by Ruth Peterson
Before I get started on the list of bills, there are three things you need to know up front.
- Friday was the cutoff for all policy bills to get out of committee in their “house of origin”. That means that senate bills had to have executive action to be moved to the Senate Rules Committee and the house bills have to be moved to House Rules. If you are following any bills, you can look them up to check the status. If they are still in committee, they are probably dead. That goes for all bills except those in the finance or budget committees (Ways & Means, Appropriations, Finance, or Transportation). Those bills have until Tuesday night. On Wednesday, we go to the floor all day every day, and they will start voting on all the bills that are still alive. You can find more information about the bills that are on the floor, ready for a vote here https://app.leg.wa.gov/far/
House/Calendar and here – https://app.leg.wa.gov/far/Senate/Calendar - NO bill is truly dead until the last gavel goes down on sine die – March 12. Even though bills that did not make cutoff are not likely to pass, I’ve seen dead bills come back alive in the wee hours of the morning on the last days of session.
- Remember that bill I talked about that increases B&O taxes on your doctors, veterinarians, dentists, therapists, etc (SB 6492)? It passed both chambers and the Governor will sign it tomorrow – Monday, the 10th. They couldn’t wait to raise our taxes. It’s number one priority for them – well maybe on par with the firearms bills and sexual education. It’s another brutal year for anyone who doesn’t believe in an expanded government.
Firearms –
HB 1068 & SB 5062 – both ban “high capacity” magazines – neither have moved through the legislative process at all since session began. Did not make it out of committee before cutoff – likely dead.
SB 6077 and HB 2240 – High capacity magazines – It has had a hearing in the Senate and is in the Rules Committee. The next step is the Senate floor for a vote of the entire body. Both bills are very much alive. I’ll bet they go to the floor this week.
HB 1010 – Allowing the WSP to destroy firearms that have been confiscated. Still alive – it has been passed off the floor of the House (party line vote) and is now in the Senate Law & Justice Committee. Hearing on Wed. the 12th.
HB 1315 & SB 5174 – Still very much alive. SB 5174 didn’t make it out of committee, but it’s companion, HB 1315 is alive and well – still going through the process. If this bill passes, there will be around 100,000 people that need to take classes every year. We do not have the capacity for that number to be trained, it is onerous for those who live far away from where the classes are held, and to a lot of people’s minds, it’s just another way to keep people from being able to keep and bear arms.
HB 2241 – another high cap magazine bill. It had a hearing last week and is awaiting an Executive Session. It didn’t make cutoff. Likely dead.
SB 6686 and HB 2925 – Banning weapons on the Capitol grounds in Olympia. These appear to be dead. However, just a word to those who love their 2A (as I do). Stop making it easy for this to happen! When a bunch of people show up in camo, all decked out in all sorts of weapons and then try to intimidate people, you invite these types of bills. I have lots of friends and relatives that work there. Most are 2A friendly. I personally know three individuals that were verbally abused with an attempt at physical intimidation. When you don’t even know who your friends are in Olympia, then put a suit and tie on (or at least jeans and a t-shirt), come talk to people and find out who they are before shooting off your mouth and sticking cell phones in their faces. If you think that is going to sway anyone to your position, you are living in a bubble. All you end up doing is destroying the trust of your friends and antagonizing your opponents. I used to love the 2A rallies at the Capitol. Those are my peeps! But now, I have to wonder if I will be accosted as I walk down the hall by someone who doesn’t know me from Adam. Destroying the trust of your friends is a terrible thing to do. Stop it.
Transportation –
HB 2688 – Expanding Transportation policy goals – This is interesting. It removes mobility as one of the goals of transportation. Add climate change to the goals. There is a long list – none of which will help you to get to work faster. It has had a public hearing and needs to be scheduled to pass out of committee. Still nothing on the schedule, but that can change in a heartbeat.
