OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state House has passed a spending plan as budget negotiations between House Democrats and Senate Republicans continue.
House Democratic budget negotiator Ross Hunter said Thursday that the bill includes concessions, including spending cuts and the elimination of a one-day delay in a $330 million payment to schools.
Hunter said the Senate would have the opportunity to amend the budget before it reaches its final form.
The House also passed other budget-related bills Thursday. One would require roll-your-own cigarette stores to collect the state’s 15-cents-per-cigarette tax. Another would allow the state to temporarily hold local sales taxes before they are sent back to jurisdictions at their usual time, roughly a month after they are collected. That plan would increase the state’s general fund balance sheet by some $238 million.
