Washington Supreme Court orders state to pay $100K in sanctions a day over education funding

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington state Supreme Court has ordered that the state pay $100,000 a day in sanctions, starting immediately, for its lack of progress toward fully paying the cost of basic education.

The court issued its ruling Thursday, and encouraged Gov. Jay Inslee to call a special legislative session to address the issue.

The order, signed by all nine of the high court's justices, says that if the Legislature complies with the court's previous rulings for the state to deliver a plan to fully fund education that the penalties accrued during a special session would be refunded.

While the court acknowledged that progress was made by lawmakers during this year's triple overtime legislative session, the state failed to provide a plan for full compliance by the 2018 deadline.