WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Mike Sells – Legislative Update, Mar. 1, 2013

House policy committees did not meet this week, but legislators have been busy hearing bills in the House fiscal committees.  Bills must pass out of these committees by Friday, March 1, if they are to remain in play this year – unless they are budget-related.

Starting next week, we’ll be 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. 

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Telephone Town Hall on March 14 at 6 p.m.

Residents of the 38nd Legislative District are invited to participate in Representative Sells, Representative McCoy and Senator Harper’s telephone town hall. 38th Legislative District residents should receive a call around 6:00 PM on March 14. To participate, simply pick up the phone and follow the prompts. The gentlemen will deliver short opening thoughts and then will open up for questions. If you have a questions simply press *3.

If for some reason you don’t receive a call, you can participate by calling 1-877-229-8493 and enter 18646.

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 requirement” 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case began a couple of years ago, borne out of the inability of a simple majority of House legislators to close an outdated tax loophole in our state that only benefitted large, out-of-state banks.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.”

Sequestration hits home

Senator Patty Murray recently paid a visit to the House Democratic caucus here in Olympia, and she didn’t try to sugarcoat the news about the looming sequester and its impact.  The sequester is the automatic cuts to the federal budget that are triggered if Congress does not reach a budget by March 1.  Senator Murray expressed her frustration at the lack of progress towards a deal, and was not hopeful that one would be reached before the deadline.

Unfortunately, her fears were correct and the deadline has passed.  Our state now faces cuts that threaten jobs and family security and hurt some of our most vulnerable citizens.  For example:

  • 160 teacher and aide jobs are at risk as we lose $11.6 million in funding for primary and secondary education
  • 440 low income students in our state won’t receive aid to help them finance the costs of college
  • Approximately 29,000 civilian Department of Defense employees throughout our state face furloughs, resulting in millions of dollars in reduced pay for working families
  • Approximately 1,000 low income children will lose access to critical early childhood education

Our state, and our country, deserves better than this.  Congress must act quickly to undo these damaging cuts before they cause lasting economic damage.

House Page Program

20130228_RepSells_MattJankovic_AnnieJankovic_9748scMatthew and Riannon (Annie) Jankovic, Cascade High School students, served as legislative pages in the Washington State House of Representatives February 25 to March 1. As pages, they observed the legislature in action and were responsible for delivering messages and documents to legislators in their offices, committee meetings and the House Chamber during floor sessions. Several hours were spent learning about the legislative process in Page School.

To become a state House page, applicants must have a legislative sponsor and be between the ages of 14 and 16. Pages are required to hold a grade-point average of C+ or better and written permission from their parents and school. Page applications are available on line at: www.leg.wa.gov/house/hadm/pageform.htm

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