Gov. Jay Inslee will meet with reporters at high noon to discuss the ongoing special session of the state Legislature.
There’s no expectation he’ll announce an agreement which could wrap everything up. More likely he’ll be asked to discuss the likelihood of a second extra session.
This overtime will end June 11. Barring a deal in the next 48 hours or so, lawmakers will simply run out of time to push legislation through the process.
“If there isn’t some break, it’s inevitable we’re heading toward another special session and I believe that will drive us over a fiscal cliff,” Sen. Minority Leader Ed Murray, D-Seattle told Rachel La Corte of the Associated Press
Lawmakers are trying to settle differences on how to erase a projected $1.2 billion shortfall in the two-year budget cycle that ends in 2015. And they want to pump another $1 billion into education in response to a court-ordered requirement that the state spend more on its public schools.
Budget negotiations have been taking place for weeks between the Democratic-controlled House and the Senate, which is run by a coalition of 23 Republicans and two Democrats.
The big sticking point: the House wants to generate more than $1 billion in revenue from existing or new taxes and the Senate does not.
You can watch Inslee live on TVW.
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