About 300 people from anti-poverty groups and other organizations held a rally on the capitol steps Monday afternoon. They called for restrictions on payday lending, more health care, and preservation of the General Assistance to the Unemployable program, which provides health coverage and monthly stipends…
Restaurants, florists, and the city of Olympia's traffic-fine fund.
From the folks who brought you Horse's Ass, it's "Publicola, the Washington news elixir."From HA founder David Goldstein:"The sudden collapse of our local news industry and the resulting mass exodus of political reporters is a bitter pill to swallow for those of us who believe…
Former state Rep. Don Cox, who stepped down two years ago, is headed back to Olympia.County commissioners from the 9th Legislative District today chose Cox to replace Rep. Steve Hailey, who died Dec. 28th after a year-long battle with colon cancer.Cox, 69, was almost immediately…
Rich Nafziger, the chief of staff for state Senate Democrats and a longtime Olympia school board member, has a personal blog that's heavy on ruminations about the economy and the times.In this recent post, Nafziger argues that "there are at least four good reasons to…
From TVW's Inside Olympia program, here's House budget chairwoman Kelli Linville and Sen. Joe Zarelli, making predictions about how the session will go."I'll predict right now that there will be potentially some kind of tax package," Linville says.Hat tip: TVW's Niki Sullivan.
Yeah, it's all about the budget this year, but there's some interesting -- if short-lived -- stuff going on in the margins:Wary Christmas: Just weeks after the contentious battle-of-the-holiday-placards between Christians and an atheist group in the state capitol's third floor, Rep. Jim McCune, R-Graham,…
Speaking of Jacobsen's bills, he's also back with a proposal to declare the Olympic marmot the official "state endemic mammal."The bill describes the creatures in language similar to how my onetime neighbors in Coeur d'Alene used to describe Californians: Olympic marmots hibernate from September to…
All 31 of Washington's Democratic state senators now have their own blogs.
Among Sen. Ken Jacobsen's 46 bills so far in this first week of the legislative session is Senate Bill 5192, Jacobsen's second attempt at changing state law to allow anyone to bring their dog into a bar.Under the proposal, owners of taverns, pubs, bars, etc.…
State Rep. Al O'Brien, the lawmaker who brought up the pistol-bullet-registration bill referenced in the post below, also wants the state to look into whether it can implant chips into the bodies of sex offenders in order to track them.From House Bill 1142, which calls…
One of Democrats' greatest gifts to Republican lawmakers in recent years was Senate Bill 6900, a 2008 proposal for an engine displacement tax. It went nowhere -- didn't even get a hearing -- but continues to live on in the blogosphere. On WashingtonVotes.org, the bill…
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's print edition disappears in two months, but it's capitol reporter is disappearing now. P-I writer Chris McGann has quit to take a job as communications director for newly elected state treasurer Jim McIntire.
Click on the link below to see the long list of projects across the state. (I'll have a pdf link up soon.)
Trying to kick-start the state's lagging economy, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday unveiled a $1.2 billion proposal that includes more than $90 million in buildings at Spokane-area colleges, repaving local highways, and $15 million more for the North Spokane Corridor.“We can quickly create thousands of…
Mixed reviews from the GOP side of the aisle to Gov. Chris Gregoire's call for an economic stimulus plan, government reform and other changes this year:"This is a financial wreck that she spent four years creating, and then to be shocked when it comes due…
Shortly before Gov. Chris Gregoire's inauguration day speech today, hundreds of teachers, parents and school officials held a rally just across the street.Their message: despite the state's budget shortfall -- which Sen. Joe Zarelli on Wednesday suggested could rise to $7.5 billion over the next…
From Joshua Green's profile in The Atlantic of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer:He attributes his success these past four years to a small but critical insight into the nature of the American middle class: namely, that it is more affluent and doesn’t want the same…
Calling it “our time to show courage,” Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday urged lawmakers to back her plan to create 20,000 new jobs, boost unemployment benefits, and use the economic crisis to forge a more nimble state government.“When this recession ends, and it will end,…
In case it's needed, here's another entry for your "Jobs Worse Than Mine" file:"Feces-throwing monkey on the loose in Tampa Bay."
Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, known for his many (and often quirky) bills, wants to change state law to allow people to be buried with their pets.The Times has the story.
From the print paper:OLYMPIA – Trying to spark job growth, Democrats in Washington’s state Senate on Tuesday proposed a “middle-class jobs package” focused on retraining, environmental jobs and building infrastructure such as statewide high-speed Internet access.“We believe our first job is about jobs,” said Senate…
From the print paper:OLYMPIA – Thursday, state lawmakers will resume their pick-and-shovel work with the state budget, trying to find the least painful ways to bridge a $6 billion budget shortfall.But first, some tapenade with smoked tomato crostini.In a tradition dating to the mid-1800s, thousands…
This is more of a Seattle topic, but since everybody's going to be paying for it:After years of chin-pulling and line-in-the-sand drawing, the governor, King County executive, Seattle's mayor and the CEO of the Port of Seattle have agreed to replace Seattle's aging Alaskan Way…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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