Friday night was incredible! As the Legislature in Washington State was winding down its last few days of session, it looked like Republicans and Democrats were stalemated. The Democrats in majority in the House and Senate had finally released their budgets, but passing a responsible budget seemed out of reach. The special session late last year failed to fix the

[This story originally attributed the email below to a Democratic legislator. Since publication, we learned the true source of the text and printed a correction in addition to making the appropriate changes to this article.] In the midst of Friday night’s dramatic action on the State Senate floor, at least one liberal blogger in Seattle was openly calling for the

All you need to know about today’s Senate Democrat budget was the statement by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown acknowledging that the underlining structural problem in the budget is not addressed by their budget proposal. This means that if adopted, lawmakers and citizens will have the privilege of going through the budget deficit song and dance yet again for the

Budget writers for the House Republicans released the first legislative budget proposal of the 2012 Session today (Day 40). Though a copy of the actual budget bill is not available yet here are some of the details according to a GOP release: “Our $1.6 billion budget solution includes: $63 million in fund transfers $160 million in unspent agency funds (known

For the first time since lawmakers adjourned the “budget balancing” special session last December without actually balancing the budget, there is a glimmer of hope that they’ll be able to get the job done during the remaining 21 days of the 2012 Regular Session. This new found optimism is due to the news this week that the state caseload forecast

The House Ways and Means Committee heard public testimony yesterday on HB 2607: Requiring a six-year budget outlook tied to existing revenues. Regularly publishing a multi-year budget outlook is one of the many recommendations in WPC’s Policy Guide for Washington State. One of the most recognizable measurements of the state’s fiscal health is the multi-year budget outlooks. These updates, however,

As we conclude the 18th day of the 2012 REGULAR Session, the lack of legislative urgency to solve the state’s billion dollar plus deficit grows more troubling with each passing day. It’s been 92 days since the Governor called last December’s special session declaring “timely legislative action is needed to secure the State’s fiscal health and address the shortfall in

On January 9, the Washington State Legislature will come back to session. On their busy agenda is rectifying the horrendous $2 billion budget deficit that they delayed reforming in the last legislative session. While our budget crisis may seem like the fault of an ineffective legislature, the fault lies in the hands of Governor Gregoire. To understand why Gov. Gregoire

After watching the Legislature play the “Grinch that Stole the Balanced Budget” earlier this week it was encouraging to open an early Christmas present offered by the Governor today. At a press conference this morning in Olympia Governor Gregoire unveiled several reform initiatives. Among them: An Executive Order requiring all executive agencies to use LEAN management principles; Pursing a Request

With the Legislature consistently showing itself willing to wait to the last moment to bring the state’s budget into balance, Washington Policy Center has proposed changing the Governor’s current across-the-board authority to respond to a deficit to discretionary authority to make surgical reductions to enact timely savings. One potential way this new discretionary budget cutting authority could be structured could

Our legislators in Olympia are facing two deficits in the special session to deal with the gap in the 2011-2013 state budget: the first is a $2 billion shortfall, and the second is a lack of courage to address it. Already, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown has indicated the Legislature will spend next week piecing together a down payment of

It’s true that it takes time to make thoughtful decisions on reducing a $32 billion state budget. It’s also true that lawmakers have known since this summer that the Governor would be calling a special session to balance the budget. Yet despite knowing what is required, the sense of urgency on display in Olympia right now is wanting, to say

Governor Gregoire is at it again, proposing another tax hike to deal with yet another budget deficit. We’ve seen this story before: the legislature in Olympia patches together a budget that just barely balances, with a proposed tax increase as the glue to keep it from falling apart. But because Initiative 1053 is still in effect (two similar initiatives having

Thanks to Washingtonians’ approval of I-1053′s 2/3 vote requirement for tax increases in 2010, voters will have the final say on any potential tax increases in 2012. When announcing her budget yesterday, Governor Gregoire said she wants voters to weigh in on her plan to raise the sales tax by $500 million for the current budget. Involving the voters in

It isn’t often during government hearings that you hear someone actually ask the question, “Why are we doing this, anyway?” It’s even rarer when the person testifying concedes he isn’t altogether sure. A Tuesday morning meeting of the Select Committee on Pension Policy, however, did yield a surprisingly candid exchange between committee member Glen Olson, representing the Washington State Association

[Update: Comments from WSRP Chairman Kirby Wilbur added at bottom.] On Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Christine Gregoire of a late November special legislative session to resolve the state’s $1.5 billion budget woes, Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature traded opening statements in the press, and the candidates for governor added their own comments. Congressman and Democratic candidate for governor Jay

The results of a poll released Monday on the 2011 and 2012 elections may be proof positive that Washington State is still every bit the eclectic grab bag that political junkies have come to know and expect. Though the poll conducted last week by the bipartisan political consulting firm Strategies 360 found Washington State’s skin is still a reliable shade

After news of the revenue forecast’s $1.4 billion drop in revenue for the 2011-13 budget and the now $1.3 billion budget hole confronting the state—assuming use of every last red cent of reserves—Gov. Christine Gregoire promptly issued a press release where she stated that waiting until the regular legislative session in January to address the problem is not an option: