A coalition representing hospitals, nurses, health-care workers and Group Health Cooperative has launched TV ads in Seattle and Tacoma, urging people to call lawmakers and protest budget cuts."What Olympia is proposing should alarm families across Washington State," said Cassie Sauer, vice president of the state…
That's what Brown says in an interview to be aired tonight at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW, according to Niki Sullivan. The tax would be on earnings above $250,000.
Sen. Lisa Brown, responding to a report that Senate Democrats "are backing off the idea of a state income tax" on the wealthy, says the idea is still in play."I've always been realistic about the fact that it's a short time frame for putting a…
-Publicola's Josh Feit, who's been riding herd all session on a bill to rewrite environmentalists' Initiative 937 (he hates it), has the Easter-eve story of how Sen. Chris Marr's controversial bill died and was resurrected in a surprise move in the House.-NPI's Andrew Villeneuve writes…
As in this press release:"Committee approves funding for apple maggot monitoring program"
At the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, Mike Reitz comes up with an interesting scenario if an income tax bill is follows the format (if not the details) of the trial balloon offered by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles.In what I assume is an effort to get around Washington's…
David Goldstein, from the political blog Horses Ass, adds his voice to the call for an income tax on the wealthy -- and says it's time for House Speaker Frank Chopp to get behind the idea:I know Chopp understands the issue. I know he knows…
From my weekly column in tomorrow's paper:OLYMPIA _ With less than three weeks to go in the legislative session, Democrats seem near-unanimous in being unhappy with the cuts in the budgets they're proposing.But now, as the clocks ticks down, they're struggling to reach agreement on…
Also this morning, Gov. Chris Gregoire said that 75 school districts across the state have millions of dollars in voter-approved levies that they cannot collect, because they're butting up against a law that puts a "lid" on such levies.Gregoire's proposal: why not lift that lid…
Saying that Washington cannot allow the sort of deep budget cuts proposed by lawmakers for higher education, Gov. Chris Gregoire this morning met with the state's top lawmakers and proposed letting the state's four-year schools boost tuition by 14 percent a year over the next…
Today, full page ad in the Olympian: 31 mostly out-of-state economists sign a Washington Policy Center ad urging lawmakers not to raise taxes because it "will thwart the state's economic recovery. Leaving earnings in the hands of individuals and businesses is the best way to…
Rep. Hans Dunshee has proposed House Bill 2334, which would raise $3 billion for construction/renovation work on public buildings around the state. Voters would have to approve it first. The money would mostly go toward work on schools, from K-12 to the state's universities. It…
Lawmakers on Friday released the details of their proposed two-year operating budget and a quick scan of the 515-page document suggests that they did, in fact, use scalpels instead of hatchets. In addition to the major changes for schools, colleges, social services and health care,…
It wasn't a quite a grilling. More like a light sauteeing.Whatever the verb, it quickly became apparent this morning that members of the Senate natural resources committee are not happy with the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.The hearing was to confirm commission chairwoman Miranda Wecker,…
From our print story:For years in Washington’s capital, state income tax proposals have been viewed much like those periodic bills to declare Eastern Washington a 51st state. They’re attention-getters aimed at spurring a discussion. No one expects them to actually pass.This year’s different.Full story is…
After years of a few lawmakers flirting with the idea of a state income tax, key lawmakers now say they're seriously considering it as a way to help the cash-strapped state budget in the long term. A possible state income tax on people earning $500,000…
By now, Republican campaign "operatives" across the state have undoubtedly already clipped and scanned in this headline from a story that moved on the AP wire last night: "Democrats Propose Income Tax Bill."As the story notes -- repeatedly -- Democrats so far seem to be…
If you happened to be watching TVW yesterday afternoon, you may well have been left wondering what they're putting in the House coffeepot these days. What the hell was that? (Tech note: To replay this segment, refresh this page on your browser first. The video,…
I missed this in the Senate budget earlier this week, but others sure didn't:45. Star USA Skating Spokane - Funding is provided to Star USA to assist hosting the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, scheduled for Jan. 14-24, 2010.How much funding? A couple hundred…
On the heels of a very similar post I wrote yesterday re: Washington State University's budget cuts, here's a closer look at the legislature's proposals for Eastern Washington University. The short form: It's not as bad as it sounds.“We are looking at an 18.5 to…
The House version, released this afternoon, is leaner -- $2.9 billion -- and doesn't include a lot of the new construction at state colleges that the Senate plan does. Instead, it focuses largely on repairs and maintenance."My father always used to say it's better to…
The Senate has released its $3.3 billion two year capital budget. It's $700 million less than the governor's proposal in December, and about $1.3 billion (29 percent) less than the last two-year budget.-K-12 construction assistance programs would be fully funded,-Higher ed would get just over…
TVW's Niki Sullivan reports that Terry Teale, executive director of the Council of Presidents (meaning college presidents), asked the Senate budget committee yesterday to let the state's college hike tuition by 14 percent a year.The Senate has proposed a 7 percent increase a year, which…
Both the Senate and House will today release their capital (i.e. construction) budget proposals for the next two years. That means millions of dollars for local schools, university buildings, community centers and other projects.I'll start posting specifics and links soon.
If it's possible to sound stunned in a prepared statement, Washington State University President Elson Floyd did so earlier today: “Hard as it is to imagine, today’s House budget is even more draconian, with a more devastating impact, than the Senate budget proposed yesterday. Words…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
