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Tag: Special legislative session

New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

A new statewide Elway Poll by independent pollster Stuart Elway shows nearly two-thirds of Washington voters are “certainly” or “probably” willing to support Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal for a three-year boost of the state sales tax by a half-cent on the dollar. Elway said polling done last week with 408 randomly selected Washington voters across the state showed that voters want lawmakers to cut spending, but that new revenue will also need to be part of the solution. In his…

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Gregoire calls emergency budget session

Gregoire calls emergency budget session

Gov. Chris Gregoire has called Washington lawmakers into an emergency special session at 9 a.m. Saturday to deal with the state’s billion-dollar budget gap. This is apparently the first “lame duck” session the Legislature has ever had. Leaders said they have agreement on cutting $784 million, including about $200 million of across-the-board cuts previously ordered by the governor and about $200 million in federal aid-to-education. The session is permitted to last 30 days, but leaders said they’re planning on a…

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