OLYMPIA -- As the Legislature moves toward temporary adjournment today, the Senate is likely to take up the 2011-13 Transportation Budget now that a key question has been resolved. The Senate began debate on the budget bill Tuesday afternoon, but quickly stopped when Sen. Don…
OLYMPIA -- The House turned thumbs down to the state's presidential primary next year in an effort to save some $10 million for Washington's general operating budget. In a 69-28 vote, they voted Tuesday to suspend the 2012 primary. The Senate already voted to suspend…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate began discussion of the 2011-13 Transportation Bill shortly afternoon -- and stopped fairly quickly. A ruling is needed to determine whether Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, can get a vote on an amendment that would require applicants for a drivers license to…
For all those political junkies who just can't wait for the 2012 election: Gary Busey endorses Donald Trump for president, and even suggests a campaign slogan.
OLYMPIA -- Both chambers are in a concurring mood this morning, moving relatively quickly through bills they have both passed previously, albeit in slightly different forms. Heavier lifting may await the afternoon. The House may debate its Capital Budget sometime after lunch, while the Senate…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan support to a $32.1 billion general operating budget for 2011-13, setting the stage for negotiations with the House, which approved a significantly different spending plan. The bill containing the budget, with cuts to most state programs, passed on…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate was about to begin debate on its version of the 2011-13 general operating budget when Sen. Tim Sheldon brought things to a halt with a "point of order." Sec. 949, which requires the Liquor Control Board to provide a total of…
OLYMPIA -- A bill aimed at cutting into information technology piracy in Asia and other foreign countries was signed into law today. HB 1495, backed heavily by Microsoft as it worked its way through the process, is designed to protect the state's software developers but…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate is beginning its debate on the 2011-13 general operating budget, taking up a series of amendments. First up is an amendment designed to spare several state mental health institutions from closure and consolidation.
OLYMPIA --A group of about 80 people marched from the north side of the Capitol to the space between the House and Senate office buildings at lunchtime, calling for a "moral budget" that raises taxes rather than cutting programs. Among them were a group clad…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate is expected to take up its version of the general fund operating budget today, the last day of the session that can be counted without three digits. Legislators and Gov. Chris Gregoire conceded late last week that a special session is…
It could be. The Legislature is running out of time and a compromise that can overcome the warnings of federal prosecutors may be hard to find. Read more about it in this story that first appeared in Sunday's print edition.
A biker wearing a Bandidos patch and a 1 percenter patch poses for a picture behind Gov. Chris Gregoire at last week's signing of the motorcycle profiling law. My image of the outlaw biker, that iconic badboy of the latter half of the last century,…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is unlikely to finish work in nine days, making a special session all but inevitable, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said today. At her weekly press briefing, the Spokane Democrat said the Senate was likely to debate the 2011-13 general operating…
OLYMPIA -- Both chambers decide whether they'll agree with changes the other made to bills that have bounced back and forth this session. Known as concurrence, it's usually a smooth process for passing legislation that's been honed to an acceptable edge. Senate Ways and Means…
OLYMPIA -- More than a dozen Senate Democrats want voters to reconsider their decision last November that makes it difficult for them to take state tax exemptions off the books. On Thursday they unveiled a a new bill that would remove the requirement that both…
Gov. Chris Gregoire congratulates Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, after signing his bill to restrict lawn fertilizers with phosphorus. OLYMPIA -- Finding fertilizer with phosphorus to spread on lawns in Washington will become difficult by 2013 under law signed Thursday. As part of the state's ongoing…
OLYMPIA -- RepublicanJeff Baxter will run in this year's special election in an effort to keep the state Senate seat he now holds by appointment. Baxter announced today that he will seek election to the Spokane Valley's 4th Legislative District seat. He was appointed to…
OLYMPIA -- Some Senate Democrats are going to unveil tax plans at lunchtime. They've filed a series of new bills that call for everything from a temporary increase in the sales tax to changing excise taxes to repealing some tax exemptions "to provide funding for…
OLYMPIA -- School districts around the state might have to "eat" a cut in teacher salaries proposed by Senate budget writers rather than lower pay, Gov. Chris Gregoire warned Wednesday afternoon. She said some aspects of the Senate general operating budget proposal are improvements over…
Gov. Chris Gregoire offers the signing pen to Sen. Jim Hargrove after putting her signature on a bill to ban "motorcycle profiling. OLYMPIA -- Law enforcement in Washington state won't be able to stop motorcyclists simply because they are motorcyclists under a bill signed Wednesday…
Conservative student groups from Washington State University and University of Idaho say they plan to put up a chain-link fence on Terrell Mall today to protest illegal immigration. The groups include College Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty and Youth for Western Civilization. (The last sounds…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate will hold a hearing in its Ways and Means Committee this afternoon for the general operating budget released Tuesday evening. The budget is 462 pages long, but folks who stayed up all night to peruse it should be well versed in…
Sens. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, (left) and Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, announce the proposed Senate operating budget. OLYMPIA -- The Senate released proposed operating and capital budgets this evening. Good news and bad news time. Bad news for schools, colleges, people who rely on the state for…
Sen. Lisa Brown discusses an amendment with Sen. Mark Schoesler during debate on the domestic partnership surrogacy bill. OLYMPIA – A proposal to make clear who has legal custody for a children in a domestic partnership cleared a sharply divided Senate Tuesday, but a provision…
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