NEVER before in Washington state history, has a Governor vetoed as many bills at one time as Gov. Inslee did.  And NEVER before has the Senate overwhelmingly voted to override them. Here's what happened, and why.

In what has to be considered a serious blow to his political clout, Gov. Jay Inslee saw 27 bills that he vetoed in 'protest' over state budget issues get passed by way of Senate votes. The GOP-dominated senior legislative body swept aside Inslee's vetoes and passed them.

Senator Pam Roach presided over the historic event, saying in her ten years in Olympia, she'd seen three vetoes from Gov. Gregoire. She described this event as "kind of fun" as one of the bills the Senate reinstated was hers.

Inslee, in what critics say was the political equivalent of a child throwing a fit, vetoed the bills in protest over not getting certain budget considerations, and over disagreements with how the supplemental budget came together.

Inslee's handlers claim is was to "call attention" to the seemingly ongoing budget issues we face every legislative session, where elected leaders have to go into overtime. But critics say vetoing the bills only held up funding and important projects, and besides, the vetoes came AFTER the GOP and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate had already reached a compromise budget!

ShiftWA, a leading conservative political commentating and activist group who's been a thorn in Inslee's side since taking office, called him an "obstructionist" and said now the House and Senate would have to "clean up his mess". They did, and the Senate over rode all 27 vetoes.

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