Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee said lawmakers delivered on his call to take “big, bold, action,” after the 60-day legislative session closed March 10, working until the midnight deadline to pass a $64.1 billion supplemental state budget.

In addition to boosting spending by $5 billion in the current biennium, legislators approved the first major transportation funding package since 2015.

Here’s what passed:

Longterm care

One of the earliest actions was to halt the state’s long-term care benefit program by 18-months. Both Democrats and Republicans argued the program was not solvent with...