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Gov. Chris Gregoire today directed state Corrections Chief Eldon Vail not to accept any new parolees from Arkansas until matters arising from the Maurice Clemmons case have been addressed and resolved. Glenn Kuper, a spokesman for the governor, said Gregoire was taking the unusual step because she wants "to make sure that the system is appropriate to protect Washington residents."

[V]oters in two liberal states on opposite ends of the country will also take up measures to limit spending. The outcomes will give us a clear sense of the public mood toward runaway spending. ... The voter-initiated measures on next month's ballot are modeled after Colorado's 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Tabor). They prohibit state spending from increasing faster than the growth of state population plus inflation in any given year. Extra revenue would be rebated back to the taxpayers, and if officials wanted to raise taxes beyond the limit they would have to seek a public referendum. Tabor worked...

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire appears to be softening her stance on raising taxes. Gregoire said today that her “door is open” to lawmakers and advocates who want to make the case for a tax package this January. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. A year ago when Gregoire was running for re-election this was how she responded to questions about higher taxes to offset budget cuts. Gregoire: “Now is not the time and I mean now meaning period not the time to consider raising anything.” 4.5 billion dollars in cuts later – and with the state facing yet another billion dollar...

Despite much fanfare, grandstanding and a whole bunch of twenty-somethings packing hearings with hopeful faces and "Cap & Invest, YES!" stickers, Governor Gregoire's requested climate change legislation failed.   No matter. The governor signed an executive order today that all state agencies must "develop emissions reduction strategies and set benchmarks for industry emissions." If you can't beat 'em, steamroll 'em, right? She is, of course, within her legal right to do so. More details on her executive order from the TVW blog.   Governor Gregoire is showcasing Hayek's classic dilemma of the economic planner. Essentially, Hayek notes the obvious--that agreement...

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire sidestepped her Legislature's refusal to adopt a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, signing an executive order Thursday to achieve similar reductions by ratcheting back coal-fired electricity and automobile emissions. "I wanted cap-and-trade. I didn't get it," said Gregoire, a Democrat, whose order directs government agencies to expand public transit and other programs to meet auto emissions goals, and to reach agreement with the state's only coal-fired power plant to reduce its carbon output at least 50% by 2025. The order also calls for development of an even wider-ranging set of emission reduction strategies to achieve...

SEATTLE -- Conservative blogger Stefan Sharkansky says King County has agreed to pay him $225,000 to settle a public records lawsuit over the county's failure to release documents about the 2004 governor's election. Sharkansky filed his request in December 2004, seeking a list of everyone who voted in the election that year, but the county didn't satisfy the request until more than three years later. He says the documents that were ultimately provided revealed that elections officials in King County counted hundreds of ineligible ballots, which could have changed the outcome of the razor-thin race between Democrat Chris Gregoire and...

An e-mail from a state labor group linking campaign donations to contentious worker-rights legislation has prompted legislative leaders to kill the bill and request an investigation by law enforcement. The e-mail raises "serious legal and ethical questions," Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate said in a joint statement Wednesday. They referred the issue to the Washington State Patrol for investigation. Lawmakers would not release the e-mail, but a copy was obtained by The Seattle Times. It was sent to several members of labor organizations as well as a small number of state lawmakers. The...

Governors’ Fight Over Stimulus May Define G.O.P. By ROBERT PEAR and J. DAVID GOODMAN Published: February 22, 2009 WASHINGTON — Republican governors split sharply over the weekend over how to respond to the economic crisis, a debate whose outcome will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself in the wake of its election defeats of recent years.While the $787 billion stimulus bill might help avert draconian budget cuts by deeply stressed states, Republican governors clashed over just how much of the stimulus money to accept. And governors of both parties said that they did not...

SEATTLE -- Gov. Chris Gregoire has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning that's shrouded in secrecy, but KIRO 7 Eyewitness News has learned that she will not announce that she's joining the Obama Administration. The governor's office said Monday that Gregoire is out of state. She canceled an Olympia speaking engagement set for Tuesday, and she will make an announcement Tuesday at 10 a.m. via satellite to local reporters. A number of bloggers speculated the governor would be named as president-elect Obama's Commerce Secretary after New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew from the running. An Obama spokesman, Robert Gibbs,...

