Hey, lawmakers – slow down, and quit being so secretive. The Times ed board agrees with us on this one – 24 hours is way too short of a time to reveal and then pass a state budget. Legislative Democrats released budget details at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday and passed their budget yesterday. While 24 hours “isn’t an unusual timeline for passing a final budget out of the Legislature…that’s exactly the problem…Normally, tapping [the state’s constitutionally protected rainy-day account] would require a 60-percent majority vote…an idea that should have been vetted in public. Yet it never received as much as a public hearing.” (The Seattle Times)

House Republicans selected Rep. JT Wilcox (R-Yelm) as their new leader. Current Minority Leader Dan Kristiansen (R-Snohomish) is retiring from the Legislature. Rep. Joel Kretz (R-Wauconda) remains deputy leader and Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn) takes over Wilcox’s role as floor leader. (House GOP caucus)

After talking about maybe-sorta giving drivers some relief from extremely high Sound Transit car tab taxes, Democrats adjourned without passing any relief. Guess they weren’t concerned with the high fees drivers have to fork over after all. (The Seattle Times)

Sound Transit managed to scrape through another session without being held accountable for its manipulation of taxpayers – and without facing the consequences for its irresponsible spending habits. “Indirect accountability for Sound Transit is not working…We need to create a process for the direct election of Sound Transit’s board with seats apportioned by population.” (The Lens)

Voluntary testers of WSDOT’s Road Usage Charge program have their trackers and data is coming in – and some see potential for trouble. After seeing the details of her trip through the RUC, Mariya Frost of the Washington Policy Center realized that the data collected “and the policies that may someday govern this information could easily be used to issue traffic tickets.” We’re not saying there may be ulterior motives, but we’re also not saying it doesn’t seem that way. (Washington Policy Center)

Blocking traffic for six hours is not a peaceful protest, and The Seattle Times is right that “This unpermitted protest interrupted transit services and tens of thousands of people trying to reach work, schools and medical appointments that Friday…For such an obstruction to continue for six hours, with no citations or arrests, is unacceptable.” (The Seattle Times)

In contrast, it seems King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht would have made the decision the SPD failed to make. “Each agency decides how to handle things differently…In my jurisdiction if the roadway is blocked, we would make arrests. But we’d work with protesters. Often times, it’s them wanting to be arrested. There’s a big danger, a big public safety issue, I think, in those situations.” We’re siding with the Sheriff on this one. (MyNorthwest)

Spokane County faces a budget shortfall because people have stopped paying for landlines. “The landline telephone tax generated $3.1 million its first year, but revenue is estimated at only $1.9 million in 2018 as more people give up landlines.” (Spokesman-Review) 

Yakima County Commissioners voted to extend the closure of a portion of Thorp Road along the Yakima River that is vulnerable to the slow-moving landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge. (Tri-City Herald)

A report from Hanford contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. points to mistakes and mismanagement as the source of worker exposure to the radioactive contamination that happened last December. “The primary radioactive air monitors used at a highly hazardous Hanford project were not up to the job…When the spread of contamination was detected, the steps taken to contain it didn’t fully work.” (Tri-City Herald)

Students at WSU voted to continue printing the Daily Evergreen, well, daily. The $5-per-semester fee won the majority of the student vote by 50.8%. Madison Jackson, the editor-in-chief, said, “You need 50 percent of the vote, plus one. We had to have a little discussion about whether it even passed…We weren’t sure if it was 50 percent plus one or 51 percent.” It looks like WSU is in favor of rounding up. (Spokesman-Review)

Raiding the Rainy Day fund | SB 6614 | passed Senate 25-23-0-1 (3/7), passed House 59-39-0-0 (3/8), heading to governor’s desk

• “This is reckless. It is irresponsible. It is unconstitutional, Mr. President. We can do better,” said Sen. Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup) of the proposal to divert $700 million from the Rainy Day Fund. (MyNorthwest)
• “I am just praying and hoping and asking that we return to the bipartisan progress that we’ve made in this state over the last few years,” said Sen. Joe Fain (R-Auburn). (The Seattle Times)
• “I don’t think we’ve put ourselves in a good position to be able to weather a coming economic storm…We need to be cautious,” said Rep. Drew MacEwen (R-Union), although he commended funding for addressing opioid addiction. (The Seattle Times)

Relating to law enforcement | HB 3003 | passed Senate 25-24-0-0 (3/8), passed House 73-25-0-0 (3/7) | signed into law (3/8)

Governor has 20 days to sign, veto, or pocket sign

Concerning the capital budget | SB 6095 | passed House 96-2-0-0 (3/6), passed Senate 49-0-0-0 (3/8)

Making supplemental operating appropriations | SB 6032 | passed House 54-44-0-0 (3/8), passed Senate 25-24-0-0 (3/8)

Making supplemental transportation appropriations for the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium | SB 6106 | passed House 96-1-0-0 (3/7), passed Senate 47-1-0-1 (3/8)

Basic education funding | SB 6362 | passed Senate 25-23-1-0 (3/8), passed House 50-48-0-0 (3/8)

Relating to law enforcement agents using deadly force | HI 940 & SI 940 | passed House 55-43-0-0 (3/8), passed Senate 25-24-0-0 (3/8)

Addressing the budgeting process for core state services for children | HB 2008 | passed Senate 43-3-0-1 (3/7), passed House 83-15-0-0 (3/8)

Preserving access to individual market health care coverage throughout Washington state | HB 2408 | passed Senate 30-18-0-1 (3/7), passed House 58-40-0-0 (3/8)

Increasing the availability of housing for developmentally disabled persons | HB 2448 | passed Senate 48-0-0-1 (3/7), passed House 98-0-0-0 (3/8)

Promoting renewable natural gas | HB 2580 | passed Senate 47-1-0-1 (3/7), passed House 98-0-0-0 (3/8)

Concerning quality in assisted living facilities | HB 2750 | passed Senate 29-19-0-1 (3/7), passed House 95-3-0-0 (3/8)

Concerning the Tacoma Narrows bridge debt service payment plan | HB 2990 | passed Senate 47-1-0-1 (3/7), passed House 97-1-0-0 (3/8)

Providing a business and occupation tax exemption for accountable communities of health | HB 2998 | passed Senate 48-0-0-1 (3/7), passed House 93-5-0-0 (3/8)

Concerning the association of Washington generals | SB 5746 | passed Senate 49-0-0-0 (3/8), passed House 92-6-0-0 (3/2)

Modifying the Washington advanced college tuition payment and college savings programs | SB 6087 | passed Senate 45-3-1-0 (3/8), passed House 88-9-0-1 (3/7)

Providing a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees’ retirement system plan 1 and the teachers’ retirement system plan 1 | SB 6340 | passed Senate 97-0-0-1 (3/8), passed House 49-0-0-0 (3/7)

Concerning pretrial release programs | SB 5987 | passed Senate 49-0-0-0 (3/8), passed House 97-0-0-1 (3/7)

Establishing permissible methods of parking a motorcycle | SB 6070 | passed Senate 45-1-0-3 (1/31), passed House 98-0-0-0 (3/1)

Providing a real estate excise tax exemption for certain transfers of low-income housing | HB 2444 | passed Senate 98-0-0-0 (2/13), passed House 48-1-0-0 (3/8)

Concerning tax relief for adaptive automotive equipment for veterans and service members with disabilities | HB 2269 | passed Senate 49-0-0-0 (3/8), passed House 98-0-0-0 (3/6)

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