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Conspiracy Theories
Knowing their bills are going to get shelved in committee, the minority Republicans bypassed the regular legislative route this morning for what was (ultimately) a symbolic vote just so their issue would see the light of day.
Ellensburg-area Rep. Bill Hinkle's (R-13) bill to declare the federal health care bill unconstitutional—"Adopting the Washington state health care freedom act of 2010 concerning health care services"—was voted down 58-36.
"Have you heard of the 10th Amendment?" Rep. Hinkle begins when asked to explain the bill. (Answer: Yes. That'd be state's rights.) Hinkle, the Republican minority whip, says the health care bill is a federal power grab that violates the 10th Amendment "because it would be a national system, preventing states from having our own system ... and this kind of stuff is driving people crazy. People in my district are furious."
Hinkle says, "It's time for the states to excercise the power to remind the federal government of constitutional restrictions on their power."
(A similar GOP bill —"Concerning adopting the Washington state energy freedom act of 2010 and requiring express legislative authorization for a greenhouse gas or motor vehicle fuel economy program"—about pending federal cap and trade legislation, went down by the exact same party vote, 58-36.)
It wasn't a full Democratic rejection, though. A few Democrats didn't vote. One absence was Southwest Rep. Deb Wallace (D-17), who was excused from the vote.
Wallace's office is slated to call us back, but here's a conspiracy theory from the floor in the mean time: Was Rep. Wallace, who's vying for U.S. Rep. Brian Baird's (D-3) open seat in swing district turf, scared of being on record as pro-big government in what could be an anti-D.C. backlash year.
Cowlitz and Clark County GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera (R-18), whose also running for Baird's open seat, voted yea on the bill.
UPDATE: Rep. Wallace has shot down the conspiracy theory. She missed the vote, she explains, because she had left materials for an afternoon work session about higher ed funding at home and drove back to get them not realizing there was a vote.
As for the Rep. Hinkle's bill, she says she wants to be on record: "I would have voted against that. It was a ridiculous bill. It was game playing. I absolutely support [federal] health care reform."
Ellensburg-area Rep. Bill Hinkle's (R-13) bill to declare the federal health care bill unconstitutional—"Adopting the Washington state health care freedom act of 2010 concerning health care services"—was voted down 58-36.
"Have you heard of the 10th Amendment?" Rep. Hinkle begins when asked to explain the bill. (Answer: Yes. That'd be state's rights.) Hinkle, the Republican minority whip, says the health care bill is a federal power grab that violates the 10th Amendment "because it would be a national system, preventing states from having our own system ... and this kind of stuff is driving people crazy. People in my district are furious."
Hinkle says, "It's time for the states to excercise the power to remind the federal government of constitutional restrictions on their power."
(A similar GOP bill —"Concerning adopting the Washington state energy freedom act of 2010 and requiring express legislative authorization for a greenhouse gas or motor vehicle fuel economy program"—about pending federal cap and trade legislation, went down by the exact same party vote, 58-36.)
It wasn't a full Democratic rejection, though. A few Democrats didn't vote. One absence was Southwest Rep. Deb Wallace (D-17), who was excused from the vote.
Wallace's office is slated to call us back, but here's a conspiracy theory from the floor in the mean time: Was Rep. Wallace, who's vying for U.S. Rep. Brian Baird's (D-3) open seat in swing district turf, scared of being on record as pro-big government in what could be an anti-D.C. backlash year.
Cowlitz and Clark County GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera (R-18), whose also running for Baird's open seat, voted yea on the bill.
UPDATE: Rep. Wallace has shot down the conspiracy theory. She missed the vote, she explains, because she had left materials for an afternoon work session about higher ed funding at home and drove back to get them not realizing there was a vote.
As for the Rep. Hinkle's bill, she says she wants to be on record: "I would have voted against that. It was a ridiculous bill. It was game playing. I absolutely support [federal] health care reform."
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