The 2012 Legislative session kicked off on Monday, and we covered lots of ground here on the blog and on Legislative Review, our 10-minute wrap-up of the day’s events that airs nightly at 6:30 p.m. on TVW. Here’s a quick look back at what happened this week.

Monday: Opening ceremonies got underway with speeches from Reps. Frank Chopp and Richard DeBolt. TVW aired a two-hour opening day special of “The Impact” with interviews from the Governor and dozens of lawmakers, who touched on everything from the budget to gay marriage and medical marijuana.

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review here.

Tuesday:  Gov. Chris Gregoire gave her final state of the state address, calling for a $3.6 billion transportation package that would include a $1.50 fee per barrel on oil produced in Washington. Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, delivered the Republican response. That was followed by a news conference where several Republicans said they were concerned that the Governor’s proposed oil fee would cause prices to rise at the gas pump.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review here.

Wednesday: After three years of delivering gloomy economic forecasts, the state’s chief economist Arun Raha announced he was resigning to take a new job in Cleveland — but not without cracking a few of his signature “Arun-ism” jokes first. We kept an eye on two environmental bills — one would ban plastic grocery bags in Washington state, and the other would ban petroleum-based plastic bottles. And, the Senate took a look at a proposal that would consolidate the healthcare benefits of K-12 public school employees under one insurance plan.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review here.

Thursday: A bipartisan group of lawmakers held a press conference to announce their plans for education reform, including a bill that would authorize charter schools in Washington state. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, held a press conference to promote his version of a bill that would ban plastic bags. The employment department and chief economist Arun Raha gave an update on how the state’s economy is doing.

Watch Thursday’s Leglative Review here.

Friday: The Sandusky scandal prompted the Senate to hear a bill that would hold certain higher education employees responsible for reporting suspected child abuse. Also, the Senate honored Sen. Scott White, who died in October of a heart attack. Friday’s edition of Legislative Review airs at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Arun Raha, Environment, gay marriage, Gov. Gregoire, Legislative Review, Schools

Gov. Chris Gregoire is delivering her final state of the state speech now to a joint session of the House and Senate. They’re also joined by the Supreme Court and other elected officials. Watch live on TVW, and refresh this post for updates throughout the speech. (After this, we’ll be covering the Republican response.)

“While our challenges are unprecedented, so, too, are our opportunities,” she said, adding that Washington knows how to turn challenge into opportunity. “Many believe that government is the whole problem, and many believe that it’s the whole solution. But that’s not our Washington,” she said, adding that here, people understand that safe communities and good schools are critical, but that government can’t do it all.

She said Washington needs to “win in the turns,” meaning hit the accelerator while others are breaking. “It’s now up to us. This is our time. Our time to win in the turn, our time to build a better future for our children and grandchildren,” she said. To that end, she’s asking for four things: 1. That the Legislature quickly passes a budget. 2. Ask voters this spring to approve a temporary half cent sales tax. 3. Pass school reforms. 4. Pass a major transportation and jobs package.

“First, let’s solve the budget problems,” she said. She said since the Recession began, the Legislature has “cut and cut and cut.” She said some states are talking about reforms, but Washington has made big changes. “We’ve made our pension system one of the five most sustainable in the United States,” she said, as one example. “One of the fastest growing, biggest and most complicated drivers of our budget is healthcare,” she said, adding that reforms passed already have helped contain costs.

“While we must cut and reform again, we must also realize that this problem demands a courageous solution. We must look for new revenue for the state of Washington,” she said.

“I ask you to send to voters a temporary, three-year, half-cent sales tax” to save “vital services,” she said. “We are about to shred very core services. It is time for all of us here in this chamber to stand up for Washingtonians.” She said she knows the sales tax is regressive, but making further cuts to the safety net will be even more regressive. (more…)

Tags: Governor, state of the state

Gov. Chris Gregoire will be delivering her State of the State address at 10:15 a.m. in a joint session, immediately followed by the Republican response. TVW will be live with both speeches — and live blogging here, too.

We’ll also be following the 1:30 p.m. education hearing in the House, where they’ll be discussing the recent Supreme Court decision that said that the state isn’t doing its duty to fully fund education. They’ll also be looking at innovation in schools. Catch the full recap of today’s events on tonight’s edition of Legislative Review at 6:30 p.m. on TVW.

