It was with some regret that I heard Wednesday morning that President Obama has released his birth certificate. There is no issue that is better for generating comments for this website than whether Obama was born in the USA, and I am sad to see…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate approved a $100 per year fee on electric cars, a move supporters say will help those vehicles share the cost of road repairs covered by gasoline taxes. SB 5251 didn't pass both chambers in the same version during the regular session,…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate had a quick startup this morning then went into caucus, where the honorables are expected to spend some time before returning for floor votes "later in the day", folks from the Senate Democratic offices said. No committee hearings until tomorrow, when…
OLYMPIA -- Washington state could save about $4.5 million over the next two years by supplying more women with better birth control, a Senate panel was told Tuesday. But a critic of the proposal to spend more state money on a family planning program suggested…
OLYMPIA -- The state may wait a day to pay public schools about $253 million this summer, and the schools would either have to do the same to their creditors or borrow money, as a way to make the budget balance at the end of…
OLYMPIA -- After a three-day Easter break, the Legislature gets back to work today for the start of the Special Session. The Senate got started at 1 p.m., taking up a handful of bills that got kicked back to them when time ran out last…
Legislators talk a lot. Sometimes, they come up with things that make one wonder if there should be a new television reality series, “$#@! Our Lawmakers Say.” They make interesting analogies, like Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, did last week while waxing effusive over the Senate’s…
OLYMPIA – One of the people gathered around the table as Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the bill outlawing “motorcycle profiling” last week may have been a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang who once killed a Portland police officer. The above photo of the event…
OLYMPIA -- The House turned thumbs down to the state's presidential primary next year in an effort to save some $10 million for Washington's general operating budget. In a 69-28 vote, they voted Tuesday to suspend the 2012 primary. The Senate already voted to suspend…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate began discussion of the 2011-13 Transportation Bill shortly afternoon -- and stopped fairly quickly. A ruling is needed to determine whether Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, can get a vote on an amendment that would require applicants for a drivers license to…
For all those political junkies who just can't wait for the 2012 election: Gary Busey endorses Donald Trump for president, and even suggests a campaign slogan.
OLYMPIA -- Both chambers are in a concurring mood this morning, moving relatively quickly through bills they have both passed previously, albeit in slightly different forms. Heavier lifting may await the afternoon. The House may debate its Capital Budget sometime after lunch, while the Senate…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan support to a $32.1 billion general operating budget for 2011-13, setting the stage for negotiations with the House, which approved a significantly different spending plan. The bill containing the budget, with cuts to most state programs, passed on…
OLYMPIA -- A bill aimed at cutting into information technology piracy in Asia and other foreign countries was signed into law today. HB 1495, backed heavily by Microsoft as it worked its way through the process, is designed to protect the state's software developers but…
It could be. The Legislature is running out of time and a compromise that can overcome the warnings of federal prosecutors may be hard to find. Read more about it in this story that first appeared in Sunday's print edition.
A biker wearing a Bandidos patch and a 1 percenter patch poses for a picture behind Gov. Chris Gregoire at last week's signing of the motorcycle profiling law. My image of the outlaw biker, that iconic badboy of the latter half of the last century,…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is unlikely to finish work in nine days, making a special session all but inevitable, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said today. At her weekly press briefing, the Spokane Democrat said the Senate was likely to debate the 2011-13 general operating…
OLYMPIA -- Both chambers decide whether they'll agree with changes the other made to bills that have bounced back and forth this session. Known as concurrence, it's usually a smooth process for passing legislation that's been honed to an acceptable edge. Senate Ways and Means…
OLYMPIA -- More than a dozen Senate Democrats want voters to reconsider their decision last November that makes it difficult for them to take state tax exemptions off the books. On Thursday they unveiled a a new bill that would remove the requirement that both…
Gov. Chris Gregoire congratulates Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, after signing his bill to restrict lawn fertilizers with phosphorus. OLYMPIA -- Finding fertilizer with phosphorus to spread on lawns in Washington will become difficult by 2013 under law signed Thursday. As part of the state's ongoing…
OLYMPIA -- RepublicanJeff Baxter will run in this year's special election in an effort to keep the state Senate seat he now holds by appointment. Baxter announced today that he will seek election to the Spokane Valley's 4th Legislative District seat. He was appointed to…
OLYMPIA -- School districts around the state might have to "eat" a cut in teacher salaries proposed by Senate budget writers rather than lower pay, Gov. Chris Gregoire warned Wednesday afternoon. She said some aspects of the Senate general operating budget proposal are improvements over…
Gov. Chris Gregoire offers the signing pen to Sen. Jim Hargrove after putting her signature on a bill to ban "motorcycle profiling. OLYMPIA -- Law enforcement in Washington state won't be able to stop motorcyclists simply because they are motorcyclists under a bill signed Wednesday…
Conservative student groups from Washington State University and University of Idaho say they plan to put up a chain-link fence on Terrell Mall today to protest illegal immigration. The groups include College Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty and Youth for Western Civilization. (The last sounds…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate will hold a hearing in its Ways and Means Committee this afternoon for the general operating budget released Tuesday evening. The budget is 462 pages long, but folks who stayed up all night to peruse it should be well versed in…
