Two and a half days remain of the 105-day legislative session in Olympia. Adjournment is scheduled for midnight Sunday. Whether we adjourn earlier than that is anyone's guess at this point.

Even though we have a short time remaining, the majority party has not yet released the final budgets for us to view. It seems reasonable that when we must make decisions that involve spending billions of your tax dollars, we should have ample time to review how that money is being spent.

Earlier in the session, we proposed a "sunshine law" that would require a five-day waiting period from the time the budget is released to the time we take a vote. The majority party refused to allow that bill to move forward. When we took the first vote this session on the state's operating budget, we successfully negotiated with House Democrats to allow a three-day waiting period so that we could review the 479 page document. (Read the news release.)

With the end of session looming, it doesn't appear that we will be given that opportunity again. It's more likely that we will have only hours at most to review the final operating budget before it comes to the floor for a vote.

Once the budgets are approved (operating, transportation and capital construction), the Legislature will likely adjourn. There is a remote possibility that two issues could force us into overtime. One would be the proposal to fund the construction of a new Sonics arena in Renton.  The other is a proposal to prohibit expansion of a sand and gravel mine on Maury Island in Puget Sound. (Read the Seattle P-I article on this issue.) It's my hope that we move forward to adjourn this session on time.

This week, my e-newsletter is brief as we have no details about the budgets. I did have the honor of hosting two school groups, which you can read about below.

If you'd like to contact me or if you have any questions, go to my website at: www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong.

It is an honor to serve you!