News
On Other Blogs Today (Thursday)
1. Jim Camden reports
on the Spokesman Review's Spin Control blog that Gov. Chris Gregoire announced a new plan to change the state budget writing process in Olympia. Among other changes, the plan would establish a new 32-member panel of advisors who would weigh in on budget the process, as well as public hearings at which state residents could give the Office of Financial Management an earful. Gregoire said the new system would start the budget process with the question, "'Is the activity an essential service?' If it is, the next question would be whether the state has to perform the service, or can it be provided by someone else."
2. It's strike three for Federal Medicaid Assistance funding, writes Jason Mercier with the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank based in Seattle. "For the third time in a row, the US Senate has failed to move the bill states are counting on for billions in FMAP (Medicaid) funds."
As we've reported, Democratic US Senators have been struggling to pass a continuation of FMAP funding, $480 million of which the state legislature depended on when it developed the state's most recent budget. If the money doesn't come through, Gregoire will have to call a special session or make her own cuts to state agency funding.
3. at the SeattlePI.com's Strange Bedfellows, Joel Connelly says an endorsement from Sarah Palin might actually hurt Republican candidates in November.
He cites a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which shows that, when voters were asked how they'd feel about a candidate carrying a Palin endorsement, 37 percent would feel "very uncomfortable." Only 8 percent said they would feel "enthusiastic."
2. It's strike three for Federal Medicaid Assistance funding, writes Jason Mercier with the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank based in Seattle. "For the third time in a row, the US Senate has failed to move the bill states are counting on for billions in FMAP (Medicaid) funds."
As we've reported, Democratic US Senators have been struggling to pass a continuation of FMAP funding, $480 million of which the state legislature depended on when it developed the state's most recent budget. If the money doesn't come through, Gregoire will have to call a special session or make her own cuts to state agency funding.
3. at the SeattlePI.com's Strange Bedfellows, Joel Connelly says an endorsement from Sarah Palin might actually hurt Republican candidates in November.
He cites a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which shows that, when voters were asked how they'd feel about a candidate carrying a Palin endorsement, 37 percent would feel "very uncomfortable." Only 8 percent said they would feel "enthusiastic."
