"Sure we monkeyed with it. Both sides of the aisle monkeyed with it. But we did it with fear and trepidation." -- Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, acknowledging the fact that both Republicans and Democrats have stretched the state's spending limit in recent years.
"All you have to do is say `I wasn't driving that car' and the ticket goes away...Do you really want to have cars driving themselves around the state of Washington?" -Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, in a speech on the Senate floor. He was opposing a…
Late last November, the state Department of Revenue prepared a document called "Estimated Impact of Major Revenue Alternatives" for lawmakers.The five-page document is essentially a menu of 156 possible tax increases: if you do X, it generates $Y.Here are a few of the examples that…
"Some of it has been favoritism, some of it has been empire-building, and some of it has been `Well, we think they should have higher status.'" -Tim Welch, spokesman for the Washington Federation of State Employees, on the union's theory of why the state's Washington…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
