by Sue | Feb 1, 2021 | 2021 Olympia Bills to Watch, Olympia News & Views 2021
| There are over 800 bills that have been introduced this year. Many of them are terrible bills that will fundamentally change things in this state – our economy, our business atmosphere, where we can build a house, what our kids are being taught in school, tax policies, and your mode and cost of transportation. These are big things. All of them. You may be a 2A person. You may have a passion for legislation regarding tax policy. Or, you may wish to make sure our law enforcement organizations are not dismantled. The thing is, you can’t just compartmentalize. Many of these things are intertwined.
As an example, I’ve added a bill that will be heard this week. SB 5340 will change the law for someone running for school board. It will change the qualification requirement from U.S. Citizen to allowing those who are not citizens but are legal permanent residents to run for that office. You may not have kids. You may think that it might be a good idea – that legal permanent resident is fully invested in the community. Why not? I have several friends and loved ones who are immigrants. It does take a lot of time and effort to become a citizen. I loved them before they were citizens and I love them after. But are we going to go down the road where people who are not citizens can run for office? The next step is that “well, if we have non-citizens run for office, we should have those upstanding people able to vote, as well.” After all, if they are invested enough to run for office, what’s the difference between that and voting. Do you see how that bill – that mindset – would fundamentally change how we elect our representatives? Again, I know many who are legal residents and those who have become citizens. This is not a statement against them in any way – it is against the idea that we should allow people who are not citizens of the U.S. to hold office. Bear in mind, this move would ultimately affect every single thing I mentioned in the first paragraph.
I didn’t add many bills to the list this week, because I made some other changes and I wanted to get you used to the new format. I wanted to keep things fairly short, so I have the bills in two sections – good and bad. I fixed the two errors I made last week. The Capital Gains bill is in the Bad list and I corrected the bill number for the increase in the gas tax. But here’s how to use my chart.
1. Bill number – I have added a link to the bill report to the bill number, so all you have to do is click on it to get the bill explained in layman’s terms. The Bill Report gives you background, it defines terms, and it gives details about what the bill will actually do. Sometimes that’s tough to figure out just by reading the bill.
2. Then I added a short explanation.
3. Finally, I give you where the bill is. If you click on the link in that column, it will take you to a page that lists all of the members of the committee where the bill currently resides. There is one bill that doesn’t have the link. It’s one that has already gone through the whole process in the Senate and has been voted off the floor. It will now go through the process in the House. (It’s a bill requiring Critical Race Theory to be taught in K12. This bill is on a fast track to be signed into law shortly. Any bill that has made it to Rules or has passed the floor is moving fast – you need to take action quickly on these!)
4. Here is a short summary of what process a bill must go through to pass.
a. It starts in a committee in the “House of Origin” (Senate committee for senate bills and House committee for House bills).
b. The bill must pass out of committee where it goes to rules. If you see a bill in Rules, you know that it is very close to going to the floor for a vote, especially if it’s a Democrat bill and has been voted out of committee this quickly.
c. From Rules, the bill goes to the floor.
d. If the bill is voted off the floor, it then goes to the “Opposite House” and goes through the same process.
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Good bills –>
| SB 5207 |
Freshman senator, Jeff Wilson, introduced this bill. It would streamline environmental permitting. |
Senate Ag, Water, & Natural Resouces |
| SB 5037 |
Sen. Braun introduced a bill requiring schools to offer face to face classes depending on COVID metrics. While we believe in local control, there needs to be some incentive for school districts to be required to meet face to face. Our kids have been out of school for a year. Some are thriving, but a huge number are going to suffer in their educational future forever because of this!
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Senate Early Learning & K12 |
| SB 5114 |
Sen. Braun introduced another big one. This would move all of the state into Phase 2 of the Governor’s “COVID plan,” allowing restaurants and other industries to open back up safely. We are killing our small businesses and the hospitality industry is suffering mightily. There were over 1600 people who signed up to testify. The vast majority were for the bill. This past week, the Republicans attempted two procedural procedures that would have allowed a vote on this bill, but they were over-ruled each time. The Chair of the Committee that this bill is in – Senator Sam Hunt – refuses to let it come to a vote in committee. One wonders if he doesn’t want to go on record as voting no against all our businesses!
