Last week marked the end of the 1st Special Session of 2017, and Gov. Jay Inslee called the Legislature back into session for a second 30-day term. The Regular Session adjourned on April 23. These special sessions come as no surprise, as over the past several years the divided Legislature has typically needed special sessions to resolve its business.
Legislators have not come to agreement yet on an education plan to meet the Supreme Court’s McCleary mandate, whether to increase taxes, or the 2017-19 operating and capital budgets. However, they reached bipartisan agreement on a biennial transportation budget during the Regular Session. The end of the state’s fiscal year is June 30, so legislators will face increased pressure to reach a budget agreement by then.
During the past month, the governor has taken action on bills passed during the regular session. A full list of the governor’s actions can be found here.
Below is a list of issues that we worked on or were following during the legislative session, as well as updates on where those issues stand now. Some of the unresolved issues may again surface as the Legislature gets closer to a final go-home budget deal, presumably in late June.