Fri., March 27, 2009
From this morning's paper:OLYMPIA _ Trying to broker a truce in a long-running dispute, state lawmakers are considering stripping the state Fish and Wildlife Commission of its role overseeing commercial fishing.The move – likely to be voted on in a House committee today – caps…
Thu., March 26, 2009
This can be a stomach-churning time for lawmakers trying to shepherd pet bills over the finish line. If you need any evidence of that, ask Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane.Parker, a freshman who narrowly ousted Democrat Don Barlow in November, was one of the first out…
Thu., March 26, 2009
A controversial bill to give same-sex and senior-citizen heterosexual domestic partners virtually all the rights and responsibilities of married couples was voted out of committee 7-4 earlier today over the objections of Republicans. The bill, SB 5688, has already cleared the Senate.Local Rep. Matt Shea,…
Thu., March 26, 2009
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, has posted a lengthy note on his blog describing the state's budget situation -- he says flatly that people will literally die because of the cuts -- and talking about what's likely to happen next. At this point, it looks like…
Thu., March 26, 2009
From today's story about the Senate transportation plan:The Senate is also calling for a study of how the state, which relies heavily on gas tax revenue to pay for roads, can keep paying those bills as motorists continue switching to high-mileage and electric vehicles.“We have…
Thu., March 26, 2009
The conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation is calling on Gov. Chris Gregoire to make immediate across-the-board budget cuts, as the size of the deficit in the current fiscal year (now until the end of June) grows.Here's the letter the group delivered to Gregoire's office. EFF's Bob…
Wed., March 25, 2009
The budget includes more than 400 projects $4.3 billion. Among them: • I-5/SR 161/SR 18 "Triangle" - Interchange Improvements • SR 3/Belfair Area - Widening and Safety Improvements • SR 6/Willapa River Br - Replace Bridge • SR 9 Corridor Improvements • SR 11/I-5 Interchange…
Wed., March 25, 2009
...and thus get the dubious honor of telling people to hustle their butts into yet another long caucus meeting several times a day?Dawn Morrell. House Ds elected Morrell, a Puyallup Democrat, to take over the job Grant held from 1993 until his death in January.
Wed., March 25, 2009
Here's why the blog's been a little light lately: It doesn’t look like a battleground, but a Spokane Valley mobile home park is once again at the heart of a state clash between environmental concerns and affordable housing.For years, Pinecroft mobile home park has been…
Wed., March 25, 2009
Gov. Gregoire on Monday announced $38 million in proposed federal dollars for about two dozen drinking-water projects, including a couple in Ferry and Pend Oreille counties. Normally, such grants are little-noticed except by public works officials and local folks who no longer have rusty or…
Wed., March 25, 2009
Last year, local young mothers went to bat in Olympia to win more state dollars for school libraries. They proved to be savvy grassroots lobbyists, and succeeded against pretty long odds.Now, the same group is trying to put some meat on skeletal bills aimed at…
Fri., March 20, 2009
Our Boise correspondent, Betsy Russell, reports that Idaho's joint legislative budget committee has voted this mroning for a 3 percent pay cut next year for all state employees in Idaho. Writes Russell:The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted 14-5 to impose the 3 percent pay cut on…
Thu., March 19, 2009
From tomorrow's paper:With a final piece of bad news Thursday -- $552 million less than expected for the upcoming budget -- state lawmakers are scrambling to put the finishing touches on a “devastating” two-year budget plan to be unveiled next week. The state's budget shortfall,…
Thu., March 19, 2009
Washington's battered economy likely won't resume significant growth until next summer, a top state economist said Thursday.Reporting to state lawmakers, Raha painted a significantly bleaker picture than he did last month. But Raha also said the current economic crisis is nowhere near the scale of…
Thu., March 19, 2009
The March revenue forecast shows state revenue down $552 million more for the remainder of this biennium (07-09) and the upcoming one (09-11)."The (economic) outlook is worse, both for the nation and the state," said Arun Raha, the state's chief economic revenue forecaster.This morning's news…
Wed., March 18, 2009
The state labor council is not going quietly, when it comes to a key union prioritiy this year: a bill that would have banned companies from requiring workers to attend meetings to discuss unionization, religion or charitable giving.The governor and the top two Democratic lawmakers…
Tue., March 17, 2009
Last week: Lawmakers kill a labor-backed bill and called police after some lawmakers got an e-mail indicating that elected officials would get "not one more dime" from labor until they passed it.This morning: The head of the State Patrol says the e-mail wasn't a crime.…
Tue., March 17, 2009
So says a quarterly survey by the staffing company Manpower, reported recently in Forbes. From the article:Cities in the Pacific Northwest and Texas have the best employment outlook for April through June, while cities in the the Southeast have the weakest, according to the study.Yakima's…
Tue., March 17, 2009
In a scene replicated throughout the state today, a small group of state workers held a rally on the muddy capitol lawn today, calling on lawmakers to look at raising taxes to offset some deep budget cuts."Hey hey, ho ho, an all-cuts budget's got to…
Tue., March 17, 2009
The Washington State Labor Council e-mail that sparked a furor last week "did not constitute criminal conduct," the head of the State Patrol said this afternoon. (I posted the WSP e-mail at the link below.)"We looked carefully at the e-mail and at the law," said…
Tue., March 17, 2009
Some emotional testimony yesterday in the House Transportation committee, as dozens of Spokane-area people made the long trip to Olympia to call for improvements at an intersection where a 16-year-old driver was killed in January.I wrote a story about this, with the specifics of the…
Mon., March 16, 2009
My colleague Jim Camden has a great blog post re: two recent local bond issues. And with Olympia mulling the idea of sending a tax hike to voters this year, it seems like there are some broader takeaways here.Quick background: The city of Spokane wanted…
Mon., March 16, 2009
Cutoff over, budget preview stories published, Olympia grinds down the rocky path toward a budget that will make a lot of people unhappy. Some previews and commentary:-At Publicola, Josh Feit continues to mine revealing comments from politicians' Facebook pages.-Adam Wilson (and TVW) have a video…
Wed., March 11, 2009
Confirmed.A group of health- and education groups have each kicked in $20,000 each to pay for polls and focus groups to figure out which tax increases would have the best chance with voters. The group has no name, but contributors include the state hospital association,…
Wed., March 11, 2009
Among those apparently not regretting the incident is the Association of Washington Business.AWB added its own statement to a growing list of them, as lawmakers, the state Labor Council and others weigh in on allegedly illegal pressure put on lawmakers as they decided whether to…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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