Washington Votes Forum

The 2011 Legislative Session is officially over. In the closing hours lawmakers rushed to pass both the state's Operating and Capital budgets, as well as reforms to the worker compensation program and the state's debt limit. Do you think lawmakers did enough to get Washington's economy on...

Are you pleased with the accomplishments of the 2011 Legislative Session thus far? Next week the 2011 Legislative Session will reach a critical point; the halfway mark. So far Lawmakers have introduced more than 1,800 bills, nearly 650 amendments or substitutes, but only forwarded three bills to the...

Last year, WashingtonVotes.org noted several transparency issues in the Legislature. This year, lawmakers are considering SB 5419 , which would provide additional transparency reforms. Here is an excellent blog post, " Lawmakers address need to improve legislative transparency ," highlighting...

Today, Monday, January 10th, marks the start of the 2011 Legislative Session. Throughout the Session WashingtonVotes.org will provide plain-English descriptions of every bill and amendments introduced by lawmakers in Olympia. We encourage users, and site visitors, to take utilize our various search features...

According to the latest revenue forecast for Washington, revenues or tax collections for the state are down. This means the state's budget shortfall has ballooned to $5.7 billion. At this point Governor Gregoire can either make additional across-the-board cuts, which would total nearly 11%, to state...

As lawmakers prepare to return to Olympia for the 2011 Legislative Session, what are your expectations? Is the budget your biggest concern? How would you balance the state's budget? Let us know what you think.