Session ends with Hirst unresolved, budget not passed
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers ended the longest legislative session in state history Thursday without resolving a water rights dispute or passing a capital budget to fund school construction, affordable housing and a slew of community projects throughout Washington.
Most legislators departed the Capitol by dinnertime and leaders formally adjourned before 8 p.m., concluding a marathon lasting 105 days of regular session and three month-long extra sessions.
Along the way, lawmakers barely averted a partial government shutdown, enacted a huge increase in the state property tax to fund schools, and approved one of the nation’s most generous paid leave programs and one of its toughest distracted driving laws.
But their inability to settle on a response to the Hirst decision from the state Supreme Court last fall leaves thousands of rural property owners wondering if they’ll be able to build a home and drill a well.
That ruling said counties must determine whether there’s enough water available for a new well. Each county must come up with its own system for predicting the impact on water flowing to nearby streams or available to existing wells.
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