Legislative update: We could be heading to overtime

Today is scheduled to be the last day of this year’s short state legislative session. We are happy to report that many of the significant bills WSHA supports made it through both the House and Senate. We are continuing to work on the state budget, particularly focusing on mental health. The legislature could indeed adjourn today, but it looks likely that there will need to be some overtime to finish the budgets. The gap between the budget proposals from the Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled House is significant. Governor Inslee, trying to turn up the heat on the process, has threatened to veto legislation that has been sent to him if agreement on the budget is not reached soon. (Cassie Sauer)