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Tag: Washington Legislature

Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Washington lawmakers have adjourned their unprecedented 17-day November-December emergency session designed to start trimming the state budget to size. But they won’t be gone for long.  The regular 2012 session, supposedly limited to 60 days, is just around the corner — Jan. 9. The Democratic-controlled Legislature didn’t do the complete $2 billion budget-and-tax deal that Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire had strongly recommended when she called the session.  They gave strong bipartisan agreement to a plan, House Bill 2058, that begins…

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Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a $2 billion all-cuts rewrite of the ailing state budget, along with a plan to ask the voters to OK a three-year state sales tax hike of a half-cent to head off some of the cuts. The Democratic governor said the Legislature already has slashed the state budget by $10 billion in the past three years, “shredding” the state safety net and whacking K-12, higher education and other areas.  She said her latest list of…

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Sign here, please

Sign here, please

Photo courtesy Washington House of Representatives Washington’s Charitable Solicitations Act is getting some helpful updates. Secretary Reed stood by Governor Gregoire as she recently signed into law SHB 1485, a bill requested by our office that makes changes to the state’s Charitable Solicitations Act. The House and Senate unanimously passed it. Standing on the left side of the photo are Charities Program Manager Rebecca Sherrell (far left) and Corporations and Charities Division Director Pam Floyd. The governor also signed into…

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Tax-amnesty windfall could speed budget deal

Tax-amnesty windfall could speed budget deal

Glum Washington lawmakers, last seen slogging through House-Senate budget talks, have just gotten a jolt of good news — a  $182 million windfall.  Governor Gregoire and the budget negotiators say that could go a long ways toward finding a budget solution and wrapping up the special session on time. The surprise was in the form of a gusher of unexpected tax receipts generated through a three-month “tax amnesty” that Gregoire and the Legislature authorized. Companies have been allowed to pay…

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Reed seeks earlier primary & ballots in by Election Day

Reed seeks earlier primary & ballots in by Election Day

Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging lawmakers to move Washington’s Primary Election two weeks earlier, to early August. He also asks for a law requiring ballots to be in county elections offices by Election Day, rather than simply postmarked that day. Reed, who has spent more than 30 years administering state and local elections, says the earlier primary would help Washington comply with a new federal law requiring military ballots to be mailed out 45 days before Election Day….

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Session’s a wrap: Now the people speak

Session’s a wrap: Now the people speak

Washington’s election-year, deficit-plagued legislative session is now history.  After 90 days of debate and wrangling, the Democratic-controlled Legislature closed a $2.8 billion budget gap with a pastiche of taxes, spending cuts, federal aid and other stopgap measures.  The session was gaveled to a close early Tuesday. The voters get the final say: All of the 98 House seats will be on the ballot this fall, as will half of the 49-member Senate.  Republicans believe Democrats will pay a big price…

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Light at end of tunnel for lawmakers

Light at end of tunnel for lawmakers

Time runs out Tuesday on Washington’s 30-day special session of the Legislature – and the Democratic leaders believe they’ve pretty well nailed down agreement on an $800 million tax package and a budget rewrite. Rank-and-file lawmakers have been back in their home districts for nearly all of the special session that Governor Gregoire called on March 15.  House Speaker Frank Chopp of Seattle, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane and budget and finance negotiators, along with the governor and…

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OT in Oly: Searching for a budget solution

OT in Oly: Searching for a budget solution

Washington lawmakers are back at it. After a three-day pass to go home, the Legislature gathered back at the Capitol at noon Monday to kick off a new special session that can last up to 30 days. Lawmakers’ main task is to plug a $2.8 billion budget hole that developed after the 2009 Legislature adjourned last April 26.  Last year, they fixed a $9 billion budget gap without needing higher general taxes, but this year, the majority Democrats are planning…

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The midnight hour: Olympia faces overtime session

The midnight hour: Olympia faces overtime session

Time sure flies when you’re having fun … and Washington lawmakers just can’t get enough of the Capitol.  The 60 days allotted for election-year sessions expire at midnight Thursday evening, and by now the House and Senate leaders are facing up to the prospect of going into overtime. The two chambers, both with big Democratic majorities, are still at odds over the size and composition of a tax package. The Senate’s tax package is over $890 million and includes a…

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Pollster: WA conflicted over best budget, tax solution

Pollster: WA conflicted over best budget, tax solution

Washington lawmakers, struggling with a $2.8 billion budget gap, generally acknowledge that deep spending cuts will be required, but they’re still sparring over whether to also rely heavily on tax hikes.  Not much guidance from a new statewide poll that shows similar conflicting views among the electorate. Although a sizable chunk (37 percent) wouldn’t support new taxes, 63 percent said it would at least be part of the solution.  The latter voters gave a mixed reply when asked whether the…

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