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Legislature

Remember these guys, M’s fans?

Remember these guys, M’s fans?

(Photos courtesy Washington State Archives) So far, so good for the Mariners. The M’s are scoring a few runs and playing .500 ball after winning their home opener over the Astros Monday night. With baseball on the minds of many, here are two State Archives photos of a few famous Mariners from yesteryear. The top photo (from the Archives’ Washington State Patrol collection)  shows Edgar Martinez signing autographs in the Governor’s Office during his 2005 visit to Olympia, soon after…

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WA Senate coalition unveils $33.3b no-tax budget

WA Senate coalition unveils $33.3b no-tax budget

The Washington Senate’s GOP-led majority coalition, backed by a handful of Democrats, rolled out a $33.3 billion, two-year state budget proposal Wednesday that holds the line on taxes, plows $1 billion in new money into education, cuts college tuition, and expands Medicaid coverage. The plan would also restore the 3 percent pay cut imposed on state workers in the last biennium. The proposal is the first legislative draft of the session, following on the heels of new Gov. Jay Inslee’s…

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Dance Day at the Capitol

Dance Day at the Capitol

They came. They danced. They left. Opponents of the “dance tax” converged on the Capitol steps Monday to stage a “Dance-In” that lasted more than two hours. The dancers did their colorful, whirling thing as an eclectic array of music, including lots of swing, blared on the sound system. For tourists and those working on the north side of the Legislative Building, the dancing provided an entertaining respite. No word yet if the event will spawn a new TVW show…

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Vietnam veterans honored at Capitol

Vietnam veterans honored at Capitol

Rep. John McCoy addresses a gathering of veterans at the Vietnam War Memorial on the Capitol Campus. (Photo courtesy of Benjamin Helle) On the 40th anniversary of the U.S. ending its involvement in the Vietnam War, about 100 Vietnam War veterans, several legislators and others gathered  at the Vietnam War Memorial on the Capitol Campus Friday morning after Gov. Inslee signed into law a bill honoring Vietnam veterans. House Bill 1319, unanimously passed by the House and Senate earlier this…

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Inslee budget: $1.4b in new revenue, mostly for K-12

Inslee budget: $1.4b in new revenue, mostly for K-12

The Battle of the Budgets has begun. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat in the third month of his tenure, unveiled his $34.4 billion budget blueprint in a lengthy televised news conference at the Capitol on Thursday. Headline: He would generate about $1.4 billion in new revenue by extending expiring taxes and by closing or reducing a variety of tax exemptions.  The new money would mostly go for education, a $1.2 billion down-payment on the state addressing a state Supreme Court…

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Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

A new Washington revenue forecast was what passes for good news at the beleaguered state Capitol: at least things didn’t get worse. Lawmakers and the new governor still have a potential budget gap of several billion dollars, including court-mandated K-12 funding. Some old Olympia hands had expected a sizable new drop in expected revenue for the next 27 months, perhaps in the $200 million range, but the number from chief economist Steve Lerch was up $40 million. The forecast for…

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Intern gets ‘up close & personal’ with how a bill becomes law

Intern gets ‘up close & personal’ with how a bill becomes law

Olympia interns are sometimes saddled with the mundane and routine, but Nate Hauger, legislative intern for Secretary of State Kim Wyman, got a rare front-row seat in seeing how a bill becomes law. Hauger, a junior political science major at Central Washington University, jumped at the opportunity to help research and draft a bill for Wyman and then help shepherd it through the long and winding legislative process. House Bill 1639 became the vehicle for the legislation. It would adjust…

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House advances new deadlines for voter registration

House advances new deadlines for voter registration

Washington’s voter registration deadlines might be changed under a bill passed by the House, one of several elections-related measures  approved by the chamber. Engrossed House Bill 1267 extends the time period for voter registration closer to Election Day. Under current law, the online and mail-in registration deadlines are 29 days before an election and the in-person deadline is eight days prior. The original bill sought to allow people to register even on Election Day, but county auditors voiced strong opposition,…

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High court overturns supermajority for taxes

High court overturns supermajority for taxes

The Washington Supreme Court, in a bombshell decision handed down just days before Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers tackle a multibillion-dollar budget gap, invalidated a popular voter-approved requirement of a two-thirds supermajority for taxes raised in Olympia. The court, in a decisive 6-3 ruling, said the state Constitution clearly says a bill becomes a law by gaining a majority in each house. The justices noted that this is the first time the court directly answers the question of whether the…

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Found in Digital Archives: 1960 photo of Capitol by night

Found in Digital Archives: 1960 photo of Capitol by night

This year’s legislative session has reached the stage when the House and Senate members are spending many hours daily, and sometimes into the night, debating and voting on bills that survived the recent committee cutoffs. Friday is the deadline for policy bills to emerge from the budget committees of the originating house. March 13 is the last day for the House and Senate to vote on bills and other measures originating from the house of origin. After that, they’ll look…

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