Rebuffed for years, Washington lawmakers regain Capitol dome access

OLYMPIA — Few, if any, members of the Washington state Legislature have been allowed to climb to the top of the state Capitol dome this century. That will soon change. A provision in the new capital budget requires 10 legislators be given a guided tour of the upper reaches of the historic building during the fiscal year that starts July 1. Another 10 must get the same opportunity in the following year. “It’s a happy day for the institution,” said state Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, who’s been on a mission to ease restrictions that have boxed lawmakers out of the dome. It’s not right, he said, that lawmakers “cannot visit all the places they oversee.”