News
Lo and Behold
1. Yesterday morning we reported that on Friday the House Appropriations Committee in Olympia killed the bill to undo the voter-approved renewable energy initiative, I-937. But we also noted that the bill could be resurrected. Well, that's what Democratic leadership did yesterday—or it's what the "conservative" Democratic leadership did yesterday, according to one frustrated Democratic House member, Rep. Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia).
In a bitter statement to constituents issued yesterday titled "How Democracy Works," Rep. Williams had this to say about House Majority Leader, Rep. Frank Chopp's (D-43, Wallingford) intervention to force the bill out of committee and to a floor vote:
For lack of Democratic votes ESSB 5840 [the I-937 bill] failed to advance out of the House General Government Appropriations Committee—upon which I serve—in its last scheduled meeting of the session last Friday. It was dead when I left House Hearing Room C after 6 p.m. Friday night.I-937, the Energy Independence Act, was a product of considerable leadership by the environmental community and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, received 57% of the Thurston County vote in 2006. It requires certain electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers to meet targets for the use of renewable energy resources and energy conservation.The powerful energy utility lobby has pushed heavily for ESSB 5840 to repeal the citizens’ will expressed through I-937. Word today was that the conservative House leadership was planning on waiting for members to leave the floor and then “pull” the bill from the fiscal committee to the House Rules Committee to keep it alive for a floor vote. ...Technically, such a re-referral requires 2/3 consent ...Lo and behold, with the threat of this floor maneuver being blocked, the General Government Appropriations Committee then was forced into a previously-unscheduled vote this afternoon on ESSB 5840. Even a committee agenda sent out at 11 a.m. this morning provided no public notice of this vote. I was one of two Democratic no votes – and spoke against the bill.As I noted, having made no substantive progress on climate change there’s a real possibility the 2009 Legislature will actually go backwards.
2. Rep. Williams angry letter also took the House budget to task for potentially sacrificing $514 million in Federal Medicaid matching funds by cutting State health care funding.
Here's what Williams had to say about that:
For example, a $3.8 million state boarding home care cut surrenders $5.6 million in federal funds.Much of this federal money would go to caregiver wages. At a time when home care workers, for example, are making only $10.03 an hour you can easily see how money invested in wages would go straight into our state’s economy. Medicaid cuts are penny-wise, pound-foolish.
3. Morning Fizz loves the gossip: Yesterday, Sen. Tracey Eide (D-30, Federal Way, Algona) reportedly pressured Rep. Jamie Pedersen (D-43, Capitol Hill) to vote for her saltwater algae bill by pointing out that she had voted for his gay rights bill.
