OLYMPIA – Legislative Democrats, blessed with bulging new majorities, are carving up the committee turf, expanding the panels to provide more leadership slots and shuffling assignments to give a fresh look to the Capitol.
One senior House Democrat, Jim McIntire, a Seattle liberal who is a leading advocate for tax reform, has been edged out of the plum chairmanship of the House Finance Committee, and figures his advocacy role is to blame.
A number of relatively junior members have risen to the top – including Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, as head of the influential House Transportation Committee, and freshman Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, as vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee in charge of the operating budget.
Some new Democratic senators who haven’t served a day in the upper chamber are stepping directly into vice chairmanships, including Ed Murray of Seattle – a veteran of the state House – on transportation. Newly minted Democrat Rodney Tom of Medina will have two vice chairmanships as his reward for switching parties and dumping a Republican incumbent. Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor, who picked up a seat previously held by the Republicans, also will serve as vice chairman of two committees.
Newcomers Brian Hatfield of Raymond, Eric Oemig of Kirkland, Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens, Claudia Kauffman of Kent and Chris Marr of Spokane also get vice chairmanships.
House Democrats have revamped the appropriations panel and brought in some new blood, but leaders insist it wasn’t a slap at longtime Chairwoman Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, the dean of the Legislature.
Other committees have been rejiggered and new ones have been created. Some high-demand panels, such as Senate Ways and Means, have been expanded.
The majority party in each house gets to decide the committee structure, including the number of seats each party gets. The committees are where much of the Legislature’s work is accomplished, including public hearings and markup sessions on bills before they are considered by the full chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said Friday that the new committee structure and smart assignments will contribute to an efficient and effective session. Education, health care and economic development are key issues, she said.
“We’re talking about getting our work done in 105 days and going home,” said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.
The new session convenes on Jan. 8 and is limited to 15 weeks unless overtime is called.
Brown and Kessler said their caucuses have increased the number of committees and committee slots somewhat to accommodate the newly enlarged Democratic majorities. In the House, Democrats will have a 56-42 edge and in the Senate, 32-17.
“With those sheer numbers, we wanted to expand the opportunities for our people, especially those who had been here a while,” Kessler said.
There was healthy competition for some posts, with 10 lawmakers vying for House Transportation, she said. She and Brown said virtually all Democrats got their top committee request.
One casualty of the reorganization is McIntire. He said the key reason he lost the Finance Committee chairmanship was his unstinting advocacy of a state income tax. Ross Hunter of Medina will take over the post.
“The fact of the matter is that he is very passionate about the income tax, but when you’re a chair, you speak for the caucus,” Kessler said. “God love him, he’s probably right, but the population isn’t there. He’s a very capable guy, but sometimes leadership is for some people and not for others. It’s a difficult position.”
Senate budget Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle, said the Senate also declines to spend time dealing with a controversial subject that isn’t going anywhere.
In the House, appropriations will have two new subcommittees, one on education financing headed by Kathy Haigh of Shelton and another on government efficiency and accountability headed by Kelli Linville of Bellingham.
Appropriations Vice Chairman Bill Fromhold of Vancouver is switching jobs with the construction budget chairman, Hans Dunshee of Snohomish. Both agreed to the swap, Kessler said, with Dunshee seeing his new post as the inside track to the chairmanship when Sommers retires, and Fromhold happy to become full chairman of a committee.
Clibborn, who succeeds Murray in the House, is popular with Democrats and Republicans alike and has a zeal for transportation, hailing from the congested Puget Sound region, Kessler said.
Sam Hunt, Olympia, is leaving the post of floor leader to become a chairman, heading State Government and Tribal Affairs.
Phyllis Kenney, Seattle, leaves the higher education chairmanship to head the trade committee. She is succeeded by Deb Wallace of Vancouver. Dave Upthegrove, also Seattle, will head the new Puget Sound committee. Steve Kirby of Tacoma becomes chairman of the Insurance and Financial Institutions panel and Brian Sullivan of Mukilteo is at Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Mark Miloscia of Federal Way will head the Housing Committee and Geoff Simpson of Covington the Local Government panel.
Vice chairmen will be named next week. Republicans have appointed a ranking member for each committee.
