On August 13, 2015, the Washington State Supreme Court fined the state $100,000 per day until the legislature complies with earlier court orders to equalize funding for wealthy and poor school districts. However, the legislature (which had three special sessions already this year) has not been called into a fourth special session, so the fine continues to accumulate.

The legislature won’t be called into special session until legislative leaders and the Governor can agree on a solution, and that hasn’t happened yet. See this story, which is about a particular Republican candidate for Governor. The paragraph headed “a critical time” contains the information that this situation is still current. The story is dated October 30, 2015.

This is relevant because supporters of top-two systems usually maintain that top-two systems result in legislators who are centrist and reasonable and moderate and work well together. Commentary boosting top-two, so far, never mentions Washington state. Washington state has been using top-two starting in 2008. In both 2013 and 2015, the budget didn’t pass in the regular session, and three special sessions were needed. This is not the fault of the top-two system. It is the product of divided government, in which the State Senate has a Republican majority and the State House has a Democratic majority. Political science research shows that type of primary system does not affect what type of candidate is elected.