After a series of unprecedented procedural maneuvers Friday evening, minority members of the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus joined with three like-minded Democrats to temporarily gain a philosophical majority and introduce a sustainable budget proposal that doesn’t depend on gimmicks, tricks or tax increases. Central Washington senators say not only does Senate Bill 5967 close the $1.1 billion gap, it projects to be in balance by the 2013-15 biennium. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Moses Lake
Today brought the first deadline for policy committees in the Legislature to act on bills, and several measures that survived deal with the contentious issue of workers’ compensation – a move some legislators say violates the spirit of the highly-touted 2011 bipartisan workers’ compensation reform agreement.
At the beginning of the 2011 regular session, after years of conflict, much public debate and hours of intense negotiations among the governor and House and Senate leaders, legislators reached an historic agreement on ways to reform the costly, state-run workers’ compensation system.
Three legislators, all members of labor committees, say committee approval of several bills introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate this session risks undermining last year’s deal before it has even been fully implemented and erodes the trust needed to reach big agreements on solutions moving forward. Continue reading
Today Senate Republican Deputy Floor Leader Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, delivered a letter to Attorney General Rob McKenna in support of his decision to join a bipartisan, nationwide group of attorneys general challenging the constitutionalityof the national health care bill signed into law this week. These senators signed the letter:
| Sen. Randi Becker Sen. Don Benton Sen. Mike Carrell Sen. Jerome Delvin Sen. Mike Hewitt Sen. Janéa Holmquist Sen. Jim Honeyford Sen. Curtis King | Sen. Bob McCaslin Sen. Bob Morton Sen. Cheryl Pflug Sen. Pam Roach Sen. Mark Schoesler Sen. Val Stevens Sen. Dan Swecker Sen. Joseph Zarelli |
“Our caucus has long sought to ensure all Washingtonians have access to high-quality, affordable health care while maintaining our commitments to the vulnerable, working poor and elderly. Over the years we have introduced legislation to accomplish this goal,” the letter stated. Continue reading
Legislation purporting to help child care centers by allowing collective bargaining is likely to have the opposite effect, taking money from centers while raising costs for parents, say Sen. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake and Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima. They serve on the Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, which heard Senate Bill 5572 today.
If the goal is to increase public subsidies for child care centers and fund a child care wage ladder, you don’t need this bill to accomplish that,” said Holmquist, the committee’s ranking Republican member. “If Democrat supermajorities in the House and Senate all support this idea, what’s stopping them from increasing subsidies and funding the child care wage ladder?” Continue reading