April 29, 2013
After a 105-days of work, the Washington State Legislature officially adjourned its Regular Session on Sunday (April 28). Late yesterday, Governor Inslee announced a Special Session will begin on May 13th at 9:00AM. State budget writers will meet in Olympia for the next two weeks in an attempt to work out a budget agreement. In addition… Read More
April 17, 2013
Today (April 17) is the last day for the State House and Senate to consider opposite house bills. Regular session is slated to end in just over two weeks on April 28. After today, the main business left to accomplish is negotiating the state budget. Both the House and Senate have passed operating budgets (read President… Read More
April 11, 2013
“Today’s House budget proposal lacks significant, new state investment in public higher education. Washington ranks second to last in the nation — 49th — in higher education funding per student, with 25,000 jobs in high demand industries awaiting graduates we do not have the funding to educate. If we are to compete in the 21st… Read More
April 3, 2013
“Today’s Senate Majority Coalition Caucus budget proposal comes up woefully short for the UW and higher education. Of the $100 million in ‘new’ funding for higher education, the majority is derived from a 20 percent tax on our international students that we believe will price students out of their education and result in a loss of high-quality talent… Read More
April 1, 2013
State Representative Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) explains how the legislative budget process works in this white board video from the Washington House Democrats:
March 20, 2013
Today (March 20) the Revenue Forecast was released. The forecast is prepared by the state’s nonpartisan Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, and used by both the executive and legislative branches in budget preparation. Budget writers in the House and Senate can now finish up their respective proposals, as the overall picture moves into focus. For more detail,… Read More
March 14, 2013
Yesterday (March 13) was the “floor cutoff” in the State Legislature. Bills that didn’t make it out of their chamber of origin are now considered “dead.” Of course, bills can still be revived in Olympia-speak if they are “NTIB,” which means “necessary to implement the budget.” TVW has a brief summary of several high-profile bills that… Read More
February 28, 2013
Via the Associated Press: A divided high court ruled 6-3 Thursday that an initiative requiring a two-thirds vote was in conflict with the state Constitution. And that lawmakers and the people of Washington would need to pass a constitutional amendment to change from a simple majority to a supermajority. AP News – WA Supreme Courtstrikes… Read More
January 18, 2013
On Monday, members of the House & Senate took their oaths of office. In the State Senate, as was expected, the Majority Coalition Caucus took control after a brief floor fight. And we’ve got a leadership structure. The state Senate votes 25-23 to adopt proposal of 23R/2D Majority Coalition Caucus. #waleg — Brian M. Rosenthal… Read More
January 10, 2013
With the start of the 105-day legislative session set to kick off next Monday, Jan. 14, the Associated Press held its annual forum featuring state legislators and decision-makers in Olympia today. The big topics? Finding additional funding for basic education, the committee structure and leadership of the State Senate, and addressing the estimated $1 billion… Read More
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