By Dennis Box

Editor

The state Legislature appears to have reached an agreement on the two-year operating budget according to Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island.

The race to the budget finish line has taken two special sessions and the beginning of a third. Gov. Jay Inslee had to sign the bill by midnight Tuesday for the government to have the money to continue operating. The signing is past the press deadline. Check online, www.sanjuanjournal.com, for an update.

Senate members announced a tentative agreement was reached Saturday, the 163rd day of the session.

The budget must first pass out of the Senate. Ranker said by phone he expects it to pass Monday night.

If the bill clears the Senate it moves to the House. If there are no changes to the bill in the House it moves to the governor’s desk for his signature. If the House makes changes, the bill moves back to the Senate for reconsideration.

According to the Ranker, funding for schools has been increased by 1.4 billion along with an increase in teacher salaries.

Also in the budget is a 5 percent cut in college tuition.

Ranker said $450 million in revenue has been added by closing tax loopholes.

The senator said he has been working on the negotiation with the budget since January and has been home three times in the last two months.

“What happened is in the end thoughtful people were able to come together,” Ranker said.

Ranker said it is the hardest and most complex budget he has worked on in his years in the Senate.

School funding became the Sword of Damocles hanging over the 2015 Legislature.

The state Supreme Court found the state of Washington in contempt for not complying with the Court’s Jan. 5, 2012 McCleary v. Washington order, which directed the Legislature to fulfill its funding obligation as stated in Article IX of the state Constitution.

The Constitutional clause reads: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”

The balancing act for the House, Senate and governor was to find the money to pay for schools, roads, human services and a myriad of other services.

In the January contempt finding, Chief Justice Barbara A. Madsen wrote the state “failed” to submit a funding plan by April 30. Madsen wrote, “Sanctions and other remedial measures are held in abeyance,” to allow the Legislature to comply by the end of the 2015 session.