Gov. Chris Gregoire is out of state, but her office won't say where she is. Gregoire was set to be the keynote speaker Tuesday at a pre-legislative session forum sponsored by The Associated Press, but her office canceled Monday afternoon. Legislative director Marty Brown will stand in for Gregoire at the forum. Spokesman Pearse Edwards said that Gregoire will be making an announcement Tuesday morning, and that no further information would be released before then.

SEATTLE—Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal immigrants serving time in state jails deported, a move intended to save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget. The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that has saved the state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, Secretary of the state Department of Corrections. "It's not an ideal choice, if revenue was there, I'd say have them do their time," Vail said. "Is justice better served? It's a tough question to wrestle with when you don't have resources." The state faces a $5.7 billion...

How the Democrats 'won' the Washington governor's mansion in 2004. Sorry Minnesota, but the sequel is never as good as the original. For those who watched the Washington State governor's race recounts in 2004, the ongoing recount drama in Minnesota is just another rehash of the same script -- albeit for a U.S. Senate seat that might put Democrats one vote away from a filibuster-proof majority. Four years ago in Washington, Democratic Party candidate Christine Gregoire lost the first count, lost the recount, and then won a second, highly dubious recount by 133 votes. In Minnesota, where Sen. Norm Coleman...

How the Chicago corruption story and other lavish raids on the public treasury (and trust) could induce an angry populist backlash. The federal charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are only the most recent and prominent episode in a series of events which are building toward a bigtime populist backlash. Corruption in Illinois, as in Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, oldtime Boston, and other notorious political venues, should come as no big shock. Yet Blagojevich's pattern of conduct, as revealed in the charges, was so blatant and reckless that you wonder why it took so many years to be...

If you want to contact Washington Governor Christine Gregoire about the anti-religious plaque displayed in the Capitol Building, here's the contact information.

Just in time for the Christmas season, Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state Capitol building in Olympia there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene; perfectly appropriate since the federal and state Christmas holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But this year Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads: "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion...

This past week, Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington State allowed—in the spirit of multiculturalism and intellectual-immolation for which the Northwest is (in)famous—a large sign to be placed next to a Nativity scene and a Christmas holiday tree (and a menorah) in the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington: "At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." Yes, I am truly shocked: I cannot believe that a Nativity scene and...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A controversial anti-religion placard was reported missing from the state Capitol Friday - then later found - and now the sign's sponsor wants the State Patrol to provide special protection for it when it is returned. The uproar came as several other groups clamored for permission to post their own holiday displays at the state Capitol. The anti-religion sign, posted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., was reported missing Friday morning then was turned over to a Seattle radio station by an unidentified man at about 10 a.m. Annie Laurie Gaylor, a spokesman for...

Just in time for the Christmas season, the Governor of Washington State, Christine Gregoire, has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state capitol building in Olympia, there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene-perfectly appropriate since the Christmas federal and state holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But this year, Governor Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads, "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural...

Sunday, October 19, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM Dino Rossi for governor DINO Rossi should be elected governor Nov. 4 because he can best be trusted to erase the state's huge projected deficit without raising taxes. Under Gov. Christine Gregoire, state government during the good years built up a mass of programs, promises and public spending. Now the economy is in recession, and unless taxes are to be raised on people already struggling — a bad idea — state spending will have to be cut about 10 percent. To do that, the people need a governor who has...

Around the United States, Barack Obama's presidential fortunes have improved significantly in recent weeks. Since Sept. 15, when Lehman Brothers went under and the stock market began its free fall, Obama has opened somewhere between a 5 percent and 10 percent national lead over John McCain. Surveys of registered and likely voters - compiled faithfully and neutrally at pollster.com - suggest that the race has moved in Obama's favor in state after state: New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In many of these places, Democrats running for the U.S....

