Jordan Schrader at The News Tribune has a post about the likelihood of a special session to patch the potential $480 million hole in the state budget.

Schrader says that early this week, Gregoire will talk to legislative leaders to determine if a special session is the way to go.

The $480 million hole is still “potential” because it all depends on whether Congress passes an extension of support for FMAP — the Federal Medicaid match. The state banked on that money while writing the supplemental budget in the 2010 session, but Congress hasn’t yet approved it.

Tags: Budget, Gregoire, special session

Arun Raha, the state’s chief economic forecaster, presented the economic forecast today — it’s the precursor to the Economic and Revenue Forecast that will be released on June 17.

The news: Washington’s revenue collections for the first quarter of the year are about $48 million less than expected — or 1.1 percent. Read the whole report here.

In related news, earlier this week Gov. Chris Gregoire said that if $480 million that state budget writers were counting on from the federal government for Medicaid doesn’t materialize — as is called for in the budget – then another special session may be necessary.

Here’s the short story.

And here’s a longer version by Michelle Dupler. She writes that the state would be about $30 million in the red if the FMAP extension doesn’t pass. (And that was written before today’s forecast.)

Stay tuned.

Tags: economic forecast, special session

Update: Here’s the video from this morning’s press conference:

And here’s the statement released by Gregoire’s office.

Gov. Chris Gregoire today, acknowledging the “tough choices” confronted during the special session, thanked members of the Legislature for their work on behalf of the people of Washington.

“Tough times require tough choices,” Gregoire said. “It’s taken a little longer then we hoped to find the path forward, but the end result is a good one. We have reached an agreement that will preserve critical programs for our students, seniors and most vulnerable while balancing the budget with a mix of tightly targeted revenues.” (more…)

Tags: Gregoire, special session

The House and Senate are working toward adjournment — the House is debating final passage of the operating budget, and the Senate is debating the jobs bill (and just broke for a little break).

You can watch all the action live on TVW and TVW.org.

Tags: special session

Brad Shannon sums up the current tax discussions here. In short: On Day 23 of special session, there is no deal.

Need to take your mind off special session? Jessica Gao will discuss healthcare and other public policy on tonight’s edition of The Impact. That airs at 7 and 10 p.m.

Tags: special session, taxes, The Impact

There’s no floor action today — the 10th day of special session — and at this point, it’s a game of who blinks first, according to Rep. Lynn Kessler, who was interviewed for The Impact this morning with Rep. Richard DeBolt.

Kessler said she’d vote for any of the proposals currently on the table. DeBolt said Republicans would rather rewrite the budget than vote for a tax package.

When an agreement is reached, it will take two days to print the budget and vote, Kessler said. DeBolt confirmed that Republicans would give the budget the procedural “bump” needed to vote that quickly.

Watch The Impact tonight at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW — or posted as early as it’s available here. Not only will you see the Kessler/DeBolt interview, you’ll also get an excellent explanation of GA-U and how it will transform into Disability Lifeline. And more.

Tags: special session

Here’s video of Sen. Lisa Brown’s media availability today, in which she discusses negotiations between the House and Senate during special session:

Tags: special session

Jim Brunner with the Seattle Times just posted a report from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s press conference today. When asked about word that lawmakers say they may need next week for special session, Gregoire paused and said she wants them out by Sunday.

Read the whole thing here.

As Brunner points out, the Legislature has up to 30 days and can pass whatever bills they want to.

Tags: special session

Beginning today, the Legislature is in special session. And beginning today, TVW will offer special coverage to keep you informed on what’s happening.

Tonight at 7 p.m., Jessica Gao will host a special edition of The Impact. She’ll explain how special session works and what’s at stake. Later, at 11 p.m., Legislative Review will recap the day’s events.

Tuesday through Friday, Legislative Review: Special Session will air at 6:30 p.m. and will include recaps of the day plus several exclusive interviews with lawmakers.

The Impact will air at its regularly scheduled time on Wednnesday at 7. And Inside Olympia airs Thursday at 7 p.m.

And, of course, you can read the blog all day every day to find out what’s happening. Right now, you can tune into the Senate floor session. And look for an update on the schedule soon.

Questions? Suggestions? E-mail nikir@tvw.org.

Tags: Inside Olympia, Legislative Review, special session, The Impact, TVW

Gov. Chris Gregoire is joined by Sen. Lisa Brown and Rep. Frank Chopp.

She said there’s nothing regular about this session. “We are confronting the worst economic times in 80 years,” she said.

“This session is about moving forward. Tonight and today I congratulate the Legislature” for taking “major steps” forward on school reform and levy equalization.

She thanked the lawmakers for sending a Constitutional amendment to voters. “There is much that has been accomplished in a very short session, but there is more to do.”

“Tonight I’ve issued a proclamation calling for a special session that will begin on Monday at noon,” she said, and hopefully last 7 days or fewer.

Sen. Lisa Brown said they’re looking forward to coming back on Monday and getting the budget and revenue package done.

“I’d like to say it really is about jobs and fortunately we have a transportation budget that’s fully passed through both the House and the Senate,” she said. With that alone, she said thousands of jobs will be created.

Speaker Frank Chopp: Said they’re proud of the education reform, early learning bill, levy capacity and Race to the Top reform. “We were so hopeful we could get that done today and we were able to get that job completed.”

He said the Legislature will be “really focused in on our jobs agenda” during special session. “The package that you’ll be seeing refreshed next week will be very aggressive.”

So: Everyone will be back on Monday. They’ll reintroduce budget bills “and start passing those immediately” so that when they are done negotiating, they can pass the budget, Sen. Lisa Brown said. She said budget and jobs are the only topics that will be discussed. She said negotiations will begin this weekend.

As for the size of the revenue package, Brown said they “more or less cut the difference.”

Gregoire said she hasn’t read the cell phone bill yet, but it seems like not talking on the phone while driving is good public policy.

Tags: special session