Very few legislative seats are up for election in this off-year, but there's tremendous interest in two Eastern Washington spots in the House of Representatives.Four people have so far filed documents with the state's Public Disclosure Commission to run for 9th District Rep. Steve Hailey's…
No, not Lisa Brown yet for governor. Locally, however, there's already some interest in city council seats. A quick run through Public Disclosure Commission files shows that:Tom Towey is running for a Spokane Valley city council seat. Towey's a Spokane Valley planning commission member, longtime…
And Forbes magazine, apparently unimpressed with the official "Near nature, near perfect" city slogan in Spokane, today pronounced the Lilac City the "Scam Capital of America." From writer William Barrett's story:Welcome to Spokane, Wash., a metropolitan object lesson in what can befall the unwary when…
In the print paper:A 10-month investigation by the Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman has found “a widespread crisis of confidence by the community in the child welfare system … that puts children and families at risk of harm.” (Note: here's a link to…
The conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation, with research from Canadian foundation, has compiled a "report card" on academics at more than a thousand schools across the state.Here's a link to the site.And here's a story by our Jody Lawrence Turner, with reaction from the state teacher's…
May 7, 2009 Statement from House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown regarding special session: “After a conversation today between Gov. Gregoire, Speaker Chopp and Majority Leader Brown, the three leaders decided against a special session.” “The few issues left on the…
The Franklin County Republican central committee has "overwhelmingly voted to censure" state Rep. Maureen Walsh "for her sponsorship of the recently passed HB 1727."(It probably should be noted here that the prime sponsor of the bill was Rep. Jamie Pedersen. Walsh was a co-sponsor --…
Yet more, um, aggregation this morning: Senate Democrats' senior staff director Rich Nafziger, writing on his personal blog, offers a session overview:The real shock was the extent to which the session hit the friends and allies of the legislative democrats...The Governor and the legislature abandoned…
More catching up (and thank God for tabbed browsing):-Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, after a drubbing during election season from The Stranger, continues to get no love from Seattle. Writes Horsesass.org founder David Goldstein:To those fondly speculating about Gov. Chris Gregoire being on the list of…
Lots -- LOTS -- to catch up on:-The Everett Herald's Jerry Cornfield says that two-time GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's got a new job that's a return to his commercial real estate roots. He won't rule out running for office again ("Never say never") but…
As expected, Washington Values Alliance president Larry Stickney this afternoon filed a ballot measure to overturn Senate Bill 5688, which grants state-registered domestic partners most of the rights of married spouses. More than 5,000 couples have registered in the past two years, including many same-sex…
(Photo: people waiting to testify at a House hearing re: domestic partnerships in February.)Foes of the state's new "everything but marriage" law plan to file a referendum at noon today at the Secretary of State's elections office in Olympia, according to Dave Ammons, a spokesman…
From my weekly print column:It always astounds me how quickly the state capital becomes a ghost town when a legislative session ends.On Sunday, lobbyists were still swarming the Senate and House doors. Lawmakers rushed toward midnight in a mad scramble of last-minute deals, deadlocks and…
There are no known cases of swine flu in Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Wednesday, as health officials elsewhere confirmed dozens of cases -- including one toddler death -- in 10 states."Right now, we have no confirmed cases in Washington state, and we are doing…
From this morning's paper:OLYMPIA – All eyes were on state spending in Olympia this year, as lawmakers wrestled with their greatest budget problem in decades. But it’s not all that Washington lawmakers did. By the time they ended the session early Monday morning, they had…
-Andrew Villeneuve at the Northwest Progressive Institute blog has the much-predicted news that Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, is in fact going to run for King County executive. Also running: fellow lawmaker Sen. Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island.-Spokesman-Review editorialist Gary Crooks weighs in on the state's tax…
From this morning's paper:OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday she intends to call Washington lawmakers back into a special session to finish budget-related bills left undone when midnight struck Sunday night, ending the 105-day legislative session.But the governor said she first wants wrung-out lawmakers…
Gov. Chris Gregoire said she intends to call a special session, but wants to talk to lawmakers first.She said she hopes the session is soon -- not waiting for the June revenue forecast, for example -- short, and limited in scope. She wants to hash…
Lawmakers wrapped up around 1 a.m., adjourning even though several bills necessary to implement the budgets never made it to a vote. Among them: bills affecting school levy rates and another to require the deportation of non-violent foreign criminals.Gov. Chris Gregoire sent out a statement…
Gov. Gregoire’s statement on legislative session OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire released the following statement tonight on calling a special session of the 2009 Washington Legislature: “The 2009 legislative session completed the most difficult regular session in a generation with a balanced budget, very significant…
Special session for the few remaining bills?Looks that way. Top lawmakers and the governor are trying to figure out what to do.Developing...
Lawmakers are on track tonight to end a grueling legislative session that saw two lawmakers hospitalized and left the state facing $4 billion in cuts to schools, adult day care centers, colleges, hospitals, and health coverage for the working poor."It has been a brutal year,…
Maybe. From lawmakers: "I think the stakes go up for everybody in the next few few hours, particularly for leadership, which does not want to be embarassed" and forced into a special legislative session. -Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane "There is the glimmering of a deal."…
Tensions have been brewing for days over an already-very-controversial bill: Sen. Chris Marr's SB 5840, which would retool parts of Initiative 937. Environmental groups have been unhappy with the changes, which they see as a wrongheaded softening of the goal of I-937: to spur investments…
It's clear from reviewing the proposed budget documents that in addition to major changes for schools, colleges, social services and health care, budget writers also did some work with the fiscal equivalent of a scalpel, trimming spending on things like the governor's bodyguards, classes on…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