King County Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie ruled Friday that Republican governor candidate Dino Rossi could keep his designation as "prefers GOP Party" on the November General Election ballot. The Washington State Democrats sued to force Rossi to describe himself as a Republican. Some voters might be confused about what "GOP" means, a King County Superior Court judge said Friday, but that's not reason enough to change the way gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi describes himself on the general election ballot. State Democrats sued last week, saying Rossi was trying to hide his party affiliation because of low approval ratings for...

Seattle (AP) -- A judge says the word "Republican" doesn't have to appear next to Dino Rossi's name on the November ballot for the Washington governor's race. Rossi had listed his affiliation as "prefers GOP party," referring to the Republicans' Grand Old Party nickname. Democrats sued this week after a survey showed Rossi had more voter support with the "GOP" tag than he did with the "Republican" tag.

Olympia, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state Democrats sued a state official Tuesday to get a Republican listed on the ballot, arguing a candidate is obscuring his party identity by ballot language that says he "prefers GOP party." The candidate, Dino Rossi, is facing a rematch this November with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge. The lawsuit the party filed against Secretary of State Sam Reed argues that "allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial...

Democrats are expected to make strong gains in state legislatures this fall, but what do these stronger Democratic majorities mean? A look at Washington State may show what is in store for the rest of the country. Public employee unions are handing over vast amounts of money to the incumbent governor's re-election campaign, while the governor is simultaneously sitting at the bargaining table negotiating contracts with these very unions. If it seems inappropriate for the governor, Christine Gregoire, who is locked in a very tight re-election, to benefit personally from the parties that her office is negotiating with, that's just...

WA: Obama 49, McCain 47 Gregoire 46 Rossi 52

Democrats are expected to make strong gains in state legislatures this fall, but what do these stronger Democratic majorities mean? A look at Washington State may show what is in store for the rest of the country.Public employee unions are handing over vast amounts of money to the incumbent governor's re-election campaign, while the governor is simultaneously sitting at the bargaining table negotiating contracts with these very unions. If it seems inappropriate for the governor, Christine Gregoire, who is locked in a very tight re-election, to benefit personally from the parties that her office is negotiating with, that's just your...

John McCain will be nominated this week as the Republican candidate for president. He likely will ride effortlessly through the party's national convention in St. Paul, MN. But in Washington state, McCain will share the ballot this fall with Republicans trying to distance themselves from the national party and doing little to link arms with the McCain campaign. Dino Rossi, a Republican who lists his party preference as "GOP Party," is doing his best to bask in Barack Obama's message of change as he tries to unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire. Rossi talks so much about Obama on the campaign...

As Election Day draws closer, the governor’s race in Washington, a replay of the 2004 contest, keeps getting more competitive. Incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire now leads by just four percentage points. A month ago, she was up by six points over Republican challenger Dino Rossi. Two months ago, the incumbent held a seven-point lead and the month before that, Governor Gregoire enjoyed aneleven-point lead. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Gregoire attracting 47% of the vote while Rossie earns 43%. This is the second straight month that Greogoire’s support has stayed below the 50% mark....

Gov. Chris Gregoire did Monday what families and businesses have been doing for months: She ordered cuts in travel and buying gasoline, a hiring freeze and a lid on major purchases for most state agencies. The effort is expected to save $90 million, making up for an unexpected $60 million drop in revenue in June. The lost income came from a slowdown in the housing market and lower business taxes than expected. "I am asking each of you to step up your efforts to increase savings. I ask that you be creative and take action now," Gregoire said in a...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is taking it as a compliment: She was turned away from a bar in the state capital because she couldn't prove she's of legal age to drink.

Washington state GOP hits Michelle Obama I am glad I am not the only one who thinks Michelle Obama is fair game for saying the outrageous things she has said. In anticipation of her meeting with liberal Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, the state GOP produced this video. http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=zOcU-BP0T4c&rel=1&eurl=http%3A//www.typepad.com/t/app/weblog/post&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/zOcU-BP0T4c/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIJonIElc-TAm7UrL1cJB8M&fs=1&hl=en

Money poured in for a recount in Christine Gregoire's close race against Dino Rossi. Those supporters — including unions and a tribal-gambling group — have benefited during the governor's first termOLYMPIA — In late 2004, when Christine Gregoire's bid to become governor was engulfed in legal challenges, the state Democratic Party sent out a plea for help. The checks started rolling in almost immediately — $250,000 from the state's largest public-employee union, $50,000 from a tribal-gambling group, $25,000 from the state's main teachers union. Major national political groups also weighed in. That money, more so than the millions Gregoire received...