At 3:30, we’re watching the House Transportation Committee. They’re scheduled to hold a work session on the governor’s supplemental transportation budget.

Tags: education, Gov. Gregoire, supreme court, WA House

In case you missed today’s special opening day edition of “The Impact,” here’s the 20-minute interview with Gov. Gregoire in which she discusses the half-cent sales tax proposal, gay marriage, medical marijuana and education reform.

TVW interviewed nearly two dozen lawmakers as part of the 2-hour special, which will be rebroadcast tonight at 7 p.m. on TVW. You can also watch all of the clips from the special on the web.

Tags: Gov. Gregoire, TVW

We just wrapped up an interview with Gov. Chris Gregoire as part of our special opening day edition of “The Impact.” You can catch the rebroadcast at 7 p.m. tonight, and we’ll post web clips as they become available.

Gregoire spoke about her proposal for a half-cent state sales tax hike, gay marriage, education reform and medical marijuana.

The Washington Supreme Court’s recent decision on the McCleary case — which said that the state isn’t doing its duty to fully fund education — emphasizes the need for a sales tax increase, Gregoire said.

“The court put an exclamation point behind my recommendation,” Gregoire said during the interview.

Gregoire said she hopes to get a gay marriage bill out this week, and possibly as soon as today. The bill would make gay marriage legal in Washington state.

Current domestic partnerships would transition to marriages within two years, she said, unless those partnerships are dissolved. Heterosexual or homosexual couples over the age of 62 who are in a domestic partnerships for financial reasons will be able to continue that relationship if they choose, she added.

She also spoke about her continuing efforts to get the federal government to reclassify medical marijuana as a Class II drug, which would give it accepted medical uses.

Tags: gay marriage, Gov. Gregoire, medical marijuana, sales tax

We’ll be interviewing legislators from 10 a.m. until noon on air. We have interviews lined up with Governor Chris Gregoire, budget writers, and legislators working on same-sex marriage, higher education, transportation, K-12 education, and more! Stay tuned, and right after that, you can watch the opening ceremonies live on TVW starting at noon.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced a plan today that would streamline the way that small businesses pay local taxes and apply for a business license.

Under her proposal, Washington state would become the sole collector of all local and state B&O taxes, or business and occupation taxes. It would also create a single state website where businesses can obtain a business license, eliminating the 50 or so websites that are now run by individual cities.

Currently, if a business has operations in more than one city it may have to pay the B&O taxes to multiple cities  – a system that is “at its best complicated, and at its worst a nightmare,” Gregoire said. Her proposal would bring the collection of all B&O taxes under the state’s jurisdiction, much like the sales tax.

Gregoire said she is also issuing an executive order to determine if the restaurant industry has too many state and local regulations that are hindering business. ”Do we need all these inspectors? Do we give conflicting advice? We’ll find out the answers so that businesses can get on with their bottom line, ” Gregoire said.

Gregoire is also directing $1.1 million in federal funds to specific job training programs, including:

• Training 460 veterans for a careers in manufacturing
• Providing paid internships and professional training to at-risk, low-income youth
• Offering on-the-job training for 300 women and minorities working in the construction and transportation sector

Tags: B & O taxes, business licenses, employment, Gov. Gregoire, Jobs, small business

Tags: Rep. Marko Liias, same-sex marriage, The Impact

Gov. Chris Gregoire is hosting a press conference this morning to address marriage equality. We’ll be heading to the Capitol to blog about the event, and viewers can watch it live at 11 a.m. on TVW.

Host Jessica Gao will take a closer look at the issue of same-sex marriage on tonight’s episode of The Impact, including an interview with Rep. Marko Liias, a gay rights advocate.

Tags: Governor Gregoire, Marko Liias, same-sex marriage

On tonight’s edition of The Impact, I talk with Gov. Chris Gregoire about her tax proposal, the state budget, special session, her thoughts on the Occupy protests at the capitol – and much more. We didn’t have time to air the entire interview on the show, so I’m posting the full, unedited version here.

But don’t miss tonigh’ts show: We’ve also got more on the protests, an on-set interview and news from the first week of this 30-day special session. You can watch at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire, Governor, Occupy, protests, taxes, The Impact