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February 21, 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Greetings! There has been a flurry of action in the Legislature recently, as the Senate spent many long hours passing the vast majority of 266 bills (I question if most are even necessary in a free society) over the past two weeks -- and another hour debating a truly bad piece of legislation that I helped to put down!
Felon voting? Not anytime soon!
Typically, voting on the floor of the state Senate (or House) is a very structured process – bills have been discussed by each political caucus in their respective meeting rooms, legislators usually know where they stand on an issue and the majority party usually knows if it has the votes to pass the bill before the final tally is calculated. That all went out the window Wednesday evening when Senate Democrats tried to pass Senate Bill 6228 -- better known as the “felon voting” bill.
To give you some background, Washington law allows convicted felons to get their voting rights restored only after they have completed community custody and/or paid restitution (if ordered by the court) on top of completing their period of confinement in prison. SB 6228 would have restored voting rights to felons after being released from prison even though they are still serving their court-ordered community custody or owe restitution. In other words, prematurely – before their debt to society is fully satisfied.
The majority Democrats put their felon-voting bill on the list of bills eligible for Senate votes well ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for sending bills to the House. They dangled it in front of us on two other days without making a move, and as Wednesday progressed, the curiosity grew – would Democrats really have the nerve to try passing it? Shortly before the 5 p.m. voting deadline, the bill was brought to the Senate floor – and the drama began.
As the debate started, tensions grew high and partisan politics were in full swing. I was able to attach an amendment to the bill that would not allow child rapists the right to vote until a sentence was fully satisfied. Several of my Republican colleagues offered similar amendments -- with little success. The Democrats even turned down an amendment that would have kept repeat criminals like the accused shooters in the recent downtown-Seattle gunfight from having their voting rights restored prematurely!
Then, after rejecting Senator Mike Padden’s unsuccessful amendment to keep violent criminals from voting until they are released from community custody, the majority party abruptly stopped debate. I guess its leaders realized they no longer had the votes to get this bill through. This does not usually happen, because who brings a bill up to a vote just to have it fail? I am very proud of my colleagues for standing up for the rights of victims and for holding strong against those who apparently are more concerned about felons.
I encourage you to watch the full debate (interrupted by SB 5400) on TVW here.
Voting is a right and those who have committed crimes should not have their right to vote restored until they have completed their sentence.
SB 5601 passes Senate!
Senate Bill 5601, which I have co-sponsored -- represents the culmination of years of research, visiting with patients and learning about the impacts of access to care. I am pleased to report that this bill finally passed the Senate unanimously earlier this week! This bill deals with the regulation of health and pharmacy benefit managers. These entities have had an increasingly negative impact on patient health and access to care, often denying what physicians have prescribed for their patients. This legislation seeks to regulate benefit managers, requiring registration and reporting provisions.
Additionally, if SB 5601 becomes law, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner would join in overseeing these benefit managers. After months of preparation and hours of stakeholder meetings, I am very excited that the momentum for this bill continues to grow as it is already scheduled for a hearing in the House Health Care and Wellness Committee this coming Tuesday.
Listening to the people
During floor debate Wednesday, Senator Steve O’Ban motioned for the seldomly used “ninth order,” a floor procedure to bring, Senate Bill 6245, (which would enact I-976) directly from the Senate Transportation Committee to the floor for a full Senate vote.
Unfortunately, Senator O’Ban’s effort was defeated along party lines, as majority Democrats prevented SB 6245 from receiving a floor vote.
In addition to enacting I-976, SB 6245 would backfill the money lost from lower car-tab fees by making the sales tax revenue from automobile sales available for transportation funding.
It is past time for lawmakers to listen to the people of Washington state. Initiative 976 was passed by 53% of voters statewide and by 67% of voters in the 7th legislative district, yet we haven’t seen any car-tab relief and we deserve it – now!
This week I had the chance to visit with representatives of our local early childhood program, 4-H students (pictured above), Okanogan PUD, Chewelah and Cusick FFA students, service employees and Okanogan County Commissioner Chris Branch. Will you be in Olympia between now and March 12, when the session is scheduled to end? If so, call my office and schedule an appointment.
As always, it is a privilege to serve as your state senator. If you need anything, my office is here for you. I can be reached by phone at (360) 786-7612. Please feel free to visit any time. I would love to see friendly faces from back home!
Sincerely,
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