OLYMPIA -- Contract negotiations between the state and its employees' unions should be open to the public and legislators, Senate Republicans argued Tuesday. Union leaders said that would be different from nearly all negotiations in the private sector and that the leaders of the committee conduct their budget negotiations behind closed doors.
OLYMPIA -- Further signs of a two-economy state: King County unemployment 3.3 percent; Spokane County unemployment 6 percent.
OLYMPIA -- One of the Senate Republicans' pet peeves -- that negotiations between the public employees' unions and the governor's office are closed to them and the public -- is the subject of a bill that gets a hearing in Senate Ways & Means Committee today.
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
