Gov. Jay Inslee speaks to reporters Monday (March 11) after visiting members of the House Democratic party in private to stir support for a bill requiring background checks on all gun sales. The measure died.
The week brought a big deadline to the Capitol. Wednesday was the last day to get bills out of their chambers of origin. When House Democrats spent part of Monday and virtually all of Tuesday trying to pass a bill to close the gun show loophole, many other proposals were left hanging, never having even been brought to the floor.
Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-Maury Island) and TVW host Anita Kissee talk with Mike Bay, also of TVW, before an interview in the Capitol rotunda. TVW sets up a set in the Capitol building midway through every session to tape live interviews with legislators and other public figures.
Members and friends of tribes from around the state attended Native American Indian Lobby Day in the capital Wednesday.
Enumclaw Democratic Rep. Chris Hurst unvieled a proposal Tuesday to amend the state's popular marijuana legalization law. The map behind Hurst shows one of his amendment's proposed changes - shrinking the buffer zone around places where minors congregate to avoid the accidental effect of boxing pot businesses out of urban areas.
Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, talks with a group of teachers from the same city who ventured into the wings of the State Senate on Thursday to ask him about more funding for education. Despite being told by Benton that "there is a negative correlation between funding and results"; the group (Gloria Smith, Bob Richer, Nancy Bowen and one other not pictured) said they felt Benton was receptive, and that their message had been generally well-received in the Capitol.
James Old Coyote of Suquamish drums and sings in the Capitol rotunda as part of Native American Indian Lobby Day.
In the days leading up to the deadline, lobbyists crowded around the doors to the off-limits House and Senate floors, watching closely as their bills moved forward — or didn't.
