Legislative Commentary

The first week of March was the busiest yet for the Senate this year.

With the committees through their first round of work, all of the action took place in the Senate chamber. We spent most of each day voting on bills that had been moved forward by the committees; the longest day was Wednesday, when the Senate worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to move 70 bills “off the floor” and over to the House of Representatives.

Most of these bills represent straightforward changes to state law and were agreed to by both sides of the aisle, meaning there was no need to debate and vote on amendments, which is a real timesaver.

My office had a surprising number of drop-in visitors from back home during the final week of February, which was nice, except I couldn’t always break away to say hello.

The Senate’s voting schedule this week wasn’t much help either, but there was time to sit down with folks from the Ritzville, Pasco and Cheney school districts, the Tri-Tech Skills Center that serves Franklin and Benton county students, and Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack.

There were bonuses, too: this past Saturday I met the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague girls’ basketball team, which was in town for a regional tournament game, at the Capitol for a quick tour of the Senate, and on Tuesday the prayer to open the day’s session was offered by “Pastor Judith” – the Rev. Judith Rinehart-Nelson – from my church in Ritzville.

I’m headed home to Adams County for the weekend, but still, it’s great to see familiar faces in Olympia!

Update on the Senate transportation package


Early in the week the Senate adopted a project list and a revenue bill to go with the eight reform bills we had already approved from the proposed transportation package.

I had never voted for a transportation revenue bill, but I also had never been able to vote for bills that would make meaningful reforms in how transportation projects are managed in our state. The transportation package has to be looked at as a package, not as separate pieces.

After the transportation votes it was nice to see a positive response from a respected third party, the Washington Policy Center, which included this:

“Together, the bills reflect long-standing Washington Policy Center recommendations to reduce the cost of building roads in Washington state and provide congestion relief to the traveling public.

“As a result of these reforms, many congestion-relieving projects in communities around Washington state can be built for free,’ said Bob Pishue, Transportation Director at Washington Policy Center.

Under the package, state officials would no longer charge themselves sales tax on their own projects. The Senate-passed legislation would also allow limited open bidding on ferry construction.

“In all, the reforms would save taxpayers more than $1 billion over the life of the package. Building roads and improving safety without increasing the tax burden on working families is a win-win for the traveling public,” said Pishue.”

There’s no telling how the House of Representatives will respond. Two years ago it wanted more revenue for new projects but offered no significant reforms – and because our side had just become the majority in the Senate, we were able to sideline that attempt.

My support for the Senate package was earned by two things.

First, it will complete projects, such as Spokane’s North-South Corridor, rather than leave them incomplete and waiting for more funding.

Second is the reforms, which would protect taxpayers from cost overruns on the Seattle highway tunnel (with the “Bertha” drilling machine) and other “mega” projects, and end a redirection of transportation revenue that has been adding five percent to the cost of transportation projects for many years.

We also included important consumer protections that would discourage Gov. Inslee from using his executive power to impose costly fuel standards similar to California’s – which would raise the price of fuel without a penny of that going toward roads and bridges.

That alone will draw criticism from the House majority.

Update on legislation I’m supporting


The first full week of voting in the Senate chamber resulted in the approval of several bills that line up with our Senate majority’s priorities. Here are a few examples:

Clean energy: The renewable-energy law created by Initiative 937 in 2006 requires large utilities to obtain 15 percent of their electricity portfolio from renewable resources. Unfortunately, it doesn’t recognize hydropower, which accounts for 74 percent of the state’s electric generation, as “renewable”, even though it does recognize hydro-efficiency improvements associated with projects owned by a qualified utility. The Senate approved legislation that would extend that same recognition, or credit, to the incremental electricity marketed by the federal Bonneville Power Administration. Senate Bill 5094 represents a common-sense change to the I-937 law but one that the House would not vote on in 2014. I hope 2015 brings at least an up-or-down vote for this measure across the Capitol Rotunda.

Holding state government accountable: Senate Bill 5960 would require the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to amend its wolf conservation and management plan, adopted in 2011, to better address the wolf-recovery rate and uneven distribution of wolves being seen on our side of the Cascades. As the sponsor (who represents the northeast corner of the state) put it, “The wolf population in eastern Washington has not only been restored, it has reached a level of sustained population growth that now threatens people, pets and property. Any effective wolf-management plan must recognize this reality.”

Protecting vulnerable people: If a mental-health professional will not involuntarily commit someone, his or her family members could – if Senate Bill 5269 becomes law – ask a court to step in on the grounds that their loved one could be suicidal or a danger to others. The bill would create “Joel’s Law,” named for Joel Reuter, who was suicidal when Seattle police fatally shot him during a 2013 standoff.

Also this week the Senate approved SB 5888, known as “Aiden’s Act.” It is named for a Kitsap County child who was severely abused, twice, during infancy and is now permanently disabled, due to mishandling of his case by Child Protective Services. The bill would ensure that cases of suspected child abuse are immediately reviewed if additional allegations of abuse are reported after a social worker decides not to remove a child from a home.