Seahawks-Packers bet, take 2
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee is betting Washington beer, apples and oysters on the Seahawks, and expects to be collecting Wisconsin beer and cheese that state's Gov. Scott Walker after Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers.
Inslee closed his opening comments at this morning's weekly press conference with a somewhat confident statement he expects to be drinking the beer from Walker and eating the cheese after first munching on Cougar Gold from Washington State University.
In other press conference news:
Inslee said he's heard concerns from some legislators about people in the House and Senate galleries carrying guns. Under state law, people can openly carry firearms in many public places, including the Capitol, even though the building rules don't allow protesters to bring in signs on sticks. On Thursday, gun-rights activists carried their rifles, shotguns and handguns into the building and some spent time in the House gallery. Some Democrats in that chamber are discussing a rule restricting firearms from the gallery.
"We want the public not to feel intimidated," Inslee said. "But it's largely a legislative decision" to change the rules.
The governor will support a "gun ownership safety law" proposal that would require owners to keep their weapons secure from children in their homes.
Inslee said he was encouraged that his carbon emissions proposals, which include a new tax on carbon polluters, was introduced in both chambers with multiple co-sponsors. The Senate changed its rules Monday to require a two-thirds super-majority to bring any new tax to the floor. That would be tough to achieve on the carbon tax, or any new tax, but Inslee noted that if budget negotiators agree to a spending plan with new taxes, it would have to have simple majority support. And the two-thirds majority requirement could be changed by a simple majority, just as it was approved by a simple majority.
The governor insisted using his proposed carbon tax to pay for transportation projects was better than raising the gasoline tax. Although the gasoline tax, as an existing tax system would only need a simple majority to be raised, he's proposed raising that tax to pay for road projects for the last two years, and the Senate hasn't mustered even a simple majority for any plan tied to higher gas taxes.