OLYMPIA -- The House and Senate are expected to spend quite a bit of time passing bills today, or at least talking about which bills they will try to pass. The House may vote on both the Capital and the Transportation budgets, which are written…
OLYMPIA – When a federal Cabinet secretary stopped by the Capitol last week, trying to prod the Legislature into action on a big multi-state project, he got a warm welcome from Gov. Jay Inslee. Not so much from Senate Republicans. So what would one expect…
OLYMPIA -- The House passed a $34.2 billion budget for most state programs that would add money to public schools and assumes a jump in some taxes on businesses and consumers. In a mostly party-line vote, House Democrats the two-year spending plan that their budget…
Sen. Andy Billig argues in favor of allowing small theaters to serve beer and wine. OLYMPIA -- Small theaters would be able to sell beer and wine during movies under a bill that narrowly passed the Senate today. Over objections from some senators that it…
Sen. Mike Padden listens to debate on bill to raise pay to presidential electors. OLYMPIA -- Electors who cast their vote for the state's choice for president would get more money in 2016 -- quite a bit more -- under a bill that passed the…
WASHINGTON — Powerful Congressional voices on transportation issues, including Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, admonished the Federal Aviation Administration for plans to shutter control towers nationwide as a result of federal spending cuts, including Spokane’s tower at Felts Field. Cantwell joined six of her colleagues…
OLYMPIA – Minors would be barred from buying “vapor” cigarettes under a bill headed for Gov. Jay Inslee. In a 46-1 vote, the Senate approved a bill Thursday that would make it a gross misdemeanor to sell non-combustible tobacco products to minors. The products extract…
State Republicans will have a chance to bid on a rifle at the center of the current gun-control vs. gun rights debate, an AR-15, at their spring fund-raiser this weekend. But State GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur said auctioning off the semi-automatic rifle is not a…
Sen. Mike Padden, left, talks with Sen. Andy Billig on the Senate floor during the discussion of the National Cowboy Day resolution Thursday. OLYMPIA -- Ignoring the advice of almost every political consultant worth a darn that an elected official should not wear silly headgear,…
OLYMPIA -- By now, most people have heard or read about the striped fish that came across the Pacific in a boat after the tsunami in Japan. But the boat that washed ashore near Long Beach was actually full of critters that made the trip.…
OLYMPIA -- The House Appropriations Committee is likely to vote this afternoon on whether to advance the budget plan Democrats released yesterday, setting up debate on the floor on Friday. After a marathon hearing Wednesday, a few hours after the $34.5 billion spending plan was…
OLYMPIA – House Democrats want to spend about $1.9 billion more on education over the next two years, paying for much of it by extending some taxes set to expire in June and closing more than a dozen tax breaks now on the books. As…
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats released their 2013-15 budget proposal this afternoon with calls for adding $1.9 billion to public schools, extending taxes set to expire at the end of June and closing a series of tax preference. It's in sharp contrast to a budget that…
Spokane County’s loss of more than $1 million in a land deal with the Spokane International Airport was completed Monday by the Spokane City Council. In 2008, the county paid $3.2 million for nearly 400 acres between the airport and Fairchild Air Force Base to…
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats will release their proposals for two-year operating and capital projects budgets at noon today. As dismissive as leading House Democrats have been about the Senate budget which passed last Friday, we can expect that it will have some new revenue, probably…
OLYMPIA -- Products that contain asbestos would have to be labelled in Washington state stores under a bill that passed the House Tuesday. Approving a bill that already passed the Senate, the House voted 65-28 to support a bill first introduced by Sen. Andy Billig,…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate's plan to spend some $3.6 billion on projects large and small, known as the Capital Budget, was released today with nearly $67 million for projects in Spokane County. Among the largest Spokane-area projects are $8.5 million for the Extended Learning Center…
Sen. Mike Baumgartner and Rep. Jeff Holy, two Republicans who represent Spokane's 6th Legislative District, are holding a town hall meeting by phone this evening. The session will feature a live poll of those on the line and a chance to ask questions of the…
OLYMPIA -- Victims of child sexual abuse could report their assaults up to the age of 30 under a bill approved today by the Senate. The bill extends the statute of limitations for charging suspects in child sexual abuse cases, which currently require a victim…
Last night’s City Council meeting boiled down a debate on the definition of shall. The Spokane City Council’s creation of 13 new public safety departments appears to violate the City Charter. But city attorneys insisted that “shall” does not always mean shall, at least not…
OLYMPIA -- Just because legislative budget committees are under the gun to get their work done doesn't rule out a few light moments. The Senate Ways and Means Committee was discussing a bill that would expand primaries so that any office up for election is…
OLYMPIA -- The ability to set tolls on bridges, ferries and some special highway lanes would stay with the appointed Transportation Commission rather than the Legislature under an amendment rejected Monday afternoon. The House Transportation Committee rejected an amendment to the 2013-15 budget that would…
OLYMPIA -- The House Appropriations Committee is expected to release its general operating budget sometime Wednesday, giving everyone a chance to see how far apart that chamber is with the Senate, which passed its "no-new taxes" budget on Friday. There may actually be two full…
Friday’s four-hour budget debate in the Senate was mostly about programs that get cut or taxes that don’t get raised. But there were brief detours into other topics, including cigar lounges and Spokane Indians baseball. . . To read the rest of this item, or…
OLYMPIA – For the next three weeks, at a minimum, legislators will be throwing around the word “sustainable” more than a bunch of organic farmers hectoring an executive from Archer Daniels Midland. It is the go-to cudgel for anyone who doesn’t like a budget proposal,…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
| Dec. 2013 | Nov. 2013 | Oct. 2013 | Sept. 2013 |
| Aug. 2013 | July 2013 | June 2013 | May 2013 |
| April 2013 | March 2013 | Feb. 2013 | Jan. 2013 |
