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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

WA Lege Day 103… and counting

OLYMPIA -- With a special session all but a foregone conclusion, some legislators might be wishing they were anywhere but here. 

Partially granting that wish, it is Hawaiian music day in the Capitol, with guitars and ukeleles strumming, hula dancers in the Rotunda, and leis on each desk in the Senate before the 11 a.m. start.

The real question of the day is when will the special session start -- on Monday, the day after the regular session skids to a stop, a few days later, or a couple weeks later? No answer yet, but the speculation changes almost by the hour.

On Thursday, a group from the Majority Coalition Caucus essentially demanded the governor call them back right away to keep legislators who have to run for their appointed slot or some other electoral post from raising money in the interim. State law doesn't allow legislators to raise money during a session, and they made a point of all but calling out Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic Leader who is considering a run for Seattle Mayor.  

Which took a bit of chutzpah on their part, because as the Washington State Wire reports, the Senate Republican Caucus, which makes up 23/25ths of the Majority Caucus, has a fund-raiser scheduled for Monday morning, fitting neatly between what would be the narrowest window of money grubbing possibilities that would exist between the latest close of the regular session on midnight Sunday and the likely earliest start of a special session on noon Monday.

Still some folks steaming Friday over that press conference, but whether it is the determining factor on when the special session will start remains to be seen.



The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.