A sprint to the finish in Olympia

Purple backlash to child care cuts, budgeting for harm, another tobacco tax, a visit to coal country and talking dogs.

The legislative budget-writing teams in the House and Senate rolled out their plans on Sunday, on pace to wrap the short session in less than three weeks. The top lines in both chambers featured raids on the rainy-day fund, and some proposed revenue via tax loophole closures and program cuts you’ll be hearing more about, as well as a millionaires’ tax haul that would begin flowing in the next biennial budget. We’ll let our brethren in the media fill you in on details, but here are a few items that caught our attention.