Lawmakers react to session overtime

OLYMPIA — Local legislators said they were not surprised the session ran over its allotted number of days and will continue working on their priorities from District 13 and Olympia.

Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensberg, said he knew the session would run over when the House Democrats proposed taxes which they did not vote on. He said the biggest issue, the operating budget, must be solved by July 1, or there could be a state government shutdown.

“McCleary funding and the budget are hanging out there,” he said. “Those will be taken care of, because they have to by law. People will stop getting paid on July 1 and that will be a motivator to get this thing done.”

Manweller said he would also be working on an internet privacy bill which he has been heavily involved in moving it through the House as well as paid family leave. He doesn’t believe those issues will get much traction until the operating budget and the Hirst decision have been resolved.

Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said he was optimistic that the legislature could finish a budget before a government shutdown. He is not involved in budget negotiations as a member of the minority party in the House, but once lead budget negotiators come up with a more concrete plan, he will return to Olympia to conference on early childhood education.

Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said she returned to Olympia on Wednesday for a meeting in the Ways and Means Committee where they heard at least one bill.

She is not a leader in education policy or operating budget negotiations. However, she is involved in the capital budget, which cannot be completed until both sides come together and a final operating budget is negotiated.

Warnick said she was beginning to be frustrated by the number of special sessions compared to sessions completed on time. She said she did understand why they were sometimes necessary, different parties control the two chambers in the legislature and she hopes the special session will give them the time that they need.

“These special sessions are not as special as they used to be,” Warnick said. “We have different points of view, different ways of balancing the budget, different ways of getting to the end game … I have seen better budgets, more bipartisan budgets come out after we’ve had some extra time, or extra innings, as they say.”