4.19.17
Suggested lead: Wednesday was day 101 in Olympia, with no
bipartisan budget agreement in sight. Dan Frizzell has that story.
Wrap (:60 total):
The Republican majority in the state Senate OK’d five and a half billion
dollars in new state property taxes last month, and they’ve refused to sit down
to negotiate a state budget unless the majority Democrats in the House likewise
vote for billions in new taxes first.
Democrats say they won’t vote for a dime in new taxes without a detailed
spending plan – AKA a budget – and the upshot is, the Washington Legislature
will head into overtime when the 105-day regular session wraps up this Sunday.
House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan is on the Democratic budget negotiating team
. . . if negotiations ever start.
SULLIVAN: "We have to act like the leaders that the public expects us to be.
The Senate has said that we have to pass revenue before they’ll start
negotiations. We have to get to the
negotiating table and get the problem solved as soon as possible. We think it
should’ve happened weeks ago." [:15]
Sullivan says he’s hopeful that the budget differences between the two
chambers and two parties can be bridged relatively quickly, when budget talks
finally begin. In Olympia, I'm Dan Frizzell.