State officials are preparing for more than 3,000 people to descend on the Capitol Campus on Monday, the start of a special legislative session about budget cuts to address a $2 billion gap.
The state Department of Enterprise Services has issued permits for five groups to rally at the Capitol, and crowd estimates in those permits add up to 3,000, spokesman Steve Valandra said.
But the crowd could well exceed that number, because other groups that have not registered for a permit have said they’re coming.
The groups that have signed up for a permit are: the Service Employees International Union 775 Northwest, Arc of Washington State, Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget, the Washington Education Association and the Shoreline Community College Student Leadership Center.
The rallies are scheduled for different times throughout the day, according to the state, and all will begin on the Capitol Campus with one exception. The People’s Special Session will begin at 8 a.m. at Sylvester Park and march to the Capitol.
Tents and canopies will be allowed on site to let people out of the rain. But overnight stays in tents or in state buildings will not be allowed, Valandra said. That’s a change from the last legislative session, when the state allowed protestors to spend three nights in the state legislative building.
Some groups may “occupy” the building anyway. Sisters Organize for Survival, a Seattle-based group, is calling on people to stay overnight at the Capitol.
“Honestly, we need a Wisconsin-style revolt here,” said Margaret Viggiani, a member of the group, citing a group that spent weeks in Wisconsin’s capitol over collective bargaining rights. “We need thousands of people.”
She opposes Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed cuts and also her proposal for a sales tax increase to stave off the cuts, saying that it’s regressive and would hurt the poor.
Occupy Olympia, the tent city protest in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, is planning to “take the capitol” on Monday, according to its website. It is planning for an influx of new people into its camp in Heritage Park on Sunday and take the protest to the capitol on Monday.
Monte Katzenberger, who has helped handle media for the camp, pointed to the material on the website but did not add any comment about the scope of what the group is planning.
It has been nearly two weeks since state officials called on campers to remove their tents from Heritage Park.
“We want people to leave,” Valandra said. “We’re not encouraging people to stay there.”
But the state is taking a hands-off approach and hasn’t set any deadline for them to leave. Valandra said the state is trying to avoid a confrontation, such as the situation at University of California-Davis, where campus police officers there pepper-sprayed seated Occupy movement protesters.
The state is not tolerating tents set up on the lawn outside the Legislative Building, though. The state patrol quickly shut down an attempt to set up a tent there Monday, Valandra said.
Valandra said that anybody can show up at the campus as a free-speech activity without a permit, but those with permits will get first dibs on their scheduled areas of the grounds.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
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