With two days left in the regular 105-day session, the House and Senate adjourned about 4 p.m. today, leaving the biggest policy issue yet to be resolved - the budgets.
Standing with House and Senate leaders from both parties, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced a special session that will start Tuesday, April 26 and could run 30 days.
The Senate plans to work next week, while the House is considering a rolling recess, which brings some members back for a pro forma session but doesn't require everyone to be present. Neither body can be out of session for more than three days without mutual agreement.
Gregoire said her intention was to limit the topics to the budget and the policy bills that are necessary to implement the budget. However, the governor can't limit what the legislature discusses, so anything could be on the table.
With a projected $5.3 billion budget shortfall between the end of this fiscal year and the next biennium, the House and Senate have some major differences to resolve around the budget.
Most agree the largest issues are a Senate proposal to reduce K-12 salaries by 3%, tuition in the colleges and universities, the disability lifeline, and whether to adopt new revenues to bridge the shortfall. Both budgets leave about $700 million in ending fund balance, and lawmakers are leery about dipping too low without an adequate cushion to protect against bad June or September revenue forecast.
The Senate's proposal to send a constitutional amendment to the voters to lower the debt limit from 9% to 7% is a big sticking point, with labor and the construction industry lining up with some House Democrats to oppose the shift.
The Senate has said it won't move the capital budget without the constitutional amendment; the House has said it won't do the capital budget until the bond bill passes. This issue could go down to the wire.
Finally, a non-education related issue is workers compensation reforms, which is being pushed by the Governor, and has agreement with Senate Democrats and Republicans and House Republicans. This is one of those lingering issues that legislators may take up in the special session.
The legislature adjourned in a bizarre sine die fashion, with House members leaving first in an unofficial close while the Senate lined up for a formal sine die.
Lt. Governor Brad Owen chastised the House for not opening the bronze doors so the House and Senate leaders could see each other and gavel the session closed together. The House doors were opened, and Speaker Pro Tem Jim Moeller of Vancouver brought the House back to order to sine die. But the Senate had already adjourned by the time Moeller’s gavel fell.
Senate lead budget negotiator Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said he plans to run bills that are necessary to implement the budget, and has a committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m. The June to July apportionment shift bill, SB 5472, is scheduled for public hearing. Other meetings will be announced, and we’ll report those as soon as we are aware.
Updates on the Legislature and state government from the Washington State School Directors' Association.
