This from Secretary of the Senate Tom Hoeman:

In response to numerous requests, we will make tomorrow’s Presidential Inauguration available for viewing in several Senate rooms with large screens. Starting at 8:00 AM (or thereabouts) video of the events will be available in the following locations:
In the Cherberg Building:
• Conference Room ABC (First Floor)
• Conference Room 211
• Senate Hearing Room 4

In the Legislative Building:
• Senate Rules Room
• Majority Caucus Room
The event also will be shown in Senate Chamber where it can be viewed from the Senate Galleries.

Tags: inauguration

Rep. Richard DeBolt just took the stage at a Republican press conference to offer their opinion on the Governor’s inaugural address.

He said he was recently talking to someone in his community who asked what the state was going to do since it’s out of money. He told the woman that the state actually has 5 percent more than last year.

Sen. Mike Hewitt, Republican leader in the Senate, said the state is largely to blame for the budget crisis because of overspending. He said his caucus supports Gregoire’s plan for sparking private sector business and reform the government.

(Gregoire, for her part, has said the state is mostly the victim of the national economy. “We all know our state didn’t make this economic crisis, and we all know we can’t unilaterally solve it,” she said today.)

“Those are things that we’ve talked about for years.”

Next up: Rep. Gary Alexander, a Republican from Olympia.

“I expected to see more dialogue in terms of reducing the budget,” he said. He said the Legislature needs to get to work cutting from the supplemental budget because every dollar cut from the last six months of this budget saves more in the long term. Read more on that in a post to come very soon, or here.

Sen. Joe Zarelli says: “The message that I’ve been trying to take to Sen. Brown and others in the majority is, even if you do decide to pursue more revenue, you’ve still got a sizable problem,” he said.

Zarelli said that Republicans look forward to working with Democrats to solve this problem, but “in the end of the day, they’re the majority party and they can choose the direction,” he said.

Tags: Budget, Governor, inauguration, Republicans

Rep. Dan Kristiansen, a Republican from Snohomish, is on TVW (and www.tvw.org) right now.

His message: In the last four years, majority Democrats have increased government spending by more than 33 percent.

“This is poor stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

He said that’s like expecting to get a 33 percent pay raise, spending accordingly and then only getting a 5 percent raise.

“We have to come together as a Legislature, united to help the people.”

He said Republicans agree with one aspect of Gov. Gregoire’s budget: No tax increases.

He said Republicans are committed to “doing what is right, not what is political.” He said that means cutting spending and allowing the free market to take over, not government.

Tags: Governor, inauguration, Republican

While I stepped away from my desk, Gregoire alluded to proposals that would expand eligibility for food stamps and help homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

She has also said several times that it’s time for lawmakers to “tighten their belts” and live within the budget, an indication that her no-new-taxes mantra hasn’t changed. Some Democratic lawmakers are unsure of how they’ll cut billions of dollars from the budget without raising revenue.

Right now, she’s urging everyone who can to donate four non-perishable food items to food banks each month or the cash equivalent.

Also: There will be a Republican response to the Governor’s inaugural address directly following the joint session.

Tags: Governor, inauguration

Gov. Chris Gregoire just said she’ll reveal a plan tomorrow, called “Washington Jobs Now,” that she thinks could create 20,000 jobs in the next two years.

How? In part by “accelerating nearly $1 billion in public works projects. These projects will build new roads and schools and create green-collar jobs to lay more groundwork for the prosperity to come.”

But there’s more: She also plans to cut unemployment taxes for businesses.

“Our state has the healthiest Unemployment Trust Fund in the country. We need to put these funds to work through a temporary increase in benefits for workers and a temporary tax cut for businesses.”

The Unemployment Trust Fund has about $4 billion in it. While some states are in danger of bouncing unemployment checks, Washington isn’t in that situation. (That’s according to Sen. Lisa Brown from yesterday’s Senate Democrats own job package unveiling.)

She also said she’s working with President-elect Barack Obama on the federal stimulus. In her proposed budget, she penciled in about $1 billion from the federal government and said that was a conservative estimate.

Tags: Governor, inauguration

Gov. Chris Gregoire has started her inaugural speech. She opened by remembering Reps. Steve Hailey and Bill Grant, who both died in recent months.

She said she was honored that Washington citizens chose her to “lead this state through the most difficult and trying times maybe since the Great Depression.”

The way she’ll do this? By proposing her own jobs and economic stimulus packages. Details to come.

“More than ever, the people of Washington do not want partisan politics,” she said, adding that the goal is for the state to emerge from this recession “better positioned to create jobs, prepare kids for the future and provide affordable healthcare.”

She’s also mentioned government reform as a priority.

“We won’t waste this crisis. We can and must reform state government. In this moment of clarity, we must grab the opportunity to reform so we can respond to the evolving needs of this century.”

Tags: Gregoire, inauguration

The joint session with the House and Senate has started. Gov. Chris Gregoire is getting ready to give her inaugural speech. For those of you who can’t watch live on TVW (or www.tvw.org), keep your browser parked here for updates on what she has in store.

Tags: Governor, inauguration