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Senate State Government |
| SB 5243 |
Senator Lynda Wilson introduced this bill that will streamline the approval of engineered plans. A little in the weeds, but honestly, trying to build anything in some counties is an absolutely nightmare – streamlining anything would be a blessing.
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Senate Housing & local Govt |
| SB 5245 |
Sen. Brown – Requiring written notification of crime victims before release of prisoners for certain crimes.
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Senate Human Services |
| SB 5316 |
Sen. Wilson, L. – This is also in the weeds, but this is big. The state has gotten millions of dollars from the federal government to help with COVID expenses. It is the Legislature’s job to appropriate funds and decide where the money is spent. The Governor has taken that job over because of yet another loophole in the law. Senator Wilson’s bill requires that a committee, made up of legislators approve or reject a request for expenditure by the Governor. |
Senate Ways & Means (budget) |
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Bad bills –>
| HB 1099 |
Do you ever want to own a house? Develop property. Do you care what happens to your community? This bill would require the goal of “climate change mitigation” to the goals of Growth Management. This will even require local governments to track your travel. Listen to Rep. Peter Abbarno discuss it here
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House Appropriations |
| HB 1091 |
Low Carbon Fuel Standards will definitely increase gas prices further. This obviously hurts everyone, but especially those in the rural areas. Article discussing this bill – https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/will-lcfs-raise-gas-prices-california-oregon-and-wa-budget-agency-say-yes
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House Appropriations |
| HB 1135 |
Increase gas prices – Isn’t this one of the best ideas? Right when most of WA state has been out of work for the past year? This will be an 18 cent increase (on top of increases by low carbon fuel standards.) The bill report on this one doesn’t say much, so I didn’t link it. It’s part of an entire transportation package that includes tons of new spending, as well. Wonder how much goes for the light rail boondoggle?
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House Transportation |
| HB 1141 |
Expanding assisted suicide
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House Rules |
| HB 1225 |
Creating school-based health centers in our schools. Basically removes the parent from the health decisions of their children. This one is fast-tracked, as well. Scheduled to be passed out of committee before the end of the week.
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House Appropriations |
| SB 5038 |
Prohibits open carry at demonstrations at the Capitol. Another Second Amendment issue
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Rules |
| SB 5044 |
Imposing Critical Race Theory on our children in public school. This one is fast tracked, folks. May be on the floor this week, passed and sent to the House for a quick pass and then, boom, into law before the end of February. You need to organize and work to get this defeated.
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Passed the Senate vote 30-19 |
| SB 5052 |
Concerning the creation of health equity zones. This is the year of racial equity & social justice. These bills are fast tracked and will likely be passed. There are a bunch of them. I’m only hitting on a few. These are racists bills. If you have to check a person’s color or gender to be able to choose what action to take, you are doing it wrong!
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Senate Ways & Means (budget) |
| SB 5078 |
Hi Cap Magazine ban Bill |
Rules |
| SB 5096 |
Capital Gains Income Tax – make no mistake. This is a push for an income tax. |
Senate Ways & Means (budget) |
| SB 5188 |
The WA State Bank. Terrible idea, but they are definitely pushing it. We have great credit ratings in this state, thanks to Treasurer Duane Davidson. They want to destroy that good rating by creating our own state bank. Not the place of government to do that!
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Senate Business & Finance |
| SB 5340 |
Changes the qualification for running for School Board from requiring citizenship to just being a permenant legal resident. The next step after this is allowing permenant legal residents to vote without requiring citizenship. Scheduled for a hearing on Feb 1 at 1:30 pm |
Senate Early Learning & K12 |
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It’s easy to let your legislators know what you think about a bill.
Simply call the Legislative HOTLINE and give your information.
CALL THE HOTLINE AT 800-562-6000.
