State Legislature Passes Supplemental Operating Budget

The state legislature wrapped up their short session last night and passed a supplementary operating budget along a party-line vote. Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler expressed disappointment after the vote.

"I think it's unfortunate that for the first time since 2010 this was a party-line vote. I think the public's better served when all four caucuses representing all the voters in the state of Washington have a role in crafting our state's budget."

He also thinks the Democrat majority will regret taking 700-million dollars from our state’s rainy day fund to cover part of it.

The Democrats hold slight majorities in both the Senate and House, but Schoesler says there was some successes for conservatives.

"We passed the Hirst Decision to fix water problems in all 39 counties. We also passed a very good Capital Budget. I think we started out well and it went downhill from there."

While the governor’s energy tax was defeated this time, Schoesler says the battle will likely continue.