OLYMPIA, Wash. – It was
only supposed to last seven days. But [Today] Monday marks the start of
week three of the Washington legislature's overtime session. Majority
Democrats remain deadlocked over whether to raise the state sales tax.
However there are signs of softening. [Olympia Correspondent Austin
Jenkins has this update. 1:02]
The longer the special session drags on, the more Governor Chris Gregoire ratchets up her rhetoric. Here she is Friday.
Chris Gregoire: “I'm just disgusted. Nothing is going on that I can tell. No matter how many offers I've given for compromise, they haven't resulted in a compromise. Time's up.”
Gregoire is talking about her fellow Democrats in the legislature. For the most part, the House and Senate have agreed on a rewrite to the state's two-year budget. They've also settled on the bulk of an $800 million tax package to help close a nearly $3 billion hole. But there's still one major sticking point. That's whether to raise Washington's sales tax. The Governor and House say no. The state Senate, yes. But Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown says she's starting to look for an alternative to the sales tax.
Lisa Brown: “We're going to look and see if we can come up with something that comes up with the needs of both the House and Senate.
Brown offers no specifics. But a coalition of labor and social service advocates has an idea. They're calling for a tax hike on soda pop to break the budget bottleneck. [I'm Austin Jenkins in Olympia.]
Copyright 2010 Northwest News Network
The longer the special session drags on, the more Governor Chris Gregoire ratchets up her rhetoric. Here she is Friday.
Chris Gregoire: “I'm just disgusted. Nothing is going on that I can tell. No matter how many offers I've given for compromise, they haven't resulted in a compromise. Time's up.”
Gregoire is talking about her fellow Democrats in the legislature. For the most part, the House and Senate have agreed on a rewrite to the state's two-year budget. They've also settled on the bulk of an $800 million tax package to help close a nearly $3 billion hole. But there's still one major sticking point. That's whether to raise Washington's sales tax. The Governor and House say no. The state Senate, yes. But Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown says she's starting to look for an alternative to the sales tax.
Lisa Brown: “We're going to look and see if we can come up with something that comes up with the needs of both the House and Senate.
Brown offers no specifics. But a coalition of labor and social service advocates has an idea. They're calling for a tax hike on soda pop to break the budget bottleneck. [I'm Austin Jenkins in Olympia.]
Copyright 2010 Northwest News Network
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