While those watching out for the release of the Washington State Legislature’s final state budget were sorely disappointed this afternoon, details were bubbling out about the Legislature’s plans to address McCleary. Legislative staff, however, are still scrambling to actually produce a budget that negotiators have agreed to in order avoid a state government shutdown. Then […]
Category: Legislative Advocacy
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Budgets need scrutiny: State Legislature’s lack of fiscal transparency is unacceptable
Yesterday, without fanfare, Governor Jay Inslee’s office announced that the majority caucuses of the House of Representatives and the Senate had reached agreement (“in principle”, at least) on a go-home budget deal that would avert a state government shutdown following the end of the day on Friday, June 30th, the last day of the current […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy, Party Politics
Tim Eyman, Republican lobbyist
Eyman has always had a relationship with the Republican Party, but it’s never been this tight before.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy, Party Politics
Congratulations to Representative Javier Valdez, Washington State’s newest legislator!
As a result of Javier’s appointment, the House Democratic caucus is now back at full strength and has enough members (fifty) to pass legislation again.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Kansas Republican legislators override their Norquistian governor, restore income taxes
Kansas Republicans were warned that Sam Brownback’s Norquistian plot would only lead to disaster. But they did not listen. And so they had to learn a hard lesson.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy, Party Politics
Kudos to Senate Democrats for forcing Mitch McConnell to gut his precious filibuster
We need to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate and get past this unprecedented partisan filibuster. – Mitch “Filibuster” McConnell, speaking earlier today The man who staged an unprecedented number of partisan filibusters of executive and judicial nominees during Barack Obama’s presidency today pulled the trigger on the so-called “nuclear option”, marshaling Senate Republicans […]
Posted inHealthcare, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
Trumpcuts implodes as feuding Republicans face the reality that they don’t have the votes
Conceding that they simply don’t have the votes to pass the massive wealth transfer that they falsely call a replacement for the Patient Protection Act, Paul Ryan and top House Republicans today threw in the towel on H.R. 1628, canceling a planned vote that Donald Trump had insisted be held only hours earlier.
Posted inHealthcare, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
NPI to NW Republicans: For the good of our region and country, vote NO on Trumpcuts
Editor’s Note: The following was transmitted by facsimile this evening to the offices of Dave Reichert, Greg Walden, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. All of the aforementioned individuals represent portions of Washington and Oregon in the United States House of Representatives as Republicans. We are republishing this communication here on the Cascadia Advocate as […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Tim Eyman vigorously endorses Senate Republican budget that raises property taxes
Sounding very much like a spokesman for top Republican Senator Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, Tim Eyman this morning sent out an email offering a ringing, fervent endorsement of the Senate Republicans’ proposed budget for 2017–2019, which would increase property taxes on many Washingtonians. “Here’s how my day went yesterday: drove to and from Olympia through […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Elections, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1550 would enrich the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us
As Washington homeowners received their most recent property tax bills, disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman couldn’t resist trying to exploit their concerns by announcing his intent to qualify an initiative to the November 2017 ballot that would cut property taxes by twenty-five percent. Like Eyman’s I‑1366, which was struck down as unconstitutional last year, its […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy, Policy Topics, Public Planning
Washington State Senate approves new Republican scheme to sabotage Sound Transit
With the “aye” votes of four Democratic senators, the Washington State Senate this morning passed a bill originally sponsored by Republican Steve O’Ban that would wipe out Sound Transit’s federated board and replace it with a panel of transportation czars hailing from eleven specially-drawn districts. The roll call was as follows: Roll Call SSB 5001 […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Tim Eyman offers tacit backing of Republican levy swipe scheme he once opposed
Disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman today revealed midway through an email to his followers that he’s on board with Washington State Senate Republicans’ plan to swipe property tax school levy dollars from urban and suburban school districts and send them to rural school districts they happen to represent. After shaking his fist at the Senate […]
Posted inElections, Legislative Advocacy
Rural Republicans: Tim Eyman’s I‑747 is choking the life out of our cities and counties
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on State Government held a hearing on legislation that would replace Tim Eyman’s arbitrary cap on property taxes with more reasonable limits tied to drivers of local governments’ costs. The legislation, Senate Bill 5772, is prime sponsored by Senator Jamie Pedersen and cosponsored by Republican Senator Maureen Walsh, among others. As […]
Posted inEducation, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
Washington State Senate passes Republicans’ school levy swipe scheme on a party-line vote
Thanks to the arrival of newly-minted Senator Shelley Short (R‑7th District; northeast Washington) and the return of Doug Ericksen from the District of Columbia, Republicans in the Washington State Senate were today able to pass the school levy swipe scheme they introduced late last week with no votes to spare. Substitute Senate Bill 5607, concerning education […]