Senate passes $43 billion state budget that allocates a record $21.9 billion to education funding. SB 5048 passed at 12:30am on Friday morning. House Democrats will be releasing their budget plan later today.

SB 5048 would replace local property taxes with a uniform levy rate across the state. Property taxes currently range from $1.22 to $5.39 per $1,000 of assessed property, with the state average hovering at $5.24. The proposed rate would be $1.55 per $1,000 of assessed property. 

A bill proposed by Rep. Bob McCaslin (R-Spokane Valley) that would facilitate school district expansion into rural areas has passed the House 82-15 and is headed for the Senate. “This clearly is an emergency in some areas. Schools are expanding and they can’t build in their areas,” McCaslin said.

SB 5558 would allow prisoners an $18 ID card upon release to help them reintegrate into society, as many prisoners are relying on only an estimated $40 upon release. This is one among many different measures under consideration to help prisoners re-enter society. “I’d like to think that (lawmakers) are becoming more sensitive to the issue of how we can do some common sense things to encourage reintegration,” Senator Steve O’Ban (R-University Place) said.

Legislation that incorporates change in technology to public record laws has passed the House, and is being considered in the Senate. Washington paid $60 million to fulfill 285,000 records requests in 2015. The bills being considered would centralize an online database for public records and allow the state to charge up to 10 cents per page or gigabyte of data for requests – which cost the state 15 cents per.

Sound Transit is over budget by $225 million but refuses to re-open construction bidding.  Officials believe the cost, which has now been raised almost 50% from the original estimate of $486 million, is “fair and reasonable.” As Jason Rantz of KIRO said, “It’s not their money, so of course they do.”

After four expensive years of waiting, Bertha may finally surface. The Seattle Department of Transportation has reported that the tunnel-digging machine only has 320 feet left to dig in order to finish the Highway 99 tunnel – which is now supposed to open in 2019.

Spokane Valley may allow small farm animals in backyard gardens to facilitate urban farming. The City Council is considering allowing chickens, goats and ducks into backyard gardens of residential areas. Currently only bees, fruits and vegetables are allowed in urban farming zones.

Sasquatch was reported chasing a deer on US highway 95, which was the reason one woman gave for hitting a deer on her way to Pullman last week. A deputy who followed the woman to the site did not find evidence of Sasquatch. An amendment may be needed for SB 5816, “an act relating to designating Sasquatch the official cryptid or crypto-animal of Washington,” if further evidence is found that Sasquatch was the cause of the accident.

Gov. Inslee vowed Saturday to fight any proposals that would reduce funding or weaken environmental protection. Joined in a press conference by Governor Kate Brown of Oregon, Inslee claimed his reason for fighting to insulate Washington against anti-environment proposals was because, “we understand chemistry, physics and even the law of gravity.”

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