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Budget Agreement: Will They or Won’t They?

Lawmakers remain tight-lipped about budget negotiations, leaving many to wonder if they’ll finish on time or go into a special session. 

In a press conference yesterday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said “I still believe that I’m the glass half full caucus, and we’ll remain optimistic” after being asked if he thought it was really possible to pass a budget with such little time left. Reporters literally laughed out loud, yet Schoesler insists that his caucus, along with House Republicans, wants to pass a supplemental budget.

Oddly enough, it’s House Democrats who have threatened to go home without passing a budget, despite Governor Inslee’s insistence that he will call a special session in order to get a supplemental budget.

Gridlock

Lawmakers are required to pass a budget by midnight on Thursday. Budget writers remained at the capitol late last night. Rumors circulated that leadership from both houses may have agreed upon the total size of the supplemental budget, however they reached an impasse yet again when it came to which programs would be cut or funded.

“Absent a handshake agreement by Tuesday night, we’ll probably need a few days of special session just to go through the mechanics of the budgeting process,” Representative Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, said yesterday.

The unofficial rule is that lawmakers must come to an agreement 48 hours prior to the adjournment of session in order to pass a budget on time. The time period accounts for certain procedures, including a 24 hour period for both parties to consider bill. But, that rule hasn’t always held true. In recent years lawmakers have voted to suspend the rules to allow for a quick turnaround on the budget.

Really? No Budget?

Lawmakers headed into this week scratching their heads after House Democrats made comments last week about throwing in the towel on budget negotiations.

In an interview with Austin Jenkins Representative Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, said “For us it might be better to just stay with the existing budget and leave.” This is in contrast to previous remarks when he insisted, “This is not a year to sit on our hands and do nothing. We have some significant issues, some significant crisis and we intend to do something about them with this budget.”

Joining the chorus, Representative Gerry Pollet, D-North Seattle, posted to his private Facebook account saying, “We might be better off with no supplemental budget – than one which actually cuts the safety net.” In addition to Republicans, he faulted a law requiring that the legislature pass a budget that balances over four years. Dunshee has been critical of the law as well, despite voting for its passage.

These comments left many confused, seeing as Democrats have significant spending priorities. 

An Empty Threat?

Adding to the theatrics, Governor Jay Inslee held a press conference on Monday, in which he baited lawmakers to come to an agreement on a supplemental budget by Thursday night. “Your bills are going to get vetoed if you don’t do your job and pass a budget,” he said.

As of March 7th, there are almost 140 bills awaiting Inslee’s signature. Inslee’s office said the governor would convene a special session starting Friday.

Many don’t know that in Washington, bills do not require the Governor’s signature in order to become law. The Governor has until Friday night to veto the bills delivered to his office last week. Absent his signature, the bills will become law anyway. He has 20 days to decide to veto the bills that were sent to him this week.

Some have also commented that if Inslee follows through, he could damage his own chances at reelection by rejecting Democratically supported legislation. Senator Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, told reporters that he couldn’t tell if the comments were rhetorical or serious.

Incentives

Even with the focus on budget negotiations, there are some other issues that each party wants to see resolved during the remaining days of the session. For Republicans, it’s charter schools. Representative Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah, who joined his fellow Republicans at yesterday’s press conference said, “We’ve got I think a tentative agreement on both sides… I think we’re very close to moving a bill.” He said that he expects to move the bill today. 

Their other major item on Republican’s minds is paying for the cost of fighting last summer’s wildfires, but that isn’t a major point of disagreement between the two parties. Rumors of a compromise on charter schools may mean that Republicans have little left to fight for in a special session, giving Democrats less leverage.

That leaves Democrats with major appropriations and a contentious piece of legislation on their hands– the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Things were looking up last month and the bill made it further than ever before. To the disappointment of many, lawmakers say they aren’t able to to move it forward. “Conversations went on right through cutoff day and we haven’t yet gotten there,” said Schoesler.

Representative Manweller, who offered an alternative to the VRA earlier this session, dimmed any hope of the VRA’s resurrection during last minute negotiations. “It seems very late in the game for that to be back in play and at this point that it would require some kind of significant trade and I don’t know what the Democrats are interested in offering.”

The Waiting Game

Many have speculated that it will be too difficult to reach a budget agreement by tomorrow night. Aside from procedural rules that would have to be waived, the proposed budgets are about 400 million dollars apart– a big difference for a supplemental year.

Lawmakers may not be able to reach a budget agreement by Thursday night, but it’s unlikely that a special session would be more than an extension for lawmakers to go through the motions of passing a budget. Unlike last year, big issues would not be revived.

Lawmakers remained behind closed doors for most of yesterday, leaking little information to the press. They’ll likely share the outcome of last night’s budget negotiations some time this afternoon.

 


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