The critical issues of a 2017-19 state spending plan, basic education funding, and how to pay for them remain unresolved as this year’s 105-day regular session heads toward adjournment in just eleven days. Democrats, who control the House, and majority Republicans in the Senate are still far apart on their respective spending plans, especially with respect to $3.5 billion in new taxes proposed by House Democrats.  Whether the proposed new taxes can pass remains theoretical, as Democratic leaders have not yet scheduled a vote on the bill. 

Observers in Olympia say a special session is increasingly likely, unless legislative leaders make significant progress in budget negotiations during the next few days.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers have passed hundreds of bills this week, ahead of today’s deadline for considering non-budget legislation sent to them by the opposite chamber. So far, more than 300 bills have cleared both houses of the legislature, and some 140 bills have been sent to the Governor for his signature.

Among the bills that have been passed by both chambers is SB 5008, to bring Washington state into compliance with the 2005 federal REAL ID act, which requires state driver’s licenses and identification cards to have special security features and to be issued only to people who can prove they are in the United States legally.

Residents without the REAL ID enhancements on their driver’s licenses would need additional identification, such as a passport, to board commercial domestic flights, beginning on January 22, 2018.  States that have been granted an extension would have to meet REAL ID requirements by October 21, 2020.

Washington already offers, but does not mandate, an enhanced driver’s license at extra cost that would meet federal requirements.. Under the bill, the state would create a two-tier system, keeping the enhanced license and marking standard licenses as not valid for federal purposes.

The House passed SB 5008 with a 69-28 bi-partisan vote, but it made changes to the bill that will have to be approved by the Senate before it can be sent on to the Governor. The Senate had lowered the price of an enhanced license to $54, the cost of a standard license, but the House raised it back to its current price of $108. The House also also added language prohibiting the standard licenses from being used to determine or infer the holder’s immigration or citizenship status.

If the bill does not clear both houses on final passage before the session’s April 23rd adjournment date, it would go back to the Senate and have to be passed again during a special session. 

In other notable action, the Senate on Monday unanimously approved HB 1258, known as the “Travis Alert” act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gina McCabe (R-Goldendale), is named for Travis King, a12-year-old autistic boy from Wapato who had wandered away from home and was found by emergency workers. It would require the state to create a training program for emergency workers on how to deal with people who have disabilities. It would also provide for a feasibility study on allowing information about a disabled person to be displayed in the 911 emergency alert system. The bill is now headed to the Governor for his signature.

Keep up with the action in the final days of this legislative session by visiting www.washingtonvotes.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. #waleg.