WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

House OKs Moeller proposals covering a variety of issues

State Rep. Jim Moeller and other lawmakers are hurrying toward a midnight Thursday, March 13, deadline for completing the business of the 2014 Legislature.

In just the past couple of days, Moeller has won support in the House of Representatives for four of his prime-sponsored bills. These proposals deal with very different subjects.

House Bill 1005, which passed by a 97-0 vote, is a measure that Moeller for many years has maintained “will make it easier for citizens to follow the money trail.” Moeller said that the legislation will provide speedier, more convenient public access to information about the political dealings of lobbyists.

“This bill would require lobbyists, their employers, and the public agencies to electronically file their lobbying reports with our Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC),” Moeller stated. “In terms of accountability for lobbyists, you might well call this legislation the final public-information brick in our PDC wall. We need this comprehensive, searchable system of e-reporting. This is all about transparency in the work and activities of lobbyists. This legislation will make it easier for Washington citizens to follow up on — and keep account of — the money trail.”

House Bill 1027, which passed by a 98-0 vote, implements changes to the child- support schedule — “changes based on the recommendations from a work group that took a very close look at this issue.

“Over the last several years,” Moeller said, “I have worked with a dedicated group of agency personnel, judges, custodial parents and non-custodial parents who have endeavored very hard to create a fair and equitable child-support schedule.

“This legislation is the result of their efforts. The current table was put in place 30 years ago and no one seems to know the source of the data. It is past time to update this important economic table as it affects so many lives.”

Moeller’s child-support legislation:

  • Adopts a new child-support economic table that doesn’t differentiate amounts based on the children’s ages.
  • Requires an adjustment of the standard calculation based on “children not before the court.”
  • Amends the postsecondary educational support statute to, among other things, require that the court consider grants or scholarships awarded to the child.
  • Clarifies the self-support reserve limitation on the amount of child support ordered.

House Bill 1838, which passed by a 76-22 vote, concerns surname-changes after the solemnization of a marriage.

Moeller said that “this is a constituent-driven bill. Last fall, I was approached by a gentleman who lives in my district and said he attended a wedding in Oregon where the groom changed his name to his wife’s name. As he was planning his own wedding, he learned that Washington does not allow the groom to change his name on a marriage certificate.  As you know there are many reasons why a person might wish to change his or her name. It can be an emotional issue, or it might even be a good financial move.

“Changing a name on a marriage certificate does not require extra fees,” Moeller explained. “But if you’re forced to petition the court you must pay the extra fee, which varies greatly from county to county.  This bill would change this process and allow for either party to change his or her name on the marriage certificate.”

House Bill 2639, which passed by a 66-31 vote, involves the state’s purchasing of treatment services for people who have issues involving mental health and chemical dependency.

Moeller said the legislation “integrates chemical-dependency treatment and mental-health services. Our state needs to move away from the fee-for-service purchasing of chemical-dependency treatment, which has been underfunded.

“I have been a chemical-dependency counselor for more than 25 years,” Moeller said. “We need to create systems involving mental health, physical health, and chemical dependency that work together in the same regions and along the same timelines. One in 17 Americans suffers from a serious mental illness. Almost half of homeless adults suffer from mental-illness and substance-abuse issues. We need to maximize our delivery systems and this bill does that.”

Each of these four Moeller bills is awaiting further discussion in a Senate standing committee.