Democratic House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan and Republican Sen. Linda Evans Parlette talk about budget negotiations on The Impact. Plus, law enforcement on both sides of the debate over legalizing marijuana talk about the initiative voters will face in the fall.

Tags: The Impact

Monday: The House Judiciary committee voted the same-sex marriage legislation out of committee. A Senate committee heard a bill that would tighten up ethical rules for public employees, prompted by a case last year of an ethics claim against a Department of Corrections administrator who worked on behalf of nonprofit groups on state time. And a bipartisan group of 42 Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration asking for marijuana to be reclassified so it can be prescribed as a medicine by doctors and filled in pharmacies..

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.

Tuesday: The House Labor committee on heard five bills related to the minimum wage, including one that would lower the base wage of tipped employees and another that would pay a lower “training wage.” The Senate Higher Education committee considered a bill that would prohibit state money from going to college athletics. And a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked that the state fund K-12 education separately from the rest of the budget.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.

Wednesday: In a late night floor session, the state Senate voted 28-21 to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. We have full video and a photo gallery from the event. On the show, we covered the redistricting plan as it took a first big step forward, and legislation that would allow schools to have classes separated by gender.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.

Thursday: House Republicans offered details on a plan that would create a separate K-12 education budget. Also, lawmakers considered stricter rules for spraying pesticides on farmland.

Watch Thursday’s Legislative Review.

Friday: Today is the cutoff day for non-budget policy bills to be considered in committee. Catch tonight’s half-hour edition of Legislative Review recapping the week’s events at 6:30 and 11 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: education, same-sex marriage

A bipartisan group of 42 Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration asking for marijuana to be reclassified so it can be prescribed as a medicine by doctors and filled in pharmacies. The letter is in support of Gov. Gregoire’s efforts to downgrade marijuana at the federal level to a Schedule II drug, which would put it in the same category as morphine.

Lawmakers say in the letter that the difference in state and federal laws creates a situation “where there is no regulated and safe system” for medical marijuana, and the federal government could “quickly solve the issue” if it were to reclassify the drug. To see the full list of lawmakers who signed the letter, you can read the press release here.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles also introduced a joint memorial asking the DEA to reclassify medical marijuana. It is scheduled for a hearing in the Health & Long Term Care Committee on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Tags: Gov. Gregoire, medical marijuana