The simplest method about finding / tracking and learning more about a particular bill is through Washington Votes.org.
by Sue | Jan 31, 2021 | 2021 Olympia Bills to Watch, Education, Olympia News & Views 2021
WashingtonVotes NEWS: Friday, January 29, 2021
State lawmakers debate and take first full votes on passing bills online in mostly empty House and Senate chambers
The House and Senate went into full floor sessions this past week to debate and vote on a dozen bills that had cleared the first steps toward legislative passage. Their respective chambers, however, were essentially empty except for the presiding officers and their staff and a few members spread among the House and Senate desks. Most members participated remotely using online connections. (more…)
by Sue | Jan 25, 2021 | 2021 Olympia Bills to Watch, Olympia News & Views 2021
Bills are making their way through the legislature in Olympia at high speed. Ruth Peterson of Lewis County (PCO, State Committeewoman, who works at the Capitol in the State Senate), shares a few of the ones that need attention. The following is from her email alert:
Heard last week, but you can definitely still weigh in with your legislators:
SB 5096 – Capital Gains Income Tax – make no mistake. This is a push for an income tax.
SB 5037 – Sen. Braun – requiring schools to offer face to face classes depending on COVID metrics. While we believe in local control, there needs to be some incentive for school districts to be required to meet face to face. Our kids have been out of school for a year. Some are thriving, but a huge number are going to suffer in their educational future forever because of this! (more…)
by Sue | Jan 23, 2021 | 2021 Olympia Bills to Watch, Olympia News & Views 2021
Washington State Representative Vicki Kraft (R – 17th LD) is one of the great Republicans in Olympia who is fighting for the people’s best interest, and not special interests. Following is an excerpt about what she’s working on in Olympia.
- Governor’s emergency powers: When the Legislature created the governor’s emergency powers many years ago, lawmakers never intended to give the governor extended one-man rule for nearly a year or longer. For nearly 10 months, the governor has dictated through emergency proclamations, how our state is run, picking winners and losers along the way. I will be introducing reform legislation that reins in the governor’s emergency power. My bill will remove the imbalance that has occurred these past months between the executive and legislative branches by requiring two-thirds of the Legislature to approve any continuation of a state of emergency. I will also continue to work to safely reopen our state now for our citizens, small businesses and property owners impacted by the shutdown, so we can promote the overall health of all Washingtonians.
- The K-12 Education Scholarship Program – On Friday, I reintroduced my school choice measure, House Bill 1215, that would give parents the ability to choose the learning environment that best meets their children’s needs. The K-12 Education Scholarship Program would provide $7,000 per student to be used for costs related to private school or homeschool instruction. I believe parents should be able to decide how and where their children are educated — not government. The measure has been referred to the House Education Committee. Read my opinion-editorial on this issue.
- Right to refuse vaccinations – I believe individuals should have the right to decide whether or not to be vaccinated, regardless of whether it is a vaccine against the coronavirus or any other vaccine on the market. No one should be required to be vaccinated, and no one should be denied services, employment or access to public places if they choose not to be vaccinated. This week, I introduced House Bill 1305, which would allow individuals the right to refuse any vaccination or related health measure, so they maintain control of what goes into their own bodies. The measure has been referred to the House Health Care and Wellness Committee.
Bad bills already moving forward
It didn’t take long for majority Democrats to roll out a series of bad bills to increase the governor’s emergency powers, raise taxes and expand abortion coverage. Since much of this session is being conducted online and not as open to the public as before, it’s really important that every citizen become involved in their Legislature this year, so we can stop bad bills from becoming law. Feel free to contact my office if you’d like to be added to my email update concerning bills coming through the House so you can sign up and testify on those measures.
Here’s a list for this week:
- Senate Concurrent Resolution 8402 – Democrats in both the Senate and House swiftly passed this bad measure — so quickly, the public was mostly unaware. It indefinitely extends the governor’s authority to operate under certain emergency proclamations he has issued in response to COVID. This means until the state of emergency is revoked or if legislative action occurs, the governor simply continues to have the power to keep those proclamations in place indefinitely. Republicans argued against the measure, but it passed the House on Friday with a vote of 54-44. The Senate passed it last Wednesday.
- Senate Bill 5096 would enact a 9% income tax on capital gains as small as $25,000. Imagine this scenario: A restaurant owner is forced out of business due to the governor’s extended shutdown orders. If this bill passes, that owner would face a new income tax when trying to sell the property. In other words, government would make money forcing such closures — very shameful! A public hearing was held on this bill last Thursday in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
- House Bill 1091 would authorize the state Department of Ecology to create a clean fuels program, which could increase the cost of gasoline by 57 cents per gallon and diesel by 63 cents per gallon. This would increase costs to the consumer, hurt our economy, and add to the cost of housing. A public hearing was held last Wednesday in the House Environment and Energy Committee. It is scheduled for a committee vote this Thursday, Jan. 21.
