Bridges

Bridges to a Better Government E-Newsletter for April 23, 2013
April 23, 2013
In odd years, the Washington State Legislature meets for 105 days. In even years, we’re only in session for 60 days. This Sunday marks the 105th day of the 2013 legislative session, and therefore it is the constitutionally-mandated final day of the “regular” session…and regular is in quotes because if... Read More...
Senate passes historic bipartisan budget
April 12, 2013
Last Friday, the Senate adopted a bipartisan operating budget that would spend more on basic and higher education while addressing the needs of Washington’s most vulnerable citizens, all without raising taxes. The measure passed by a vote of 30-18. The $33.3 billion, two-year spending plan would increase state support for... Read More...
Status update on my bills
April 12, 2013
While many of my job-creation bills passed the Senate unanimously, it appears that some members of the House of Representatives are playing political games by holding certain bills hostage. And it’s not just my bills that are being affected…many of my colleagues are finding their unanimously-supported proposals held up by... Read More...
Governor releases budget that relies on higher taxes
March 29, 2013
This week, Governor Jay Inslee finally unveiled his long-awaited budget proposal. Unfortunately, though he promised to avoid tax increases on the campaign trail, his budget relies on new taxes totaling $1.4 billion over the next two years, including tax increases on businesses, oil refineries, beer and bottled-water drinkers and out-of-state... Read More...
Cutoff deadline reached, many bills survive
March 15, 2013
Wednesday was the last day that bills could be considered in their body of origin. It’s a legislatively self-imposed deadline called “floor cutoff” that is designed to keep the process moving as we pass the halfway point of the 2013 session. After that, only bills considered “necessary to implement the... Read More...
Bridges to a Better Government E-Newsletter for March 8, 2013
March 08, 2013
We’ve spent the past week in the Senate discussing, debating and passing bills from our chamber and sending them to the House of Representatives. The House has been doing the same, and we’ll all continue doing it next week as well as we approach what’s known in the Legislature as... Read More...
Bridges to a Better Government E-Newsletter for March 2, 2013
March 02, 2013
Yesterday was the final day fiscal bills could be considered by the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee. From this point forward, only bills deemed “necessary to implement the budget” can continue to be heard in committees. We’ll be spending the next several weeks debating and... Read More...
Bridges to a Better Government E-Newsletter for February 24, 2013
February 24, 2013
Friday was what’s known as “committee cutoff” in the Washington State Legislature, and there were a lot of good bills that made it through to the next phase. Although policy committees are now finished, fiscal committees (like Senate Ways and Means and Senate Transportation) will continue to consider bills into... Read More...
Bridges to a Better Government E-Newsletter for February 15, 2013
February 15, 2013
Thank you for reading my e-newsletter! I’ll be sending out new editions weekly as the 2013 legislative session progresses. Please feel free to forward this to any of your friends who might want to recveive it as well. The more participation we can generate, the better representation you will have... Read More...