Olympia, Wash. (AP) - Republican lawmakers are accusing their Democratic counterparts of delaying important discussions on how to close a yawning budget gap.
They argue that too much time has been spent on hot-button issues from gay marriage to plastic bag bans to abolishing the death penalty.
The legislative session is nearly a quarter of the way complete and there is no timeline on when a draft budget will be circulated, House and Senate Republican leaders said Wednesday in a meeting with reporters.
The contentious non-budget issues that Democrats are pushing threaten to inflame passions and harden resolve ahead of what already promise to be difficult budget negotiations, said Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla.
Hewitt says the state has never faced a worse fiscal crisis in a supplemental budget year.
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