Published: Friday, May 8, 2009
No tears over lack of special session
Legislators on both sides say they didn't want to be called back for unfinished business.
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature looks finished for this year.
Gov. Chris Gregoire decided Thursday against calling a special session after Democratic leaders of the House and Senate told her they couldn't agree on what bills should be handled if lawmakers did return.
Legislators shed no tears at the decision.
"I did not want to come back. I don't think the public wants us to come back," state Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett said.
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, shared the sentiment.
"It's a good thing. The tendency is when you come back there would be more things to bring up," she said. "All we do is more things and we've done enough."
Lawmakers adjourned in the early hours of April 27 with votes pending in the House on bills dealing with school levies, deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes and revision of sentencing laws.
In both chambers, members were tired and frustrated from a final day of acrimonious floor debate and a session of painful budget cutting.
"A whole bunch of people said we didn't need to and didn't want to come back," recalled Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. "It was a performance we didn't need an encore for."
At the time, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, told the governor they thought they should come back to finish up.
Gregoire told them she wanted agreement beforehand on the bills to be acted on to limit the session to a day or two, not the maximum 30 days allowed in state law. And she said she did not want them renewing debate on legislation the two chambers fought over in the final hours of the regular session.
Chopp and Brown met Wednesday and told Gregoire in a conference call Thursday morning they had no deal.
"It was pretty short. They said they couldn't reach agreement," Gregoire said.
In a joint statement, Chopp and Brown said, "The few issues left on the table in the education and corrections budgets can be taken up when the Legislature next convenes, and after future revenue forecasting provides a clearer picture of the lasting effect of the recession on our state."
It's likely each one had legislation the other didn't desire to consider.
For example, Brown had said she wanted another shot at passing a bill broadening rules of voter-approved Initiative 937 that deals with renewable resources used by power providers. That legislation ignited a fierce battle that ended only when the bill was put down in the session's final hours.
There also was a push to debate a bill to finance renovations at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium and one to impose a fee on oil-producers to clean up polluted streams.
"There were lots of things others wanted to do," Dunshee said.
Having no session carries consequences.
One bill would have provided 78 school districts statewide a chance to go after millions of dollars in approved but uncollected levy revenue. Schools in Snohomish and Island counties could have collected an extra $8.57 million next year from local taxpayers.
That bill also would have drained $60 million from a fund used to equalize levy receipts between districts rich in taxable property and small rural ones that are land poor. Had this occurred, the rural districts would have suffered more greatly.
Now, those districts will be kept whole.
"That's good news," Gregoire said.
The two criminal justice bills would reduce the number of inmates in prisons to save $9 million in Department of Corrections spending. Lawmakers took away the money, but the inmate count won't be dropping so the agency must find other cuts.
Republicans vigorously opposed an extra session with its estimated cost of $20,000 a day and cheered the outcome.
"Republicans have been saying for the past two weeks that we didn't need to come back," Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla said in a statement.
There's still a chance they could be brought back.
The budget passed by the Legislature contains a hefty $820 million in reserves to cover expected declines in revenue until the 2010 session. But if revenues tumble faster than expected and Gregoire must make "drastic cuts" then she said she may bring them back.
The Legislature can order a special session itself. It requires two-thirds of the members in each chamber to support it. Given the composition of the House and Senate that's not likely to happen.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Gov. Chris Gregoire decided Thursday against calling a special session after Democratic leaders of the House and Senate told her they couldn't agree on what bills should be handled if lawmakers did return.
Legislators shed no tears at the decision.
"I did not want to come back. I don't think the public wants us to come back," state Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett said.
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, shared the sentiment.
"It's a good thing. The tendency is when you come back there would be more things to bring up," she said. "All we do is more things and we've done enough."
Lawmakers adjourned in the early hours of April 27 with votes pending in the House on bills dealing with school levies, deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes and revision of sentencing laws.
In both chambers, members were tired and frustrated from a final day of acrimonious floor debate and a session of painful budget cutting.
"A whole bunch of people said we didn't need to and didn't want to come back," recalled Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. "It was a performance we didn't need an encore for."
At the time, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, told the governor they thought they should come back to finish up.
Gregoire told them she wanted agreement beforehand on the bills to be acted on to limit the session to a day or two, not the maximum 30 days allowed in state law. And she said she did not want them renewing debate on legislation the two chambers fought over in the final hours of the regular session.
Chopp and Brown met Wednesday and told Gregoire in a conference call Thursday morning they had no deal.
"It was pretty short. They said they couldn't reach agreement," Gregoire said.
In a joint statement, Chopp and Brown said, "The few issues left on the table in the education and corrections budgets can be taken up when the Legislature next convenes, and after future revenue forecasting provides a clearer picture of the lasting effect of the recession on our state."
It's likely each one had legislation the other didn't desire to consider.
For example, Brown had said she wanted another shot at passing a bill broadening rules of voter-approved Initiative 937 that deals with renewable resources used by power providers. That legislation ignited a fierce battle that ended only when the bill was put down in the session's final hours.
There also was a push to debate a bill to finance renovations at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium and one to impose a fee on oil-producers to clean up polluted streams.
"There were lots of things others wanted to do," Dunshee said.
Having no session carries consequences.
One bill would have provided 78 school districts statewide a chance to go after millions of dollars in approved but uncollected levy revenue. Schools in Snohomish and Island counties could have collected an extra $8.57 million next year from local taxpayers.
That bill also would have drained $60 million from a fund used to equalize levy receipts between districts rich in taxable property and small rural ones that are land poor. Had this occurred, the rural districts would have suffered more greatly.
Now, those districts will be kept whole.
"That's good news," Gregoire said.
The two criminal justice bills would reduce the number of inmates in prisons to save $9 million in Department of Corrections spending. Lawmakers took away the money, but the inmate count won't be dropping so the agency must find other cuts.
Republicans vigorously opposed an extra session with its estimated cost of $20,000 a day and cheered the outcome.
"Republicans have been saying for the past two weeks that we didn't need to come back," Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla said in a statement.
There's still a chance they could be brought back.
The budget passed by the Legislature contains a hefty $820 million in reserves to cover expected declines in revenue until the 2010 session. But if revenues tumble faster than expected and Gregoire must make "drastic cuts" then she said she may bring them back.
The Legislature can order a special session itself. It requires two-thirds of the members in each chamber to support it. Given the composition of the House and Senate that's not likely to happen.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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