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Update 2 – GOP Rep. Short is climate-change skeptic, but says she supports...
UPDATE 2: The House Environment Committee approved HB 1915 on a vote of 7-to-3 Wednesday, moving it to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government. The bill is scheduled to be heard...
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Bill to give state’s minority-contracting agency more teeth passes House on...
The House of Representatives voted late Friday evening to approve a bill that takes aim at those who try to take advantage of the minority-contracts program administered by the troubled state Office of...
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UPDATE – Caseloads forecast adds $301 million to state budget shortfall
Washington’s state budget shortfall swelled to between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion today, thanks to an unexpectedly higher cost for low income people enrolled in Medicaid programs. That is the upshot...
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UPDATE – Democratic lawmakers defend failure to pass gun control bill during...
A legislative town hall meeting at the Capitol on Saturday morning sent clear messages to 22nd Legislative District lawmakers about things they already knew: They should keep working to pass a...
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State teachers union, allies says state funds for schools actually run out...
Washington voters last month approved more than $1.7 billion in new local-levy funding to help run public schools, according to one count. But that election-dependent funding can be a quarter or more...
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25 Senate lawmakers sign onto $42 million pledge for food aid in next state...
The Senate goes first with a budget at the Washington Capitol this year, and the Republican-dominated Senate Majority Coalition is keeping pretty mum on its spending plans. But the coalition does plan...
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Washington becoming low-tax state? One new report ranks state at No. 28 for...
The Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation put out its new report on state and local taxes this week and it shows Washington is a below-average state for taxes. The Evergreen State landed No. 28 out of...
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U.S. Senate’s ‘symbolic’ vote on online taxes keeps cash-hopes alive in the...
The U.S. Senate voted 75-to-24 Friday to approve a budget amendment that doesn’t yet usher in a new era of taxing online retail sales in all states. But it did show that the so-called Marketplace...
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‘Main Street’ group organizes letter to lawmakers from small business owners...
Advocates of an increase in state revenues brought a few small-business owners to the Capitol Monday to ask lawmakers to close tax “loopholes.” Of course leaders of the left-of-center Our Economic...
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Washington Roundtable lays out ‘skills gap’ report showing need to fill...
Washington state lost more than 200,000 jobs during the Great Recession, and as the state keeps bouncing back there are signs Washington has a mismatch between the skills of the workforce and the jobs...
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UPDATE – Gov. Inslee takes a big swipe at the Senate Republicans’ budget that...
The Senate budget plan crafted by Republicans with help from minority Democrats has drawn a broadside from Gov. Jay Inslee for what he called “short term fixes and budget tricks.” The plan does not...
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Sen. McAuliffe introduces income tax to help fund K-12 schools, cut sales tax...
Some legislative ideas are dubbed dead on arrival and then there are the ones for which the funeral quite possibly preceded the birth. We’ll just have to wait and see on Democratic Sen. Rosemary...
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GA Building demolition picks up a vote of support
A consultant brought in last year to recommend whether to repair or replace the state’s General Administration Building said the best option – for the money – is to replace it fully with a new $161...
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Why liberal Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser voted for the GOP-led budget
The decision on whether to support a Senate Republican-crafted budget Friday night came down to a simple home-district principle for liberal Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser of Thurston County: collective...
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Key Democrats voted for Senate budget to avoid gridlock, set up House...
In the end, 30 lawmakers in the divided Washington state Senate agreed on a budget Friday night that sent many messages and served one purpose above all others. It got the Senate out of possible...
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House Finance votes 8-to-5 on party line Monday to repair estate tax after...
Republican Rep. Terry Nealey of Dayton offered an amendment to cut off the state’s claim to taxes back only as far as 2005. This cutoff date would have avoided the threat of further litigation,...
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Senate’s capital budget has $1M for Thurston Food Bank, $816K for Oly...
The Thurston County Food Bank is earmarked for $1 million in the state Senate Majority Coalition’s proposed capital budget. The money would help pay for a warehouse purchase in Tumwater, refrigeration...
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UPDATE – House capital budget offers $82M replacement for GA building; $1M...
In the other budget show at the Capitol today, the House Democrats laid out a $3.6 billion capital-construction plan that puts more into environmental programs than the Senate’s Republican-dominated...
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House budget has $150,000 for thorough study of economic impacts of coal...
An overlooked item in the House Democrats’ operating budget is a $150,000 proviso for a study of the economic impact of coal-export facilities on Washington state. Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle,...
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$82M replacement of GA Building looks like hard sell in Senate
The Senate’s capital budget author Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, says that a House plan to replace the state General Administration building with a new structure next door is a no-go for him – at least...
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