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Tag: Brian Sonntag

WA lawmakers off to dramatic start

WA lawmakers off to dramatic start

Washington’s 63rd Legislature is off to a dramatic start, with a coalition of minority Republicans banding with two dissident Democrats to take over control of the state Senate. The debate was fairly low-key. Despite having an elected majority in the upper chamber, the Democrats were left with little option but to accept that 23 Republicans had lined up support of fiscally conservative Democratic Sens. Rodney  Tom and Tim Sheldon to form the 25-member coalition to run the 49-member Senate. Democratic…

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WA performance audits: Beyond gotcha?

WA performance audits: Beyond gotcha?

Washington State’s bold embrace of performance audits of state and local governments has drawn a mixed review from GOVERNING magazine. The Legislature adopted a performance audit law in 2005, and it was soon expanded by the voters that fall, via Tim Eyman’s Initiative 900.  The state has long done financial audits, tracking how public dollars are spent and accounted for. Performance audits go a big step further,  looking at how effectively the money is spent.  Entire agencies and programs, as…

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