Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers have hit the midway point of a 30-day special session, but there’s no indication they will reach a budget deal before needing to go into additional overtime.
Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday that while a bipartisan group of lawmakers are engaged in “useful discussions” on the education policy part of the two-year state operating budget, “they have not made substantial progress on the financial aspect of that.
The current two-year budget expires on June 30, which means the 2017-2019 budget must be signed by the governor by then or else the state risks a partial government shutdown. Within that budget, Washington lawmakers must also comply with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that they must meet the state’s constitutional requirement to fully fund the state’s basic education system.
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