The 58th Legislative Session began on Monday, January 13. Lawmakers of both parties began settling into their new temporary accommodations, while the Capitol Building is being remodeled due to earthquake damage.

It will be at least two years before the ornate marble halls will be re-opened. In the meantime, the Senate will convene in the former State Library Building while the House members meet in what amounts to a two-story doublewide mobile home.

The cramped accommodations will no doubt add to the tension when lawmakers explore ways to confront the State’s 2.5 billion-dollar deficit. Republicans gained control of the Senate by 1 seat while the Democrats picked up 2 seats for a 52 to 46 majority.

Governor Locke focused exclusively on spending cuts and provided no revenue increases when drafting his biannual budget. In doing so, he eliminated all State employee COLA's and increased the employees' share for medical premiums. His budget also nullified the voter approved COLA's for all school employees.

It’s unfortunate, to say the least, that Governor Locke chose to overturn only those initiatives that benefited public employees while keeping the Tim Eyman sponsored tax cuts in place. This is the same Governor who couldn’t wait even 24 hours before he called for re-authorizing I-695 ($30 car tabs) after a superior court judge declared it unconstitutional.

This no-new-revenue approach has drawn applause from most Republicans and created a split among the Democratic lawmakers. It also gives a big boost to the efforts to expand gambling. When money is this tight, so-called sin taxes look appealing. After all, taxing sinners offers little political risk.