessarily.

The governor, meanwhile will spend some time in Seattle explaining how the state plans to take part in national health care reform, then hurry back to Olympia to sign some bills into law.

And there's a rally to mark  April 1 as an important day on the calendar...no, not April Fool's Day. Census Day. This is the day your census forms are supposed to be filled out and mailed off, if you haven't done that yet.

Don't believe the commercials that tell you 10 questions in 10 minutes. Unless you have 15 people in  your house, it doesn't take near that long to fill out your form..



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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