Yesterday and today, the state commission that sets salaries for elected officials has been meeting at a hotel in downtown Olympia.So far, most of the politicians who've testified have said there should be no raises over the next two years, seeing as how Gov. Chris…
Today is Potato Day, a popular day, when growers descend on Olympia to hand out hundreds of baked potatoes to lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists and whoever else is around. Also popular: Dairy Day, which tends to involve free ice cream.
Forgot to post this before going home last night:More than 4,000 people crowded the Washington state Capitol steps Tuesday to decry abortion.“Let’s make sure the Supreme Court can hear all of us today,” newly elected state Rep. Matt Shea, R-Mead, said. He dismissed the dozen…
This from Blatherwatch: Apparently a KIRO radio interviewer, in the middle of an inauguration-day chat with the governor, asked her if she'd prepped for the event with a shot of Botox.Click on the link for the full account.
In honor of the inauguration of President Obama, Washington state's Secretary of State is selling U.S. flags that are being flown at the state capitol today. (Yup, there's some person who's going to be busy hauling flags up and down all day. Really.)You can buy…
The capitol rotunda and hallways were like a ghost town this morning, as staffers and lawmakers crowded around TVs to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama.In the darkened state Senate, about a dozen lawmakers sat at their desks, peering up at a big-screen projection…
Speaking of new state school superintendent Randy Dorn, he sent out an interesting invitation recently, saying that tomorrow he'll unveil his plans for the controversial Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Dorn was a state lawmaker when the original law passed, launching the WASL. But throughout…
Newly elected state superintendent of public instruction Randy Dorn threw down the gauntlet on school funding Monday in his inaugural appearance before the state Senate education committee.Money for schools must come first, Dorn told them:"We've really never matched up the standards and how you fund…
From tomorrow's paper:On Monday, while many people had a day off, state Sen. Ken Jacobsen was facing a state Senate committee, trying to convince his fellow lawmakers to let people be buried with their pets.He's absolutely serious. The idea to him a couple of years…
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…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
