Monday: The House Judiciary committee voted the same-sex marriage legislation out of committee. A Senate committee heard a bill that would tighten up ethical rules for public employees, prompted by a case last year of an ethics claim against a Department of Corrections administrator who worked on behalf of nonprofit groups on state time. And a bipartisan group of 42 Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration asking for marijuana to be reclassified so it can be prescribed as a medicine by doctors and filled in pharmacies..

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.

Tuesday: The House Labor committee on heard five bills related to the minimum wage, including one that would lower the base wage of tipped employees and another that would pay a lower “training wage.” The Senate Higher Education committee considered a bill that would prohibit state money from going to college athletics. And a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked that the state fund K-12 education separately from the rest of the budget.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.

Wednesday: In a late night floor session, the state Senate voted 28-21 to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. We have full video and a photo gallery from the event. On the show, we covered the redistricting plan as it took a first big step forward, and legislation that would allow schools to have classes separated by gender.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.

Thursday: House Republicans offered details on a plan that would create a separate K-12 education budget. Also, lawmakers considered stricter rules for spraying pesticides on farmland.

Watch Thursday’s Legislative Review.

Friday: Today is the cutoff day for non-budget policy bills to be considered in committee. Catch tonight’s half-hour edition of Legislative Review recapping the week’s events at 6:30 and 11 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: education, same-sex marriage

Less than hour after the House Republicans unveiled their stand-alone education budget proposal, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown dismissed it as “more symbolism than substance.” Brown was responding to a reporter’s question at her weekly media availability. She said the state has a responsibility to fund not only basic education, but also a “broad spectrum” of programs from early learning to natural resources. The House Republican education budget would shave $46 million from education, leaving most of the $1.5 billion in likely cuts to come from other programs. Brown said “if you fund education first and pretend there aren’t tradeoffs, I think that’s a bait-and-switch.”

On transportation funding, Brown said the governor’s proposal to charge $1.50 per barrel of oil has “rolled away” and indicated transportation leaders are working on a smaller funding package through a number of fees.  On a question about possible threats from Wednesday night’s same-sex marriage vote, she said lawmakers get harassed over all sorts of issues.  She wasn’t aware of any threats that required police involvement.

Tags: education, same-sex marriage

The state just got a report card from the Supreme Court, Rep. Bruce Dammeier said, and it’s not good: “We got an F” on fulfilling the state’s paramount duty, funding basic education. He said House Republicans intend to break the cycle of under-funding education.

“Today, we’re going to offer to the legislature House Bill 2770. This bill is our education budget,” he said, adding that the proposal would gett the state back on the path of delivering on promises made to the state’s children.

“This is all about what dollars do you spend first,” said Rep. Charles Ross. “The number one fear amongst, I think, taxpayers is they don’t know what we’re doing … and today is the day that the House Republicans stand up” for education, he said.

Some of the highlights, according to Dammeier:

- Puts $580 million more toward education than Gov. Chris Gregoire’s all-cuts budget

- Does not cut any days from the school year; Gregoire proposed cutting four days

- Fully funds levy equalization; Gregoire proposed cuts

- Does not rely on a late payment, as Gregoire’s proposal does

He said their bill also gives local school districts the ability to make decisions about their local budgets. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: education, House Republicans

Sen. Paull Shin, a Democrat who voted against same-sex marriage legislation, hugged the bill's prime sponsor, Sen. Ed Murray, in the wings after the bill passed.

Click to see more photos

The state Senate passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage on Wednesday night with a vote of 28-21. Watch the full debate and vote here.

With Gov. Chris Gregoire and his partner of 21 years standing behind him in the wings, Sen. Ed Murray asked his fellow lawmakers in the state Senate to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. “I realize this is a difficult personal issue because it is about family, and at the heart of family is marriage,” Murray said.

Other senators shared their personal stories, at times getting emotional. Republican Sen. Dan Swecker said he was opposed to changing the definition of marriage. In response, Sen. Debbie Regala said when she married her husband 44 years ago, the ban on interracial marriage had just been lifted. “I am really glad that the definition of a legal marriage has been changed to include mine,” Regala said.

Sen. Kevin Ranker said his father is gay, and many people in his own family refused to accept it. “People dealt with my father’s life by ignoring it, by not talking about it. This silence was worse than outspoken hatred,” he said in an emotional speech.

Republican Sen. Cheryl Pflug explained why she is supporting the bill. Tradition is not always right, she said, particularly when it came to racial struggles in the past. Tradition “is kind to the majority, but not to the minority,” Pflug said.

