OLYMPIA -- No official word yet on if -- or should we say -- when a special session will be called, but Gov. Jay Inslee said he agreed with one legislator who said all the work won't be done by Sunday, the last day of the 105-day session.

"I believe his assessment is correct," Inslee said when told Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said legislators won't finish on time. Considering Hunter is the House's head budget writer as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, most people would say he has a pretty good idea. "We'll have to talk with leadership."

But he wants legislators to get "as much as humanly possible" done before they go into a special session.

Whether he would call the session to start at the beginning of next week, or give legislators a "cooling off period" hasn't been decided, Inslee said. 

Republican leaders from both chambers said that if they need a special session (which is almost  like saying "if the sun is going to rise in the East tomorrow" but officially,it's not conceded) they would prefer to start right up on Monday.

"If there's a special session, we should get into it right away," House Assistant Republican Leader Joel Kretz, of Wauconda, said. 

Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, wasn't ready to agree one would be needed, and used his favorite metaphor for the session: "I've always said the glass is half full, and I want to be the last one to give up that glimmer of hope." 

Another harbinger of a special session: Former Gov. John Spellman stopped by the office for a visit. Spellman was no stranger to special sessions during his term from 1981 - 85, although he was at the Capitol to honor longtime journalist John Hughes.

 

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