Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers will continue their overtime work after efforts to reach agreement on a capital budget ended in acrimony in the Senate overnight.
After passing a two-year state operating budget before midnight Friday that prevented a partial government shutdown, the Legislature continued its work into the early hours of Saturday in an effort to reach a deal on the two-year construction budget. But a dispute over a measure addressing a court ruling related to water rights tied to that budget melted down and led to the Senate adjourning just before 3 a.m.
While some lawmakers had hoped that the temporary budget preparation would ensure no positions tied to that budget would be temporarily laid off, the governor’s budget office said as of yet those layoff notifications have not been rescinded.
The Democratic-controlled House, seemingly in a message to the Republican-led Senate, then passed the full $4.2 billion capital budget on a strong bipartisan 92-1 vote, sending it to other chamber.
Both chambers are adjourned until Monday morning.
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