By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers were racing the clock to finish a supplemental budget by the end of the night Thursday or else risk the governor following through on a threat to veto dozens of bills on his desk.
Budget negotiators continued to meet on the last day of the regularly scheduled 60-day session.
But both sides expressed caution that they might not even have a so-called “handshake deal” by the time of the governor’s original implied deadline of having a budget on his desk by Thursday night.
And even if they did, they’d need a few extra days to work out all of the details and get the budget printed and voted on, which all but ensures an overtime special session.
Inslee has already said he’d call lawmakers back today for a special session if their work was not complete.
‘Bill action’
Inslee’s office sent out notification Thursday morning that he would be taking “bill action” on 37 Senate bills that are on his desk.
Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith said that the governor wants a budget agreement Thursday night.
If the agreement is announced, and “the paperwork is going, he’ll be very happy to sign bills,” she said.
But while key negotiators expressed hope earlier in the day that they would ultimately have an agreement to bring back to their caucuses, they stopped short of guaranteeing that it would actually happen Thursday.
“We’re going to work right up to the end and hope we can figure it out,” said Republican Sen. John Braun, who has been part of negotiations for the Senate.
Inslee first made the veto threat Monday, saying that while negotiations between the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate were progressing, lawmakers needed to pick up the pace.
The 37 bills at risk are so-called “5-day bills” — those that were passed more than five days before the Legislature adjourns and have five days to be acted on; bills delivered fewer than five days before adjournment have 20 days to be acted on by the governor.
If the governor takes no action, the bills automatically become law. But Inslee said earlier in the week that the veto threat is needed to prod action.
Democratic Rep. Hans Dunshee, the budget negotiator for the House, said that he and Braun “have had amiable conversations in a very difficult situation.”
“You should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said. “Compromise is the nature of democracy.”
