WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Brian Blake’s Legislative Update – March 5, 2013

Dear neighbors,

telephone town hallFirst, I want to thank all of you who joined our 19th Legislative District telephone town hall last Wednesday evening.  Rep. Dean Takko, Senator Brian Hatfield, and I had a great time and really appreciated the chance to hear from you directly. Your questions, from funding education to health care reform and multiple other issues, made it an interesting and very informative one-hour conversation.  If you missed it, you can get the audio here.

House policy committees did not meet this week, but legislators have been busy hearing bills in the House fiscal committees.  Only bills that passed out of the fiscal committees by Friday, March 1, remain in play this year – unless they are budget-related.  Starting today, we are on the floor of the House voting on legislation every day, potentially including Saturday and Sunday.  It’s the only way we can get as much done as possible within the short time frame we have to move legislation forward.


Status on my bills

Here is a list of all my bills and where they are at the moment. As you see, so far two of my Resolutions have been adopted, and only one bill, HB 1200, Seafood Labeling, has passed the House and is making its way through the Senate.  Another three bills, 1071, 1199 and 1253 are in the Rules Committee, so I am hoping they make it to the House Floor for a vote. Click on the image for a larger version of this chart.

marchbills


State Supreme Court issues I-1053 ruling 

On February 28, the state Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision on the constitutionality of I-1053, the initiative requiring a two-thirds vote of the legislature to either raise taxes or close tax loopholes.  The court ruled that this “supermajority supremesrequirement” is unconstitutional.

The court case began a couple of years ago, borne out of the inability of a simple majority of House legislators to close an outdated tax loophole in our state that only benefitted large, out-of-state banks.  They wanted to close this loophole in order to fund classroom size reductions in our public schools instead.  But because of the supermajority requirement, a minority of legislators was able defeat the bill in the House, and Wall Street banks triumphed over Washington’s schoolchildren.

The Supreme Court made it clear this week that this is not the way our government is supposed to function.  Our state constitution says that a simple majority is required to pass any legislation, and an initiative cannot override the constitution.  This ruling clarifies our responsibilities as legislators and protects the people from what the court called “the tyranny of the minority.”  


Leading the fight against human trafficking

Human trafficking is a serious and widespread problem, and our state has been a leader in the fight to crack down on it and protect victims. In fact, Washington passed 28 laws from 2002 to 2012 to fight human trafficking, modern-day slavery and sexual exploitation of children.  This includes laws prohibiting sex tourism, improving services for human trafficking victims, and creating a task force devoted to human trafficking.  You can read more about this issue and all 28 laws here.

We’re working on  two bills this session to continue the fight:

House Bill 1291 directs fees from impounded vehicles involved in prostitution-related offenses to local governments, which will use them to reduce the commercial sale of sex through more enforcement and rehab services for victims.

House Bill 1292 allows victims of trafficking forced into prostitution to clear their records of related convictions. This bill has already passed the House.  


Coach Carroll pays lawmakers a visit 

coachvisitSeahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll was at the state capitol this week, and the House of Representatives presented him with a resolution congratulating his team on a highly successful season.

He also came  to our House Democratic caucus room, but not to talk about football.  Instead, he shared information about his team’s commitment to community outreach programs that help prevent youth violence and keep communities and neighborhoods safer.  He spoke with great enthusiasm about keeping youth engaged in positive ways so they’re less likely to turn to gangs or violence.

Check out more photos of Coach Carroll’s visit on our House Democrats Facebook page.


Have you heard our new podcast?

There’s a new podcast in the House Democrats audio lineup, and it’s called the House Majority Report.  It’s a weekly, three-to-five minute conversation with a member of the House Democrats’ leadership team about current legislative issues.  New podcasts are released every Friday on our website, or you can subscribe to it on iTunes by searching for Washington State House Majority Report. 


As always, your input is appreciated, so be sure to drop me a line or call my office anytime.

Sincerely,

Blakesig