One of the social highlights of legislative sessions is TVW’s annual dinner. It’s always a ton of fun, with blooper tapes, funny speeches, insta-polls by Stuart Elway, raffle prizes awarded by the Chief Justice, and gabbing around the dinner tables. Partisan fights and problems seem to fall away for one brief moment, and people laugh together.

This year, more than ever, lawmakers and the governor need a little breather. New word out Thursday was that the slumping economy has left a spending gap of about $9 billion — a scale hard to imagine.

TVW’s Jane Doumit says they still have tickets left for the event, which is Monday evening, April 6, at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Red Lion Olympia. Tix are $125, tables $1,250. It’s a major fundraiser for TVW, the state’s acclaimed version C-SPAN. (visit www.tvw.org) Jane is at 360-725-3998 or via email at [email protected].