Washington lawmakers are approaching the halfway mark of their 105-day session. Hot issues include marijuana, mental health, oil trains and cap-and-trade.
But the heavy lift for lawmakers will be writing a new two-year operating budget that increases funding for public schools. Both House Democrats and Senate Republicans will unveil dueling budget proposals in the weeks ahead.
Back in December, Gov. Jay Inslee proposed his vision of how the next two-year budget should look. That included a very robust tax package to fund public schools and other priorities. You’re now going to see what the House Democrats and Senate Republicans think. You can expect that we’re likely to see tax proposals from Democrats, but probably not from Republicans.
The House will go first with its proposed two-year budget, then they’re going to have to start to work to bridge their differences.
Washington lawmakers are currently in contempt of court over school funding. They also face pressure to fund cost-of-living increases for teachers and state employees. And they’ll need to decide what to do about a new voter-approved class-size measure that comes with a $2 billion price tag for the next budget.
