1.9.17

Suggested lead:  For one key lawmaker in Olympia, compromise looks to be the ticket as the new legislative session kicks off.  Dan Frizzell has that story.

Wrap (:77 total): With opening day speeches and ceremonies out of the way, lawmakers at the state Capitol are facing a stark reality:  They've got 105 days to agree on a budget that fully funds K-12 schools. Representative Kristine Lytton chairs the House Finance Committee and is a lead member of the bipartisan task force charged with finding a solution.  But the Anacortes Democrat says job one isn't the only thing on the lawmakers' plates.

LYTTON: "How does the state fulfill its constitutional responsibility to fully fund education? That will be the overriding discussion in Olympia this year, but we also know that there are many other problems we need to solve." [:15]

Lytton points to healthcare, mental health, affordable housing, homelessness, and several others that will need attention alongside easing the bite on local property taxpayers by coming up with a way for the state to pay for public schools.  With an evenly divided Legislature, she's looking at compromise as the way to wrap things up within those 105 days.

LYTTON: "As state lawmakers it's important for us to work collaboratively, to work with the Senate, to work with our colleagues across the aisle to solve problems.  I think the people in our state expect us to do that:  to work toward compromise to solve those problems in our state." [:15]

In Olympia, I'm Dan Frizzell.