The Senate ran a marathon hearing on the budget and related bills all day
Thursday, ending their session at 4:17AM. The day started with a debate
on the rules of engagement. The Senate majority passed a requirement that
any amendment would require 60% of the body to pass. The Senate broke for
caucus several times, and engaged later in the day to run through a whopping 74
proposed amendments. Some of the amendments were withdrawn by the sponsor
before introduction or tabled after a ruling, leaving over 50 that were heard
and voted on in a roll call vote of the entire body. Due to the rules change,
very few amendments passed. The speeches were impassioned and the tempers
flared, but, in the end, the Senate made it through all but two of the
proposals.
On a positive note, one of the few proposals that did pass was an education
amendment by Senator Warnick. Her proposal funds a 1 million dollar grant
to OSPI to contract with a non-profit to develop a program to integrate state
learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science with
outdoor field studies and project/work based learning opportunities that align
with environmental, natural resources ,and agricultural professions.
The Senate will resume debate on the budget on
April 6th
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