Josh has been down in Olympia today covering the opening of the special legislative session in Olympia, where legislators are working to close a $1.5 billion budget gap. Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed an all-cuts budget that saves $2 billion (with $500 million of that going into reserve funds) by slashing education, health care for the poor, human services, and corrections.

Protesters affiliated with unions, public schools, state universities and colleges, and the Occupy movement showed up in force to oppose both Gregoire's all-cuts budget and her proposed half-cent state sales tax, which would allow the state to "buy back" about $500 million of the cuts.

Josh asked the budget committee leaders in the house and senate, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48) and Sen. Ed Murray (D-43), what they thought about the fact that their party's progressive base turned out to oppose a sales tax proposed by the state's Democratic governor. Hunter's acknowledged that the sales tax, which disproportionately impacts the poor, "is a regressive tax. In fact, I can't imagine a more regressive tax, unless we did a poll tax." However, he added, "We're going to have many discussions on all the revenue options."

Murray said, "Look, [the protesters] are absolutely right in the long term. We have a structural problem, and [the sales tax] is a regressive tax. But we cannot sacrifice people's lives on the altar of political correctness. We need a lot of money and we nee d it now. I'll support any kind of tax we can get through. I'm a tax agnostic. I want revenue."

Murray predicted that the legislature wouldn't finish the budget or the revenue package during the special session, and that legislators would wrap up both during a shorter-than-usual regular session, probably by February.

Here are some images from today's protests.