SB 6586 – Pay per mile tax. Everyone has heard that there is a push to have a pay-per-mile system, and everyone could breathe a sigh of relief that this bill only affects those who drive electric and hybrid vehicles (except the owners of those vehicles, of course). But I want to point out why this isn’t good news for anyone who drives any vehicle. This is a small group of people, so there isn’t the push-back that all vehicles would have. The argument could also be made the electric vehicles need to pay for wear and tear on the roads, right? Think about it, though. This is a perfect way to get the system in place and perfect it. This will be all vehicles in just a few years, if this bill passes. “They came for the electric vehicles and I was silent. Then they came for my car.” I don’t have a crystal ball, but this is exactly how these types of programs are made into law for all of us. Baby steps. Scheduled for executive action on Monday the 10th.
HB 2515 – Ban on gas powered vehicles by 2030. This is why I keep saying we have a new generation of Democrats in Olympia who are similar in their beliefs to AOC and the new Socialist wing of the Democrat Party. This is where we are headed if we do not get out the vote and flip some seats from D to R. This bill is still alive – it has a hearing in Transportation tomorrow the 10th.
HB 1110 – Low Carbon Fuel Standards has passed the House and is in the Senate, waiting for a hearing. I have this under Transportation because it will increase our cost to move ourselves and goods around the state. This could raise gas prices more than 40 cents per gallon. The worse part about this is that if it were a gas tax, at least the money would go towards roads (it’s constitutionally required for gas tax to go to transportation). But this legislation would just increase the costs to manufacture the fuel, so not a dime will go to our roads. Get ready to pay more at the pump and pay more for all our goods delivered by truck. (Hint – it’s pretty much everything you see in your local store).
Other –
HB 2529 & SB 6503 – Outlawing Initiatives and Referendums in odd numbered years. It is the right of the people in this state to have control over their government. The Constitution allows this by giving us the right of Initiative and Referendum. This bill takes away that right. HB 2529 had an executive session on the 31st but no action was taken. Both bills are likely dead.
SB 5323 – state-wide ban on plastic bags – Still very much alive. SB 5323 has been voted off the floor of the Senate and is now in the House awaiting a public hearing.
SB 6516 – reducing the work week to 32 hours – anything over requires an employee be paid overtime pay. No public hearing has been scheduled yet. Likely Dead.
SB 5339 – Abolishing the Death Penalty. Very much alive. Passed on the Senate Floor on Friday and goes to the House now.
Any landlords out there? HB 2520 – Alive and ready to go to the House floor for a vote. This makes it extremely difficult to keep a deposit to cover damage done by a tenant. Requires meticulous documentation of every “fixture” in the rental including the age of the item. A government agency will decide when a fixture has outlived its usefulness and the landlord cannot use the damage deposit if the item is deemed to have outlived its usefulness. They have a couple of executive sessions scheduled, so it could either be moved out of committee on the 5th or the 7th. There are other landlord bills of concern, but this one was eye-popping.
SB 6228 Alive and ready to go to the floor for a vote. It would restore voting rights to felons the second they walk out of prison, before their parole and financial restitution.
Sex education – several bills in this category. All are awful.
HB 2184 – Still alive -it is now in Appropriations where it has to be passed out by Tuesday night – Gives the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction the power to decide what the sex education curriculum will be. This is a push to teach gender fluidity as early as kindergarten. It has had a hearing in the House.
Ditto for ESSB 5395 – this bill was passed off the floor of the Senate last Wednesday. It is now in the house Education Committee. Be sure to also watch out for the companion bill HB 1407 (you can click on the companion bill info from the 5395 page. That’s 3 bills you need to track to make sure this legislation doesn’t pass. This is the bill that is currently moving – Still alive – it was voted off the floor of the Senate two weeks ago and is now in the House waiting for a hearing.
Taxes –
SB 6492 – This is the bill I detailed in my previous email. It replaces a tax surcharge they passed at the end of session last year with an increase to the general B&O tax for service industries from 1.5% to 1.8% for businesses that have a gross income over $1 million (remember this is gross – not net). The Governor will sign tomorrow at 3:00 in his conference room.
If you want more info about bills that are alive or dead, see this article –
http://bit.ly/2HekEZ7
