And then there are the new shoreline guidelines proposed by the Washington Department of Ecology, which critics consider an accident waiting to happen. It's what happens next that should concern us. How the Legislature responds will provide a clue as to just how seriously lawmakers are taking the budget crunch. Conversely, when there's cash to burn, it gets burnt. Lawmakers who are committed to increasing transportation investment have run out of other options.
Money is tight and meaningful tax relief unlikely.
And to pay them, the governor and Legislature may end up digging deeper into the savings account than any of us intended. They have to do with the importance of judicial restraint, regulatory consistency and legislative clarity. Conversely, it exposes the weakness of a Republican strategy that targets rural and suburban voters, conceding Seattle, Everett and Tacoma to the Democrats. Of course they will. They've never left.