Session's a wrap: Now the people speak
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Washington's election-year, deficit-plagued legislative session is now history. After 90 days of debate and wrangling, the Democratic-controlled Legislature closed a $2.8 billion budget gap with a pastiche of taxes, spending cuts, federal aid and other stopgap measures. The session was gaveled to a close early Tuesday.
The voters get the final say: All of the 98 House seats will be on the ballot this fall, as will half of the 49-member Senate. Republicans believe Democrats will pay a big price for their budget-and-tax votes, and some critics are predicting a tax rollback initiative. Democrats, including Governor Gregoire, say the voters will understand the hard choices that were necessary in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Taxes helped ease service cuts that could have been much deeper, they say.
One measure for sure will be on the ballot: Lawmakers agreed to submit a $500 million construction program for energy-saving retrofit of schools, colleges and public buildings, financed by extension of a newly adopted temporary sales tax on bottled water.
The $31 billion budget rewrite incorporates about $755 million in various cuts, $630 million in expected federal aid, and $585 million in various fund transfers. The measure, Senate Bill 6444, passed with no Republican votes. The tax package, Senate Bill 6143, likewise barely cleared both houses.
Lawmakers also passed a $3.7 billion construction budget.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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