OLYMPIA -- The Lege is working Saturday, and likely Sunday, as the clock ticks down to a scheduled adjournment on Thursday.Senate Democrats just placed their tax package on the calendar for a vote sometime today, which suggests they have the 25 votes necessary to pass…
OLYMPIA – Despite warnings of wrath from voters in November, Senate Democrats moved a step closer to a vote on some $890 million in tax increases to fix the state’s budget hole. The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved 12-10 a three-year increase in the…
OLYMPIA -- Taxing bottled water is such a bad thing that Sen. Mike Carrell wondered today where it would all stop, and offered up no less an expert than The Beatles to prove his point.But Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, made it…
OLYMPIA -- Between Democratic confusion over how to treat tax exemptions for a coal fired power plant in Lewis County, and Republican amendments that demanded public advisory votes on practically every tax Democrats want to change, a Senate committee had to recess Friday afternoon without…
OLYMPIA -- Senate Democrats' plans to raise taxes could move to the Senate floor over lunchtime.The Senate Ways and Means Committee just began a hearing on a revised tax package that has some tweaks in the proposal released last week. Gone is the removal of…
OLYMPIA -- Expect a flurry of activity today because it is one of the big "cut off" days. Most bills that started in one house (and passed) have to get out of the other house by 5 p.m. today.That doesn't apply to budget bills and…
Funny or Die got some of Saturday Night Live's best spoofers of presidents together to give Barack Obama some advice.Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell
OLYMPIA -- Two bills sparked by an Eastern State Hospital patient's escape during a Spokane County Fair field trip last September moved easily through the Senate Thursday.Philip Paul was part of an Eastern State group visiting the fair when he slipped away from the other…
OLYMPIA -- Washington voters would be given a chance in November to change the constitution in a way that would allow more suspects to be held without bail before they go to trial.A resolution passed Thursday by the Senate calls for a vote on a…
OLYMPIA -- Senate Democrats may offer voters a choice of which tax they like better: a higher sales tax or an income tax on people making more than $200,000 a year.With very short notice, the Senate Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing this…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire led a group of seven governors Thursday patting The Boeing Co. on the back for joining the competition over the new Air Force tanker.Not that there's any surprise that Boeing would get into the competition. After all, it has been…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is scheduled to wrap up a week from today, although some legislators are saying they wouldn't bet the rent or the budget on that happening. Tax and spending proposals still have to be reconciled, and many people mention "25 and 50".It's…
OLYMPIA -- Churches would be able to hold occasional farmer's markets on their property without losing their tax exempt status under a bill passed overwhelmingly Wednesday by the Senate.The Senate gave 46-1 approval to a bill that allows churches and other public meeting places owned…
OLYMPIA -- Dry Fly Distillery and any other "craft" maker of distilled liquor will be able to grow three times larger than the current limits under a bill that passed the House Wednesday.Small or craft distilleries were unknown in Washington two years ago when the…
A group calling itself One Term President (because that's what it wants Obama to be) has a music video making the rounds on YouTube and other sites.After watching it, please talk among yourselves to decide:1) The words aren't much but it's got a good beat,…
OLYMPIA -- The House and Senate both start early today, with plans to vote on bills this afternoon and into the evening. They're trying to clear out the bills that are relatively non-controversial before an upcoming cutoff deadline.Senate Ways and Means, meanwhile, is dealing with…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature came closer to stepping between two feuding hospital organizations in Spokane by changing laws that govern what happens when the board of a non-profit corporation deadlocks.House Bill 3046 allows a superior court judge more lattitude in solving an impasse on a…
OLYMPIA -- The state's top "numbers guy," Office of Financial Management Director Victor Moore, will be leaving that job to take over as top operator at the State Investment Board.Moore has served as head of OFM for five years, since Gov. Chris Gregoire first took…
OLYMPIA -- A new tax proposal would place unfair burdens on janitors, cigar sellers, plastic surgeons, candy makers and lawyers, opponents of a House plan said today.They'd also save vital services for schools, colleges, the poor and the sick, supporters of the proposal said.They're a…
OLYMPIA -- The House tax package gets a public hearing this morning to an overflow crowd at teh Finance Committee hearing.Both chambers have day time sessions, and are warning about night time sessions. Hmmm. Must be getting pretty close to the end of the 60th…
OLYMPIA – People who smoke, chew gum, drink bottled water or get a face lift would pay more taxes this year under a plan by the House Democrats to find extra money to balance the state’s budget. Lawyers, accountants and marketing specialists would see their…
Capitol Steps do a great take-off on the the Don McLean classic.(sorry the embed code was messed up earlier)
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats will get a chance to help the state's budget woes by putting a sales tax on bottled water, candy and gum and cosmetic surgery. Upping the business taxes on lawyers, accountants and marketing consultants. Repealing or reducing an array of tax…
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats have not yet released a budget, but early word is that it doesn't call for an increase in a sales tax. More likely, it's a menu of smaller taxes to get to the target in extra revenue.This comes from a well…
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats say they will release their tax package today that is part of their overall plan to fill the state's $2.8 billion budget hole.Really. Seriously. We have it in writing this morning. Finance Committee Chairman Ross Hunter's going to release it at…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
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