Bills dead and alive: Where the Legislature stands
Washington lawmakers are more than halfway through their 60-day legislative session, clearing a key deadline for policy bills and receiving good news on the revenue front ahead of the release of the House and Senate’s supplemental budget proposals. A revenue forecast Wednesday showed state revenues will increase by about $606 million more than expected through the middle of the current two-year budget cycle that ends mid-2021, with total revenues topping out at about $52.3 billion. The state is projected to have about $4.1 billion in total reserves in that time frame. Continue reading at The Kitsap Sun. (Rachel La Corte)
Washington state lawmakers introduce new version of plan to let King County tax big businesses
State lawmakers from the Seattle area have restarted their push for a tax on big businesses in King County, using a technical change to buy more time. On Thursday, they unveiled a new version of their closely watched plan to let the county impose a tax to fund affordable housing and homeless services, and the updated bill could raise more money than previously proposed – nearly $152 million a year. That means talks will continue in Olympia about whether and how much to tax large corporations, including tech titans like Amazon. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Rachel la Corte)
High-capacity magazine ban dies, replacement filed
A proposal to ban the sale of high-capacity gun magazines in Washington died after not receiving a vote by a key deadline Wednesday evening, but gun-control advocates quickly reloaded with a new proposal. House Democrats failed to put a bill up for debate that would have banned magazines holding more than 15 rounds. It needed to pass the House by Wednesday to continue being considered in the 2020 session. The bill was pulled from consideration by the full House after Republicans filed 120 amendments to be debated before a final vote on the bill could be taken, Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma said. Continue reading at The Spokesman-Review.
Associated Press
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Bills dead and alive: Where the Legislature stands
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