House approves I-747 reinstatement
The vote was 86 to 8.
Courageous Democrats taking a stand against poor public policy included Representatives Dickerson, Hunt, Nelson, Pedersen, Pettigrew, Santos, Simpson, and Sommers. Representatives Cody, Hasegawa, and Schindler were excused from the vote. The rest of the caucus for voted for I-747 reinstatement.
In the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Senator Eric Oemig's amendment to add a sunset clause to the reinstatement bill in the form of a public vote next November failed despite having the support of several Democrats on the committee. Committee Chairwoman Margarita Prentice opposed the amendment, saying such ideas should wait until January.
(Which leads to the question: why have a special session at all?)
House and Senate Democrats have shown a lot of deference to Governor Christine Gregoire today. In the House Finance Committee, all the Democrats (with the notable exception of Representative Santos) explained why they don't like Inititative 747's draconian limits but voted for reinstatement anyway, offering various halfhearted excuses... most of which repeated Republican talking points about respecting the will of the voters in an election that was held seven years ago.
At this moment the need for progressive infrastructure (and higher standards for our Democratic majorities in the Legislature) couldn't be more evident.
Courageous Democrats taking a stand against poor public policy included Representatives Dickerson, Hunt, Nelson, Pedersen, Pettigrew, Santos, Simpson, and Sommers. Representatives Cody, Hasegawa, and Schindler were excused from the vote. The rest of the caucus for voted for I-747 reinstatement.
In the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Senator Eric Oemig's amendment to add a sunset clause to the reinstatement bill in the form of a public vote next November failed despite having the support of several Democrats on the committee. Committee Chairwoman Margarita Prentice opposed the amendment, saying such ideas should wait until January.
(Which leads to the question: why have a special session at all?)
House and Senate Democrats have shown a lot of deference to Governor Christine Gregoire today. In the House Finance Committee, all the Democrats (with the notable exception of Representative Santos) explained why they don't like Inititative 747's draconian limits but voted for reinstatement anyway, offering various halfhearted excuses... most of which repeated Republican talking points about respecting the will of the voters in an election that was held seven years ago.
At this moment the need for progressive infrastructure (and higher standards for our Democratic majorities in the Legislature) couldn't be more evident.
# Posted by Andrew : 12:54 PM
Comments:
I am amazed at the lack of interest many Washington 'progressives' are showing in this topic. They'll debate the war and impeachment ad nauseum, but ignore what's going on in their backyard.
Gregoire, Chopp, and Brown have made the wrong call. Thy just validated Dino Rossi and energized his supporters. No anti-tax crusader will vote for Gregoire. What they're saying now is, "Imagine what we'll get when we elect Dino!"
So who is running state government now, Tim Eyman?
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