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Ross Elected chairman of Ways and Means
Earlier this week the House Democrats voted to make me chairman of the Ways and Means committee in the House, responsible for tax policy and crafting the biennial budget. I’m pleased that my co-workers believe I am capable of leading the process of creating a budget in these difficult times. The Finance committee that I…
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Special Session Budget Report
This weekend the Legislature met in a special session to address the budget shortfall. Unlike what you’ve heard in the press, we can’t all arrive in Olympia, figure out what we’re going to do, get agreement from 147 legislators, write it down on scraps of paper and call it a day. Turning all the decisions…
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WSDOT requests proposals for SR 520 floating bridge
Three teams compete for $600 million to $750 million contract SEATTLE – The clock starts today for three prequalified teams who want to design and build the new SR 520 floating bridge, estimated to cost $600 million to $750 million. The new bridge will replace the existing vulnerable floating bridge with a six-lane facility that…
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Unemployment trends re-emphasize need for education
This graphic from an article on the Brookings website is a clear exposition of why a larger and larger fraction of our workforce should engage in higher education. Not everyone is going to get a BA or a BS, but a larger fraction of our students need more education past high school, and we must…