Governor says deal curbs the growth of Indian gamblingOLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state. Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe. Gregoire backed away from the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly...

The re-election prospects for Washington Governor Christine Gregoire (D) have improved significantly over the past two months. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Washington voters shows Gregoire leading her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, by eleven percentage points. It’s Gregoire 52% Rossi 41%. In late March, Gregoire was up by just a statistically insignificant single percentage point. In February, Rossi had a one point advantage. Four years ago, the 2004 election between the same two candidates was one of the closest elections in the state’s history.

A surprise U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Washington’s voter-approved Top 2 primary system was hailed by Secretary of State Sam Reed today as a huge victory for average voters over the political parties. “Wow!” Reed said when he heard of the court’s decision from The Associated Press. “That’s terrific! It means the people of the state of Washington are going to be able to control who gets elected through this process.” The first running of the new primary will be Aug. 19. But state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said the decision complicates Washington elections, and that the party will...

He may have boasted of his big family, his political rise and his legislative triumphs, but speaking Tuesday night before hundreds of Clark County building industry professionals, Dino Rossi was all businessman."I came from a world of no salary, no benefits; you don't work, you don't eat - I understand the free enterprise system," the Republican gubernatorial candidate said at the Vancouver event, to laughter and applause. "And I sign the front side of paychecks."Rossi, a former commercial real estate broker and state senator who lives in Sammamish, is five months into what he expects to be a rematch against...

One feature of the four-year political struggle between Gov. Chris Gregoire and almost-Gov. Dino Rossi has been an abundance of suspect and self-serving opinion surveys. At last comes a poll, albeit with a few weeks under its belt, that surprised its takers. Washington Conservation Voters hired Grove Insight, Portland's top pollster, in November to see if Evergreen State voters are ready to walk the talk against global warming. WCV threw in a series of questions that were NOT mentioned in the Jan. 22 news release announcing poll results. The key finding: The Gregoire-Rossi race is dead even. In a trial...

OLYMPIA-- With or without Seattle's approval, the state will tear down the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2012, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday. "It's coming down in 2012. I'm taking it down -- the middle," she said, referring to the elevated portion of the span that runs roughly from Battery Street Tunnel to Pioneer Square, which has been the most vexing and controversial piece of the transportation puzzle. "That's the timeline. I'm not going to fudge on it. And if we don't have some alternative by then, boy are we going to have a mess on our hands because it's...

~EXCERPT~ (CNN) — Barack Obama has won the backing of Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, one day before that state is set to hold its Democratic primary. The Washington Democrat, who won the office in 2004 after a hand recount favored her by only 129 votes, said she found it difficult to choose between Obama and Hillary Clinton, but was ultimately drawn to the Illinois senator's charisma and leadership skills. **snip** Washington Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray have endorsed Clinton's White House bid.

OLYMPIA -- For Gov. Chris Gregoire, apparently less is more. Heading into a bruising re-election battle with budget hawk Dino Rossi, the Democratic governor is adopting a high-profile penny-pinching role, saying that in these uncertain times, Olympia should sock away most of the state's $1.4 billion surplus. Although Gregoire can't rival Rossi in the fiscal conservatism department -- and would alienate her liberal base if she tried -- she views the 2008 legislative session as a prime opportunity to show voters that she's frugal and can restrain spending by her fellow Democrats. It's true that Gregoire is willing to leave...

Top political experts have identified the Washington governor's race as one of the three most competitive in the country in 2008 — after Missouri and Indiana, where Republican governors are defending their jobs. If it seems completely twilight-zone weird that Washington's race is so tight, it is odder still when you realize that our state enjoys one of the nation's most bustling economies. Boeing is humming. Microsoft is strong. Unemployment is low. And yet Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, who normally would bask in this reflected glory, appears vulnerable against her former and future opponent, Republican Dino Rossi. A recent survey...

