By Kim Justice and Mike Mitchell -- In the popular game Jenga, players take turns removing pieces out of a tower of wooden blocks while trying to avoid having the entire structure fall down. It’s a game of risk—much like the one the state Senate is playing now.

Update: Jordan Schrader with the Tacoma News Tribune has agreed to join the Budget Beat call this Friday. He will share his observations from covering the legislature.

Part five in a series “Special Legislative Session: The Big Picture.”  The Legislature will return to Olympia on Monday, where the focus will continue to be on education. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have made additional investments in education & opportunity a high priority. However, the House budget proposal goes much further in making the key investments that expand early learning opportunities and fulfill our obligation to fund basic education.

Part four in a series “Special Legislative Session: The Big Picture.” Both the House and Senate budgets take advantage of the single best opportunity to improve health: expansion of Medicaid to more than 250,000 people in Washington state.  But that’s not the end of the story, as there are still significant differences between the House and Senate bills in how we invest in keeping Washington’s people and environment healthy.