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Power-Sharing Coalition Forms in Washington State Senate

State Senate Press Conference

Majority Coalition Caucus Press Conference in Olympia. Photo Credit: @AustinJenkinsN3.

At a press conference in the State Capitol today, Senators Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and Tim Sheldon (D-Potlach) joined with Republican senators to announce that they have formed a Majority Coalition Caucus to lead the Senate in the upcoming legislative session.

Coalition leaders said the public was hungry for a cooperative approach in Olympia, and pledged to unite behind a set of principles (PDF) signed by 25 state senators.

In terms of committee structure (PDF), the coalition leaders announced plans to form six committees with Democratic chairs, six with Republican chairs and three with co-chairs.

Under their plan, none of the committees will have more than a one-vote margin between Republicans and Democrats.

It remains to be seen how Senate Democrats led by Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) will react to today’s power-sharing proposal by the coalition.

UPDATE 1: Watch the press conference on TVW.

UPDATE 2: Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) issued a statement regarding the proposed organizing structure.

This Week in Olympia: Recounts Settled, Murray Mulls Mayoral Bid

A widely watched recount in Southwest Washington has concluded. At the end of the tallying, Sen. Don Benton (R-Vancouver) came out 74 votes ahead of his challenger, Rep. Tim Probst (D-Vancouver).

As reported earlier, that outcome means that control of the State Senate is still an open question, with two Senate Democrats potentially holding the keys to a new coalition:

In the House, Rep. Mark Hargrove (R-Covington) will be returning to Olympia, after a recount tally showed him with a 157 vote margin over his Democratic opponent:

In other state political news this week, newly minted Senate Majority Leader Ed Murray (D-Seattle), announced he is forming an exploratory committee for a Seattle mayoral run:

Sen. Murray, formerly the Senate Ways & Means Chair,  was responsible for the State Senate’s “no more cuts to higher education,” budget last year.

House Committee Meets To Consider Tuition Impacts and Financial Aid

Today, Director of State Relations Margaret Shepherd presented before the House Higher Education Committee.

Shepherd’s presentation focused on the impact of tuition increases, and UW’s successful efforts to mitigate effects on students through financial aid.

In the wake of significant tuition increases made necessary by a significant decrease in state funding, the state legislature required the university in H.B. 1795 to expand its financial aid programs for undergraduate students.

Shepherd noted that Husky Promise students were held harmless from tuition increases, and that more middle income students benefited from UW financial aid programs than ever before.

View her presentation slides (PDF).

Watch her presentation via TVW.

This Week in Olympia: Legislative Assembly Days

Legislators return to Olympia this week for committee assembly days. Director of State Relations Margaret Shepherd will be presenting before the Higher Education Committee to give an update on the impact of tuition increases and financial aid.

The regular session of the State Legislature is scheduled to begin on January 14, 2013 and end on April 28, 2013.

To see what committees are meeting this week and watch the proceedings, visit TVW’s programming guide:

Earlier this week, Senate Democrats released their leadership team and committee chair proposal. Some observers still predict that a “philosophical coalition,” could emerge around budget and government reform issues, changing the dynamics of Senate control.

In that scenario, Sens. Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and Tim Sheldon (D-Potlach) might decide to buck their caucus, and opt to work with Senate Republicans to broker an alternative governance proposal.

More reporting on that from The Olympian:

Democrats will have a slim 26-23 majority if preliminary election results hold up, giving major leverage to Republicans and middle-of-the-road Democrats.

 

But Democrats made several overtures to their more conservative wing and to the GOP. They offered to create a new bipartisan committee to deal with school-funding issues, to give Republicans their strongest hand in other committees that the minority party might ever have seen, and to give maverick Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, a plum post as president pro tem.

 

Seattle Sen. Ed Murray, newly elected by Democrats as majority leader to replace retiring Sen. Lisa Brown, has asked Republicans to negotiate ahead of the session that starts in January.

Senate Republicans meet today to select their new leaders. We’ll keep you posted if any noteworthy developments occur on this front.

Finally, Gov.-Elect Jay Inslee’s transition team continues to ramp up. A roster of key leadership was released this week:

http://twitter.com/Herald_Politics/status/273849557509627905

A repository for resumes has also been established for those interested in serving in the Inslee Administration:

This Week in Olympia: Caucuses Elect Leaders

Washington Senate Floor

Leaves falling on Red Square. And stirrings in Olympia. Fall has arrived in Washington State!

So when does the legislative action actually begin? Session doesn’t officially start until the second Monday in January. Our state has a two year legislative cycle – and since 2013 is an odd-year, we’ll have 105 days of regular session.

Next week, however, the legislative “season” gets kicked off with Committee “Assembly Days” in Olympia. The week long series of meetings allow legislators to regroup and receive updates on issues before the Legislature.

For Olympia watchers on campus, below are just a few of the stories driving buzz in Olympia this month.

House and Senate members met last week to elect their caucus leaders. House Democrats returned State Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) to his position as Speaker of the House, and House Republicans re-elected State Rep. Richard DeBolt (R-Chehalis) as Minority Leader.

On the Democratic-side in the Senate, State Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle) replaced retiring Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane).

The only shakeup happened in the Senate Republican caucus. Minority Leader Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) announced he would be giving up his post. A number of GOP Senators have expressed interest in leading that caucus. Some have also speculated that a coalition approach might become a possibility. That could hinge on one Southwest Washington Senate seat — more on that below.

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, and the ballot counting continues in Vancouver:

The outcome of the unusually close 17th District Senate race between Republican incumbent Don Benton and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, is being followed avidly by political parties at the state level, because it could impact the power balance in the Legislature.

Currently, Democrats hold a 27-22 majority in the Senate. If Benton wins, that Democratic majority would be knocked down to 26-23. There are also a couple of philosophically conservative Democrats in the Senate who could tip that balance by siding with Republicans on certain political issues.

In budget news, an updated four-year outlook released by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council shows Washington faces a projected $900 million state budget shortfall for the 2013–15 biennium and an even larger shortfall of nearly $1.1 billion for the following biennium (2015–17). Read the Office of Planning and Budgeting’s initial take on what the new numbers mean here.

Stay tuned to the State Relations Blog for more updates, as we get set to kick off the legislative season and session!