District 13 legislators address local constituents
OLYMPIA — Local legislators set out the 2022 state legislative session with the safety of their constituents in mind, said Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, during a District 13 town hall on Thursday.
The Washington State Legislature has gone through approximately 2,000 bills in the last month as it passed the halfway point of the 2022 legislative session.
Emergency powers
Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that the state mask mandate would end on March 21, but the emergency declaration would continue. District 13 constituents and others advocated against the governor's extended emergency powers this past year but made little progress.
Warnick said Senate Democrats passed Senate Bill 5909 last week, but the bill essentially does nothing to address concerns of gubernatorial overreach. The legislation is now in the House of Representatives.
"It's a feel-good bill; it had a title that we were dealing with emergency powers, but it really didn't do anything," Warnick said,
Several Republicans voted against the legislation resulting in 29-20 passage during a Feb. 15 floor action. Warnick said even the Inslee recognized how little effect SB 5909 would have if enacted, but it continued over to the House.
SB 5909 sets a rule that within 90 days of the legislative session ending, majority and minority leaders from both the House and Senate would vote on whether to end the state of emergency. The decision would have to be unanimous between the four leaders, according to the bill, in order to end the state of emergency.
Warnick said that with the way politics typically play out, a gridlock would likely prevent an end to an emergency declaration unless a majority decision is the standard for a decision.
Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said Republicans received a lot of pushback in limiting the governor's power. Several bills have been presented over the last two years, including one of his own, with little progress because of the lack of democratic support.
"For some reason, they don't want to limit the governor's power and I don't think the governor wants to limit his power either," Dent said. "I find that concerning."
Elected officials are supposed to represent their constituents, Dent said, but their opinions are being sidestepped in this case. Dent believes local legislators should be more involved in the decision-making process.
If SB 5909 makes it to the House Chamber for floor action, Dent said he would do everything possible to modify the legislation to his constituents' benefit.
Gun control woes
Warnick said another area receiving much pushback is the Republicans' effort to stop what she categorized as leftist gun control legislation. Several related bills being pushed through the legislature received overwhelming opposition during the public hearing phase but are still moving forward.
Senate Bill 5078, which limits high-capacity magazines to no more than 10 rounds, was passed through the first half of the legislature with none of the 20 Republican amendments adopted, she said.
"They have a right to think the way they think even though we disagree with them, but on the same token, to own a firearm is a constitutional right,” Dent said.
Many gun control bills being considered, some of which concern open and concealed carry, may present unconstitutional boundaries, Dent said. He added that his constituents could count on him to vote no and do everything in his power to represent residents of the district and their viewpoints..
"If they want it, they'll really have to earn it," Dent said in reference to Democrats’ efforts to pass weapons legislation.
Republican legislators are developing a strategy to prevent SB 5078, and others like it, from passing. As the minority party, he said, Republicans must do a lot of work to amend these bills into something desirable for their districts.
Procedural billing
Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, said in a recent chamber floor session that Republicans had talked for hours to prevent certain unfavorable legislation from being heard before the procedural cut-off. The tactic resulted in around 100 bills being killed.
One of the bills Republicans halted would have reduced the criminal severity of carrying out a drive-by shooting.
The District 13 legislators urge constituents to write letters and testify during public hearings. The legislature needs to hear local perspectives to prioritize specific legislation.
Warnick said it's common for Democrats to set Republican bills aside temporarily when they are first introduced to a committee.
All three District 13 legislators shared that most of the bills making it out of committee onto the chamber floor are sponsored by Democrats.
"They're not (all) necessarily bad bills, but it feels like a lot of good Republican bills are not being passed," Warnick said.