Three of seven defendants in the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced, prosecutors said Monday. The defendants were all temporary employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when they allegedly filled out and submitted more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties. No votes were cast in the names of the phony voters. Prosecutors said the defendants committed fraud in order to keep their jobs without actually registering voters. King County election workers brought the fraud to the attention...

Republican Dino Rossi, who lost the country's closest race for governor in 2004, said Thursday he'll seek a rematch with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire next year. Rossi announced his closely watched decision in separate interviews with KOMO News and The Associated Press and planned campaign kickoff events in Issaquah, the heart of his old legislative district, and in Spokane. "It's time for fresh air in Olympia," he said. "I'm ready. I'm very excited about the prospect of changing this state." Rossi, the former state Senate budget chairman and a real estate investor, said he's running as an agent for change...

OLYMPIA — Republican lawmakers are protesting a proposal by Gov. Christine Gregoire and Democratic lawmakers to expand state-funded health coverage for children of illegal immigrants. "They're not even citizens," said Rep. Bill Hinkle of Cle Elum, the ranking Republican on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. Hinkle said it doesn't make sense to cover illegal immigrants when there are so many other shortcomings in the state's health-care system. "This just drives folks back home nuts," he said. But the move is drawing widespread praise from hospitals, doctors and children's advocates. "In our opinion, every child should have medical coverage...

W ashington Gov. Chris Gregoire recently announced she'll be dialing for big dollar contributions to her favorite political action committee to influence the course of this fall's Supreme Court elections. She has raised over $100,000 to date with some individual contributions in the $20,000-$30,000 range, all well above the $1,400 individual contribution limits to a candidate. Contrast this with Gov. Gregoire's May 1, 2006, Law Day speech to a dinner hosted by the Trial Lawyers. There she proclaimed judges should not be for sale and that large contributions to judicial campaigns threaten an independent judiciary. This comes from a governor...

Cantwell (D) 46% McGavick (R) 40%

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Gov. Chris Gregoire sent an invoice of nearly $50 million to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Monday, saying the federal government needs to reimburse the state for the cost of housing criminal illegal immigrants. Gregoire said that even though it's the federal government's responsibility to incarcerate illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, the state has been doing it for years. From July 2004 to June 2005, Gregoire said the state paid more than $27 million to house 995 prisoners. The Department of Justice has only reimbursed the state $1.7 million, and still owes $25.3 million. She's seeking an...

YAKIMA, WASH. -- Mexican President Vicente Fox arrived in Yakima Wednesday afternoon for a two-day tour of the Evergreen State during which he'll meet with migrant farmworkers and talk immigration, trade and education issues with Governor Christine Gregoire. Fox and his wife were greeted when they arrived in Yakima Wednesday afternoon by Governor Christine Gregoire and her husband, Mike. Two children from Yakima -- nine-year-old Victoria Morales and her four-year-old brother, Marques -- presented the Foxes with flowers. President Fox gave the governor a kiss on the cheek and circled around their SUV to open its door for her as...

U.S. senator wants to know why Medicaid funded sex operations By Alicia Mundy Seattle Times Washington bureau WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate Finance Committee wants Gov. Christine Gregoire to explain why the state's Medicaid system is paying for erectile implants, sex-change operations and breast enlargements. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said, in a letter sent Thursday to Gregoire, that he has asked the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to look at what he considers dubious expenses discovered in the state's 2004 audit. Grassley, who led the charge in Congress against Medicaid payments for...

Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire, increasingly concerned that tax-break fever has gripped the Legislature, warned that she'll use her veto pen if necessary. "Granting a tax break is spending money," Gregoire told a news conference. "We have got to kill this notion that income and wealth belong to those who earn it. Wealth and income belong to the state. It is up to the people’s representatives to spend this money wisely. Granting tax refunds is not wise.” Gregoire said the government needs all the money it can get. “Giving money back to taxpayers would be a colossal blunder,” said Gregoire. “Once...