Lawmakers Call It A Session

Washington lawmakers headed for home Thursday after rescuing the Puget Sound regional transit agency and killing a plan for a new $10 million prison dairy in Eastern Washington.

The House and Senate adjourned at 6:05 p.m., capping a rambunctious session that stretched into one of the longest in state history: 137 days. Thursday was the second day of a second special session.

Republicans, with their “Contract with Washington State,” set a penny-pinching, less-government tone for the gathering, with the Democratic Senate and Gov. Mike Lowry forced to play defense.

It was a rare session that spent far less than the treasury contained. Even after granting $501 million worth of tax breaks and giving teachers and state employees a 4 percent pay boost, lawmakers left more than $300 million unspent.

The $17.6 billion state budget was the first to be written within the constraints of spending-limit Initiative 601, and lawmakers came in $300 million below the level authorized by the voters.

Republicans, who control the House, took credit for beginning to change the shape of government, downsizing the budget, reining in regulators and rolling back the plan for a government-run health-care system.