Majority Democrats used their superior numbers in the state House to muscle through a $905 million tax package aimed at funding education today on a 50-to-47 vote.  Five Democrats – Reps. Kathy Haigh of Shelton, Chris Hurst of Enumclaw, Dawn Morrell of Puyallup, Larry Seaquist of Gig Harbor and Monica Stonier of Vancouver – crossed over to join Republicans who united against it.

Mike Baker of the Associated Press has this story on the floor action: OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Democrats in the Washington state House moved ahead Wednesday with a plan that would increase tax revenue by …

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The House Finance Committee has voted 8-to-5 along party lines to approve a $900 million tax package. The biggest piece of House Bill 2038 is the permanent extension of a business-occupations tax surcharge that otherwise expires in June. But in its scaled-back form, it no longer extends the temporary tax surcharge on beer that was adopted in 2010.

Republicans offered a series of amendments seeking to omit elements of the package – everything from closure of a tax-break for out of state shoppers to a tax on certain imports and bottled water. A final striking amendment from …

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Tim Eyman says he’s filing a new initiative that, among other things, would limit future tax increases to one year. UPDATE: Monday he wasn’t saying when he’ll file – this year or next. Today, Eyman says he is filing it at 11 a.m. tomorrow, April 24.

The move is in part a reaction to the state Supreme Court  throwing out his Initiative 960 which set a two-thirds vote requirement for Legislature-imposed tax increases into law.

Even before losing that case by a solid 6-to-3 margin in court, he’s since been agitating for a constitutional amendment to lock in that higher …

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If Washington state lawmakers ever sipped truth serum, they’d probably fess right up: A special session is just around the corner in Olympia. But with 10 days left in the regular 105-day session, and lots of political positioning still left to do, leaders are taking a more nuanced position on the dance floor.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom first insisted there was no need for a special session – as though wishing such things makes them so. But then he declared that he’d like to take Senate and House legislative leaders on a statewide tour – “20 towns …

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The House budget battle with the state Senate is joined. By a 54-to-43 vote, House Democrats pushed through a $34.5 billion budget bill to fund Washington state government operations for 2013-15 on Friday. It  spends $1.3 billion more than what the Republican-steered Senate passed on a bipartisan vote one week ago.

The House plan also requires  $1.3 billion in new revenues. Only one Democrat, freshman Rep. Monica Stonier of Vancouver, crossed over to join Republicans, all of whom voted no.

Rachel LaCorte of The Associated Press has the story here:

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The state House

…

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The Senate’s capital budget author Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, says that a House plan to replace the state General Administration building with a new structure next door is a no-go for him – at least this year. But he also said it could be a topic for negotiation when the House and Senate start talks to reconcile their rival $3.6 billion capital-construction budgets in the next week.

“For me I think it’s a nonstarter until we have a full plan for what to do with the State Library and the Archives,’’ Honeyford said before today’s Senate Ways and …

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An overlooked item in the House Democrats’ operating budget is a $150,000 proviso for a study of the economic impact of coal-export facilities on Washington state.

Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, called attention to the tiny allocation in the Democrats’ $34.5 billion proposed budget released Wednesday. He said in an email that it “recognizes the need for Washington to thoroughly evaluate the economic impacts of coal exports in our state. By utilizing the expertise of our state agencies, we hope to capture the net economic impacts of the proposed projects so that Washington taxpayers have an apples-to-apples comparison …

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In the other budget show at the Capitol today, the House Democrats laid out a $3.6 billion capital-construction plan that puts more into environmental programs than the Senate’s Republican-dominated coalition has proposed. It also funds several closely-watched South Sound projects.

The biggest surprise of all is a major $82 million office replacement project in Olympia. The House plan earmarks $18 million from state bonds and $64 million in future tenant rents to pay for replacement of the General Administration Building. The Washington State Patrol, Judicial Conduct Commission and other agencies still use the …

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