7.18.17
Suggested lead: With 48 hours left in their third
overtime period, lawmakers in Olympia are locked in a stalemate that could
result in pink slips for workers throughout the state. Dan Frizzell has that
story.
Wrap (:93 total):
SULLIVAN: "We’ve got a capital budget that passed out of the House of
Representatives with a 92-to-one vote. Obviously getting a solution around water
is critical as well, but each should be operating on their own merits.” [:11]
That’s how state House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan sums up the final
showdown in a long legislative session.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House, as well as Senate
Democrats, want a straight-up vote on the capital budget, which funds
construction projects all over Washington.
The Republicans who control the Senate by a single vote, though, are
refusing to discuss the construction budget without passage of an unrelated bill
dealing with water wells in some rural areas of the state.
At stake are more than four billion dollars in construction projects,
including a billion for public schools classrooms and nearly that much on
college campuses. Throw in mental health facilities, projects to reduce
homelessness, environmental projects and more, and the problem becomes clear.
Sullivan, a Democrat from Covington, hears the clock ticking.
SULLIVAN: "The Senate Republicans have said that they won’t negotiate a
capital budget until we have a decision around the exempt well issue.
We believe again that you should really take each on their own merit.
It’s just been frustrating that the capital budget is being held hostage
for a policy bill that really doesn’t directly relate." [:19]
Without that crucial cooperation from Senate Republican leaders, the
Legislature will adjourn for the year Thursday afternoon – after 195 days in
session – without a capital budget for the first time in the state’s history.
In Olympia, I’m Dan Frizzell.