Before

I sat down last week to talk with Rep­resentative Terry Nealey about this year's legislative session in Olympia that ended a couple of weeks ago, I got on line to brush up on what hap­pened. The big-city news analysts were not impressed.

The Seattle Times accused the legislature of playing "chicken with citizens' safety, money and trust."

The Spokesman Review was less harsh, but said of the legislature, "We do wish they'd been more ambitious."

The Tacoma News Tribune put it suc­cinctly: "Lawmakers arrived in Olympia in January with three big, urgent issues in front of them: public...