More than hour into the debate, Sen. Margarita Prentice drew laughter and applause when she said she’s ready to vote. Speaking before the vote began, Sen. Ed Murray said that no matter how his friends in the Senate vote, they’ll still be getting something from him: A wedding invitation.

The bill passed with 28 yes votes and 21 no votes, with four Republicans voting in support of the bill. Dozens of people watching in the gallery erupted into cheers and applause after the vote on the bill, which passed with seven amendments. The House will likely take the up the issue early next week.

After the session adjourned, Sen. Ed Murry said he had anticipated 27 votes, so getting 28 votes was a “pleasant” surprise.

“I was moved by my colleagues’ courage, and the tone of the debate was one of the best I’ve seen in 17 years in the Legislature,” Murray said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire released a statement after the vote applauding the move. “Tonight the Washington state Senate stood up for what is right and told all families in our state that they are equal, and that the state cannot be in the business of discrimination,” Gregoire said.

Tags: Ed Murray, gay marriage

Here’s a look at the Senate, where they’re currently working through the amendments to the same-sex marriage bill.

Several amendments have been adopted that are aimed at providing stronger protections for churches and religious organizations.

Sen. Swecker asked for an amendment that would have extended those protections to what he described as “blue collar workers,” such as florists or photographers who opposes gay marriage. The amendment was not adopted.

Sen. Hatfield, a previously undecided Democrat who announced shortly before the session that he would be voting yes on the bill, asked for a referendum clause that would send the issue to voters in the fall. Noting that opponents will likely collect enough signatures anyway, Hatfield said he wants to “trust the people of the state and let voters have the ultimate say.”

Sen. Lisa Brown said she doesn’t believe that’s fair. She said she opposes it for several reasons, including a personal one: Her sister has been in a relationship with a woman for 20 years, and she doesn’t think it’s fair to ask voters whether her sister should have the same rights that she has.

Brown said there were “sad times” in history where if people had voted, they would have been “tragically wrong.”

But Sen. Mike Padden said this is a critical issue to send to voters. Marriage is “a basic unit of society,” he said. “One of the reasons we have marriage laws is because of children and the idea that it’s a pretty neat thing for them to have a mom and dad,” he said.

The amendment failed, 26 to 23.

That was the final amendment — now, they’re on to debating final passage of the bill. We’ll write about that in a separate post, so please refresh your browser.

Tags: same-sex marriage, Senate

Standing with his partner of 21 years, Sen. Ed Murray said he is prepared for a “very late” night of floor debate in the Senate on the same-sex marriage bill, which he described as “historic” for gays and lesbians around the country.

Murray’s partner Michael Shiosaki said he never thought today would happen when the couple first met on a camping trip on Mt. Rainer two decades ago. They are registered domestic partners, but Murray said it is not the same as marriage. “That is how society says you are a family,” Murray said.

Several amendments to the bill were on the table so far, including that would ensure that existing laws regarding the rights of faith-based adoption centers wouldn’t change. Murray said there is a possibility that one or two of the amendments may be accepted.

Shortly before the floor debate was set to begin, Sen. Brian Hatfield released a statement saying he would vote yes on the bill. “As private citizens, we are able to have that opinion, but as legislators, our “no” vote on this issue will be seen as loving my fellow man or woman less, based on their sexual orientation and an act of discrimination.  That is something I cannot do,” Hatfield said in the statement. Twenty five other senators have previously said they will vote yes.

The Senate gallery is full of people watching the debate. TVW will be live with coverage at 6 p.m., and we’ll have more on the blog and tomorrow’s edition of Legislative Review.

Tags: Ed Murray, gay marriage

This week, Rep. Norma Smith was on The Impact with Sen. Christine Rolfes to talk with host Jessica Gao about ferry funding. After the interview, Smith and I sat down to talk about business-friendly reforms, cutting the red tape in government and jump-starting the economy.

Here’s the interview:

Tags: off the set, Rep. Norma Smith

The Senate will be in floor session tonight debating the gay marriage bill, and TVW will be live with coverage starting at 6 p.m. The Senate gallery is already filling up with supporters, and we expect it to be a long night. We’ll have updates here on the blog, and a full segment on Thursday’s edition of Legislative Review.

A handful of amendments to the same-sex marriage bill were on the table in the afternoon, including one that would send the issue to the voters in November. Another would allow churches or religious organizations to refuse to rent out their facilities as venues for same-sex weddings. Sen. Ed Murray will be holding a press conference shortly, and we’ll have updates from that as well.

Tags: gay marriage