It’s Friday. Here’s what happened this week you’ll need to know for next week.

On Monday: Dick Thompson, Gov. Gregoire’s liaison to federal stimulus, said publicly that the state may not get as much of the federal stimulus as he originally thought.

On Tuesday: Cheryl Oullette, aka Cheryl the Pig Lady, testified about the importance of a loan program for mobile slaughter units. The units would allow small farmers (like Cheryl) to have their meat butchered in USDA-inspected facilities, which means they can more easily sell to restaurants or at farmers markets and donate to food banks.
Tuesday was also the inauguration, of course.

On Wednesday, state schools chief Randy Dorn announced a plan to replace the WASL.

Later that night on The Impact, Jen had the first reaction from lawmakers:

For the rest of the week …

On Thursday: Lawmakers unveiled a plan to cut $100 million from the budget. They called it the first “belt-tightening move,” meaning there’s more where this came from.

And Austin interviewed Randy Dorn on the WASL, Dick Thompson on federal stimulus, and Karen Lee on plans to tap the state unemployment insurance fund.

Also: Microsoft announced layoffs, including about 1,500 from Redmond.

As for today, you’ll have to keep checking back. There’s no telling what will happen!

Tags: Budget, WASL, week in review