Our focus this session should be on getting people back to work, reopening businesses, and getting kids back in school. Above all, as people and businesses are suffering from the COVID shutdown, the Legislature should NOT add to their burdens with higher taxes and more government regulations. There is no need for tax increases. I encourage you to get involved in the remote testimony process and help us fight these bad bills!
All House floor action and committee meetings will be conducted this session via Zoom. They can also be viewed on TVW. Although the Capitol grounds will be closed to the public, there are still ways for you to be involved and influence the legislative process. Here is a good guide to help you participate: Accessing the Legislature Remotely. Please note that you can sign up in advance to remotely testify on a bill during committee meetings. You may also submit written comments. Here are some other helpful links:
NOTE: You can also use www.washingtonvotes.org, which offers much information about the legislators, the bills that are moving forward, and a direct link to read more on the legislative website as well as comment on them.
by Sue | Jan 18, 2021 | 2021 Olympia Bills to Watch, Alerts about pending WA State Legislation
from WashingtonVotes.org
Governor Inslee sworn in for third consecutive term, vows a “new normal” for the people of the state – Senate Democrats pass measure to extend his emergency orders indefinitely
Governor Inslee took the oath of office for his third consecutive four-year term on Wednesday in the Capitol building, along with other state elected officials, wearing masks and physically distanced. Others, like Attorney General Ferguson who is also entering his third four-year term, were sworn in online. Governor Inslee is the first Washington governor to be elected for a third term since Republican Dan Evans in the 1970s.
Rather than delivering his inaugural address before the traditional assembly of lawmakers, state elected officials, and state supreme court justices, Governor Inslee presented his remarks in a pre-recorded 20-minute video posted online.
The governor’s speech touched on economic recovery, education, homelessness and the need to overhaul the state’s mental health system. He also declared his continued commitment to fighting climate change. ”We cannot let the short-term crisis of COVID-19 blind us to the long-term health cataclysm that is climate change,“ he said.
Governor Inslee also emphasized that Washingtonians should not expect their lives to return to normal after the COVID-19 epidemic is under control. “We are not going back to normal. We are going forward toward a new normal. We are on a path in this legislative session to a more just normal, a healthier normal. And we’re not just talking about the pandemic.”
State lawmakers continue to introduce new bills this week at a brisk pace—nearly 500 so far, as Washington’s 105-day regular session gets underway in a mostly online format. Legislative actions, including floor debates, committee hearings, and public testimony are conducted remotely, using online tools in keeping with the restrictions on gatherings imposed by Governor Inslee’s emergency orders.
These restrictions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, as Senate Democrats on Wednesday pushed through a measure that would extend all of the governor’s emergency proclamations indefinitely.
Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 8402 would continue the restrictions ordered by Governor Inslee until the governor declares an end to the state of emergency or the legislature repeals his orders. (Reps. Chapman, Tharinger, and Sen. Van deWege voted for this.)
The measure passed along straight party lines by 28-19 votes, with all Democrats voting “yes” and all Republicans voting “no.” Two senators were excused. The House, which is controlled by Democrats with a 57-41 majority, is expected to vote on the resolution later today, Friday.
During the debate on the measure—carried out remotely via online tools, Republicans brought up their concerns about extending the governor’s emergency orders indefinitely. Sen. Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake), who voted against the resolution, said in an interview with The Everett Herald that lawmakers came to Olympia to help the governor “work our way as a state, through the situation that we’re in with this pandemic. He’s been doing it all on his own.”
Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) also voted against the resolution. “We came to Olympia to be able to do the right thing,” he said. “Instead, the majority gives the governor continued dictatorial powers.”
A Republican proposal to extend the proclamations only until January 27th failed, along with an amendment to move each region in the state to Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery plan by January 18 before extending any proclamations.
WashingtonVotes.org is a free service provided by Washington Policy Center and is the go-to tracking tool to keep up with all the action in Olympia, especially during this mostly virtual session. Please check in often and follow us on Facebook and Twitter at #waleg.
(Reprinted from Washington Votes.org with permission)
