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| Western budget proposals, plans broadcast live online today | |||
| Legislators need to get this budget right | THIS page has not been patient with the Legislature. Maybe we had it wrong. |
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| There's no sign special session will end April 10 | For weeks, the main sticking points to a state budget solution have been a Democratic plan to delay a payment to schools by a day, and a Republican plan to skip a pension payment. |
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| State budget accounting change is no gimmick | Normally, we'd hoist a red flag immediately upon hearing that an accounting change could lead to a balanced state budget. The words "accounting change" conjure up tactics like a Democratic proposal to defer school payments, a move state Treasurer Jim McIntire calls a "felony… |
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| School, pension payments no longer stumbling blocks; ‘They’re gone’ | The debate over the state budget has been stuck on proposals to skip a pension payment (Republicans’ idea, paired with a cut in pension benefits for new workers), and to put a payment to schools on hold (Democrats’ idea, tied to a promise that the next Legislature will find the money and hand it… |
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| State’s budget choices require head and heart | Responding to the economic crisis calls for both brains and heart. Yes, the state budget has been hit hard by the recession, and smart minds and sharp pencils are needed. But the number-crunchers can’t forget the human impact of the recession, and need to make humane decisions. None of… |
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| Could this be the idea that will fix state budget? | An accounting maneuver being considered at the state Capitol might allow Democrats and Republicans to cast aside the biggest point of contention in their ongoing budget negotiations. Republican lawmakers have been criticizing Democrats for wanting to push a payment to schools into the… |
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| GOP lawmakers won't budge on pension-overhaul plan | As the Legislature slogs through its special session, Republicans show no sign of backing down from proposed pension-system changes that public employees call a "war on workers." |
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| Morning update: Special session day 10 | Senate Democrats hold a caucus meeting today where leaders will update their members on the status of budget talks. A coalition formed to oppose budget cuts will hold a news conference this morning to protest the Senate Republican budget. |
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| Morning update: Special session day 9 | State lawmakers welcome spring today while still working on the same task they started in the fall: trying to decide how to balance the budget. Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday that budget writers were to meet again today at least once and look at an idea she gave them for finding some… |