OLYMPIA -- Legislators are spending Valentine's Day moving as many bills as possible through their respective chambers. Eastern Washington members may not be home in time for a romantic dinner with their significant others, but may get the rest of the weekend off.

Why the hurry? A deadline looms next Tuesday which kills many of these bills if they don't get a passing vote in their originating house. So we can expect to see a lot of legislation brought to the floor with the introduction of "This is a good little bill..." Big, controversial bills, which gum up the works, will be relatively rare.

We'll provide updates as warranted.

There was a rainbow briefly over the Capitol Building this morning as the House and Senate began work. Don't know whether to ascribe anything deep to its appearance. . . or the fact that it didn't last long.

With all the rain the Puget Sound is having right now, it's probably not a good idea to make too much of it.

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