Published: Monday, April 27, 2009
Governor to call Legislature back for special session
OLYMPIA – Washington’s Legislature is going into overtime.
Lawmakers failed to act on a handful of budget-related bills before the session ended Sunday night, so the governor intends to call them back to finish.
The date will be worked out when Gov. Chris Gregoire meets with House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown today or Tuesday.
“We were willing to do it now,” Brown told reporters about 12:30 a.m. today, a half-hour after the 2009 session ended.
Pearse Edwards, Gregoire’s spokesman, said a number of legal and procedural questions needed answering before lawmakers are summoned to reconvene.
Among them is whether the governor can determine how long the special session lasts and what matters are considered.
Senators started packing up their desks about 11:45 p.m. and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, the Senate president, prepared for the Sine Die celebration marking the close of the session.
But the House still had several bills on its docket to run, including bills dealing with school levy equalization funding, deportation of immigrant offenders and the suspension of funding for teacher pay raises.
In a special session, those are expected to be handled.
But other legislation could be discussed, too. Brown said she wanted to pursue an environmental bill she had pushed unsuccessfully during the regular session. Edwards said the governor is very interested in getting through her cap-and-trade legislation.
The Legislature’s last special session was Nov. 29, 2007, for one day.
Gregoire plans to meet with reporters today at 11 a.m. Chopp has scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Lawmakers failed to act on a handful of budget-related bills before the session ended Sunday night, so the governor intends to call them back to finish.
The date will be worked out when Gov. Chris Gregoire meets with House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown today or Tuesday.
“We were willing to do it now,” Brown told reporters about 12:30 a.m. today, a half-hour after the 2009 session ended.
Pearse Edwards, Gregoire’s spokesman, said a number of legal and procedural questions needed answering before lawmakers are summoned to reconvene.
Among them is whether the governor can determine how long the special session lasts and what matters are considered.
Senators started packing up their desks about 11:45 p.m. and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, the Senate president, prepared for the Sine Die celebration marking the close of the session.
But the House still had several bills on its docket to run, including bills dealing with school levy equalization funding, deportation of immigrant offenders and the suspension of funding for teacher pay raises.
In a special session, those are expected to be handled.
But other legislation could be discussed, too. Brown said she wanted to pursue an environmental bill she had pushed unsuccessfully during the regular session. Edwards said the governor is very interested in getting through her cap-and-trade legislation.
The Legislature’s last special session was Nov. 29, 2007, for one day.
Gregoire plans to meet with reporters today at 11 a.m. Chopp has scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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