State House puts off painful cuts

A budget proposal from the Washington House of Representatives should let Whitman County rest a little easier, for now.

The House Ways and Means committee Monday approved a $480 million change to the state’s tight budget.

Ninth District state representatives Susan Fagan and Joe Schmick said the plan included few cuts to services they were worried about when legislators were called in for a special session this month.

“Nothing here is going to have much impact,” said Schmick. “The hard stuff will come in January.

Rep. Fagan agreed local residents will have few immediate concerns but said drasti...