OLYMPIA -- The state budget office is questioning some parts of the 2013-15 operating budget proposal released earlier this week by the leaders of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The budget uses some assumptions that may not be legal, and others that don't have…
OLYMPIA – Legislators began hearings Thursday on competing but similar multi-billion-dollar spending plans for the state’s highways, bridges, ferries and mass transit. Prepared separately by the House and Senate, the two $8.4 billion transportation budget proposals have many things in common. Described variously as “bare…
The woman who led the city’s arts department for 15 years before it was dismantled last year won’t be the permanent leader of the new agency promoting the arts in Spokane. Karen Mobley said Thursday that she decided to step down as the interim director…
OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Liquor Control Board started the process to set a new rule ban the use of marijuana in bars. One might say that Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana use by adults, was pretty clear about that by saying it's illegal to…
OLYMPIA -- The House Transportation Committee released an $8.7 billion spending plan for the next two years, and like the Senate plan released Wednesday it projects no tax increases. In February, Committee Chairwoman Judy Clibborn and a group of other Democrats did produce a separate…
Councilman Mike Fagan was within his rights to call Gov. Jay Inslee “a lying whore,” the Spokane Ethics Committee ruled on Wednesday. The committee voted unanimously that the slur, which was part of a letter signed by Fagan and two others, didn’t violate city ethics…
Sen. Andy Hill describes the budget proposal with Sen. Jim Hargrove waiting nearby in the State Reception Room. OLYMPIA -- Leaders of a Senate committee released a $32.5 billion operating budget that spends more on education, less on programs for the poor and doesn't raise…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate Transportation Committee released an $8.7 billion spending proposal for the state's highways, bridges, ferries and state patrol Wednesday, but said its bipartisan leaders said they have no plans right now for any possible tax increases for new projects. While acknowledging there…
Lilac Queen Brett Rountree addresses the state Senate. OLYMPIA -- The Senate and House took a not too controversial stance this morning, passing resolutions in support of the Spokane Lilac Festival and it's 75-year anniversary. With Lilac Queen Brett Rountree of Central Valley High School…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is considering changes to the initiative that got the state out of the liquor business, changing some of the fees charged distributors and retailers. Liquor distributors told the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee Tuesday they wouldn't fight a plan to…
WASHINGTON — An Indian leader invited to the United States by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and other lawmakers has previously been denied entry. A U.S. Congressional delegation including McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, invited Indian government executive Narenda Modi to talk about economic development last week,…
OLYMPIA -- Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is recovering from a heart bypass and valve replacement surgery. A statement from his office said the surgery at an Olympia hospital was planned after doctors had monitored his heart for several months. Kreidler, 69, was elected to a…
Spokane’s most senior elected official is considering a move to the east. City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said last week that she may move into Spokane Valley’s 4th Legislative District to run for the House seat held by state Rep. Larry Crouse – if he decides…
OLYMPIA -- Many committees will be scrambling to get certain bills passed before Wednesday's deadline, but one House panel will be taking up a new proposal on liquor revenue. The Government Accountability and Oversight Committee has a proposal to change the fee structure for liquor…
OLYMPIA – For all the attention being paid to legal marijuana this session, it’s the more traditional legal intoxicant – alcohol – providing Washington legislators with a greater array of possible changes to state law. More than a dozen bills working their way through the…
OLYMPIA -- Supporters of the controversial Reproductive Parity Act say they have enough votes to pass it in the Senate, but they may not get the chance. The chairwoman of the committee that held a two-hour hearing on the bill said Monady afternoon she will…
OLYMPIA -- As abortion-rights groups and their legislative allies try to force a vote on a bill that would expand requirements for insurance companies to cover the procedure, a Washington congresswoman is warning President Obama the proposal violates federal laws. The Senate Health Care Committee…
OLYMPIA -- The Reproductive Parity Act, which would require any insurance plan that overs maternity benefits to also cover abortion, gets a hearing this morning in the Senate Health Care Committee. The bill is controversial, as has been its scheduling. Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom,…
OLYMPIA – It is a rare day in the session that some legislator doesn’t offer the folksy wisdom that the state would be fine if it would just balance the budget like the folks back home. Sometimes, those folks are mom and pop entrepreneurs on…
Leeman Able, a member of the Shoshone Paiute tribe, stands at the Washington Vietnam Memorial Friday during a ceremony to welcome home Vietnam veterans. OLYMPIA -- Saturday is officially "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" under a bill passed by the Legislature and signed Friday by…
Gov. Jay Inslee explains his budget as students from Seattle's Cleveland High School look on. OLYMPIA — The state should make temporary tax increases on beer and some business services permanent, cancel a variety of other tax breaks and spend an extra $1.2 billion on…
House Speaker Frank Chopp buys cookies and a brownie from Kate Hunter and Maureen Bo, who were manning the table of a "bake sale" for seniors and the disabled in the Capitol. OLYMPIA -- The Legislature has a pretty full day of hearings on this…
OLYMPIA – Washington gets a good grade for showing its residents how the state spends their money, but probably deserves lower marks for letting them see how those spending decisions are made, government watchdog groups said Wednesday on the eve of the next big milestone…
OLYMPIA – Although the state’s unemployment numbers may be slowly declining, the number of open jobs for skilled workers is rising and could double in the next five years, a business group said Wednesday. A new study by an international consulting firm estimates the state’s…
OLYMPIA -- Legislative committees have a fairly full day of hearings today, on topics large and small, ranging from legislation on spaying pets to a work session on the Washington State University global campus. The Legislature will also get a grade on transparency in how…
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 |
