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Tag: Senate majority coalition

House offers budget bookend: $1.3b in new revenue

House offers budget bookend: $1.3b in new revenue

The budget battle is about to get  hotter. Majority House Democrats on Wednesday unveiled a $34.5 billion budget plan for the next two years, relying on $1.3 billion in new revenue as a down-payment on the state Supreme Court’s order to boost aid to public schools. The blueprint, which they called honest, balanced and responsible, follows the contours laid down by new Gov. Jay Inslee, a fellow Democrat, and sets up the expected collision with the Senate’s no-new-taxes, $33.4 billion…

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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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