OLYMPIA — Despite being called back for a third special legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, is assuring his constituents that lawmakers will be able to reach an agreement on a two-year operating budget and there will not be a partial government shutdown.

Gov. Jay Inslee called for the third special legislation session on Wednesday in order to finalize negotiations on a new two-year state operating budget. The Republican controlled Senate and Democratic controlled House have until midnight on June 30 to reach an agreement on the budget, at which time if no agreement is reached a partial government shutdown will start on July 1. Inslee shot down the notion of a short-term 30-day budget if lawmakers don’t reach an accord.

"A government shutdown and a 30-day budget are both equally reckless, equally irresponsible tactics that fail to deal with the long-term fiscal and fiduciary consequences of not doing their job, which is to produce a two-year budget for the people of the state of Washington," Inslee said.

Schoesler remains optimistic that a deal will get done and a partial government shutdown will be avoided.

“I fully expect the budget teams to submit a deal to the governor in time to prevent even a partial shutdown of state government. Despite the partisan finger-pointing heard today (Wednesday) from the governor, lawmakers on both sides have been working hard on multiple fronts to negotiate a compromise that fulfills our paramount duty to support public schools, without breaking the bank or over-burdening taxpayers,” Schoesler said. “It’s no easy task and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’m frustrated it has taken this long but optimistic that our negotiators will cross that finish line in time.”

The major debate amongst lawmakers has been how to deal with the state Supreme Court’s 2012 education mandate. Washington has been in contempt of court since 2014 for a lack of progress in complying with the McCleary ruling, which found the state’s school funding was not adequate, according to the Associated Press. The court has ordered the legislature to come up with a solution before they adjourn.

Schoesler states that when an agreement on the budget is finally met, over 50 percent of the operating budget will be directed to education, a level that hasn’t been seen since the early 1980s in Washington.

“We’re not still here because of the fight to fund K-12. We’re not here for lack of hard work on this issue. We’re still here because the governor wants to raise taxes to fund things he prioritized ahead of education in his budget,” Schoesler remarked. “We have $1 billion in additional revenue since the governor released his budget. There are no more votes in the Senate for the taxes some want than there were in January, and the House doesn’t have the votes either."

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.