House Democrats to release budget proposal Friday

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — House Democrats will unveil their budget proposal at the end of the week.

The caucus announced Tuesday that the package will be revealed on Friday morning. Lawmakers are in the midst of a 105-day legislative session that is scheduled to end April 26. They need to write a new two-year operating budget for the state under the shadow of a court-ordered requirement to put additional money toward the state's education system.

There are differing ideas between the politically-divided chambers on how best to do that, with Democrats saying more revenues are needed and Republicans saying that the state has enough for existing services and education, and that the focus shouldn't be on higher taxes, but efficient spending.

Senate Republicans are expected to release their budget plan in the coming weeks.