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

The American Founders decided the executive branch of government should have just one person at the top so that the public can know who is ultimately accountable for carrying out what government does. Washington state voters elect nine executive branch officials, but the focus remains on the governor, who has an ability over and above any individual legislator to speak

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

Prior to closing down, the motto for Olympia Beer was “It’s the water.” Based on recent news from the Attorney General’s Office, there is definitely something in the water in Washington that leads to our leaders being recognized nationally. Yesterday a press release was issued announcing that Attorney General Rob McKenna has been selected by his peers to be President

Last week Governor Gregoire signed a proposal to consolidate several administrative agencies and create a review process to help identify opportunities for some competitive contracting. Sponsored by Senators Baumgartner and Zarelli, SB 5931 creates a new Department of Enterprise Services and Department of Consolidated Technology Services by consolidating several administrative agencies and activities. According to the bill report, SB 5931

Over the past few weeks there was speculation as to whether Governor Gregoire would veto the emergency clause off of a liquor contract bill as well as veto the Legislature’s raid of the voter-approved dedicated performance audit fund. The answer is no – both actions stand as approved by the Legislature. Here is video of the Governor explaining why she

According to inside sources, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna will announce his campaign for governor Wednesday evening. Late Tuesday afternoon, the McKenna campaign released a statement that a “major announcement” would be made at an event scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Sammamish High School. An announcement of candidacy by McKenna would be the first