Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a $52.4 billion, two-year state budget that he said "rises to the needs of our time," but that minority Republicans quickly criticized as a "tax-and-spend home run." Read More
Tucked into Washington’s $52.4 billion operating budget passed Sunday night by the Legislature is controversial funding for a “stakeholder group” tasked with looking into what would happen should the four Lower Snake River dams be removed or altered. Read More
Washington lawmakers just wrapped up an action-packed, 105-day session with passage of the first state budget to exceed $50 billion and a bundle of tax hikes to fund it. Continue Reading Washington Lawmakers Are Done This Year. Read More
Washington lawmakers adjourned at midnight Sunday after majority Democrats approved an initiative to restore affirmative action and passed a $52.4 billion, two-year state operating budget. The budget relies on an array of tax increases, including on businesses and real estate transactions, but doesn't impose a new capital gains tax as had been proposed. Read More
Washington Senate Democrats on Friday proposed a capital gains tax that would fund a suite of tax reductions for low-income families, small businesses and senior citizen homeowners. The tax proposal was rolled out in conjunction with the Senate Democrats' unveiling of a $52 billion two-year state spending plan, which followed a House Democratic budget presentation earlier Read More
Washington House Democrats have proposed nearly $1 billion in short-term property tax relief, followed by a longer-term tax cut funded by a new state capital gains tax on a minority of wealthier residents. Continue Reading Read More
Washington House Democrats on Tuesday proposed nearly $1 billion in short-term property tax relief, followed by a longer-term tax cut funded by a new state capital gains tax on a minority of wealthier residents. Continue Read More
The Chehalis School District broke ground on one new elementary school, but a second has been put on hold after the Washington Legislature failed to pass a $4.1 billion capital construction budget. CHEHALIS SCHOOL DISTRICT Listen Washington state lawmakers have adjourned and gone home without passing a $4.1 billion capital construction budget. For a community… Read More
The sewage system in Carbonado, Washington, is leaking. STEVEN PAVLOV / WIKIMEDIA – TINYURL.COM/YBZAMJ78 Listen The sewage system is crumbling in Carbonado, Washington, near Mt. Rainier. And if Washington lawmakers fail to pass a capital construction budget before they adjourn Thursday, a plan to replace it—and many other projects around the state—will be put Read More
WSDOT / FLICKR Listen Time is running out for Washington lawmakers to pass a capital construction budget. Less than one week remains in the state’s third overtime session of the legislature. It would be unprecedented for the state to go without a capital budget. It funds classroom construction, improvements at state mental hospitals and prisons… Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee prepares to act on a business and occupation tax at the Washington capitol. AUSTIN JENKINS / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK Listen In a move certain to anger Republicans, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday vetoed a tax break for manufacturers that lawmakers passed last week as part of a budget deal to… Read More
File photo. The Washington Supreme Court is likely to decide later this year whether the new budget adequately funds the state’s school system. AIDAN WAKELY-MULRONEY / FLICKR – TINYURL.COM/ZWJ3D3J Listen Despite what state lawmakers say, Washington’s next budget doesn’t fully fund schools. That’s the opinion of the lawyer who sued the state in 2007 over… Read More
WSDOT / FLICKR Listen There’s still no word of a budget deal in the Washington state Capitol. And a partial government shutdown is just days away. Yet lawmakers remain optimistic. In the Republican Senate, Majority Leader Mark Schoesler said a deal is near at hand. “They are incredibly close,” he said. “They are getting into… Read More
COLIN FOGARTY / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK Listen It’s do-or-die week in Olympia. If lawmakers don’t pass a budget and send it to the governor for his signature before midnight on Friday, state government will go into partial shutdown. Washington lawmakers are optimistic that won’t happen. They hunkered down through the weekend heatwave and in the words… Read More
The Washington Capitol in Olympia. WSDOT / FLICKR Listen After weeks of deadlock, Washington lawmakers could be close to reaching an agreement in principle on a state budget, House and Senate budget writers said on Friday. “Yeah, I think we can get it sorted out by the end of the day,” Democrat Timm Ormsby, House budget chair,… Read More
File photo. A partial government shutdown in Washington state would mean state parks closing just in time for the Fourth of July holiday. WASHINGTON STATE PARKS – TINYURL.COM/Y8ZLZ8CA Listen If Washington lawmakers don’t pass a state budget by June 30, the state will go into a partial government shutdown. And the impacts would be significant.… Read More
House budget chair Timm Ormsby, second from left, and Senate budget chair John Braun, on right, say they are working to get a budget deal by June 30th to avoid a government shutdown. AUSTIN JENKINS / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK Listen The state of Washington is 10 days from a government shutdown as lawmakers head into… Read More
It looks like Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will have to call a third special session of the state legislature. The current overtime session ends Wednesday—and there’s still no budget deal. Continue Reading Inslee On Budget Talks: ‘They Still Have Miles And Read More
Washington voters will likely get to weigh in on police use of deadly force. A ballot measure on that subject turned in around 360,000 voter signatures Thursday afternoon. That should be more than enough to qualify for consideration by the Washington Legislature and then probably go to the statewide ballot in 2018. Read More
With a government shutdown looming, Washington Senate Republicans are characterizing the status of budget negotiations differently than Gov. Jay Inslee. Continue Reading Did Inslee Really ‘Kickstart’ Washington Budget Negotiations?Read More
There are just 10 days left in Washington’s second legislative overtime session. And still there’s no sign of a budget deal. Continue Reading A Budget Deal By June 30? Key Washington Lawmakers Say It’s RealisticRead More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is sounding the alarm over the pace of budget negotiations at the state Capitol. During a media availability Monday, the Democrat said that it’s time for both sides to make “major moves” toward compromise. Continue Reading Read More
The halfway mark has come and gone in Washington’s 30-day special session of the legislature. But there’s still no deal on a budget or a school funding solution. Continue Reading Still No Budget Deal Halfway Through Washington’s Special Read More
Time is running out for Washington lawmakers to negotiate a state budget that complies with a Supreme Court ruling to fully fund schools. Continue Reading Time Running Out For Washington Lawmakers To Get Budget Deal Read More
Washington Senate Republicans are looking for ways to save money on state subsidized child care for low-income families. And they think they’ve found a way. Continue Reading Child Under 2? GOP Plan Would Let Parents On Welfare Delay Work Read More
Washington Senate Republicans have proposed a $5 billion increase in state spending over the next two years, including $1.8 billion more for public schools in an attempt to satisfy a Supreme Court ruling that found the state is not adequately funding K-12 education. Read More