In the Senate, a new Higher Education panel was created and will be headed by Paull Shin of Mukilteo. Darlene Fairley moves to the chairmanship of Governmental Operations and Elections, succeeding Jim Kastama of Puyallup, who will head the trade committee. Jean Berkey of Everett will head Financial Institutions.
Brian Weinstein of Mercer Island will head the new Consumer Affairs and Housing Committee.
Democrats’ legislative power brokers
Here are chairmen and ranking members of House and Senate committees in the Washington Legislature. All chairmen, chairwomen, vice chairmen and vice chairwomen are Democrats; ranking members are all Republicans:
HOUSE COMMITTEES
* Agriculture and Natural Resources: chairman, Brian Sullivan; ranking minority member, Joel Kretz.
* Appropriations: chairwoman, Helen Sommers; vice chairman, Hans Dunshee; ranking, Gary Alexander. Subcommittee on education, Kathy Haigh. Subcommittee on general government and audit review, Kelli Linville.
* Capital Budget: chairman, Bill Fromhold, ranking, Joyce McDonald.
* Commerce and Labor: chairman, Steve Conway; ranking, Cary Condotta.
* Early Learning and Children’s Services: chairwoman, Ruth Kagi; ranking, Larry Haler.
* Economic and Community Development and Trade: chairwoman, Phyllis Kenney; ranking, Barbara Bailey.
* Education: chairman, Dave Quall; ranking, Skip Priest.
* Finance: chairman, Ross Hunter; ranking Ed Orcutt.
* Health Care and Wellness: chairwoman, Eileen Cody; ranking, Bill Hinkle.
* Higher Education: chairwoman, Deb Wallace; ranking, Glenn Anderson.
* Housing: chairman, Mark Miloscia; ranking, Jim Dunn.
* Human Services: chairwoman, Mary Lou Dickerson; ranking, John Ahern.
* Insurance, Financial Services and Consumer Protection: chairman, Steve Kirby; ranking, Dan Roach.
* Judiciary: chairwoman, Pat Lantz; ranking, Jay Rodne.
* Local Government: chairman, Geoff Simpson; ranking, Richard Curtis.
* Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: chairman, Al O’Brien; ranking, Kirk Pearson.
* Rules: chairman, Frank Chopp; ranking, Richard DeBolt.
* Select Committee on Puget Sound: chairman, Dave Upthegrove; ranking, Bob Sump.
* State Government and Tribal Affairs: chairman, Sam Hunt; ranking, Bruce Chandler.
* Technology, Energy and Communications: chairman, Jeff Morris; ranking, Larry Crouse.
* Transportation: chairwoman, Judy Clibborn; ranking, Fred Jarrett.
SENATE COMMITTEES
* Agriculture &Rural Economic Development: chairwoman, Marilyn Rasmussen; vice chairman, Brian Hatfield. Ranking members not yet named.
* Consumer Protection &Housing: chairman, Brian Weinstein; vice chairwoman, Claudia Kauffman.
* Early Learning and K-12 Education: chairwoman, Rosemary McAuliffe; vice chairman, Rodney Tom.
* Financial Institutions &Insurance: chairwoman, Jean Berkey, vice chairman, Steve Hobbs.
* Governmental Operations &Elections: chairwoman, Darlene Fairley; vice chairman, Eric Oemig.
* Health &Long-term Care: chairwoman, Karen Keiser; vice chairwoman, Rosa Franklin.
* Higher Education: chairman, Paull Shin; vice chairman, Derek Kilmer.
* Human Services &Corrections: chairman, Jim Hargrove; vice chairwoman, Debbie Regala.
* International Trade, Economic Development &Quality Management: chairman, Jim Kastama; vice chairman, Derek Kilmer.
* Judiciary: chairman, Adam Kline; vice chairman, Rodney Tom.
* Labor, Commerce, Research &Development: chairwoman, Jeanne Kohl-Welles; vice chairwoman, Karen Keiser.
* Natural Resources, Ocean &Recreation: chairman, Ken Jacobsen; vice chairman, Phil Rockefeller.
* Transportation: chairwoman, Mary Margaret Haugen; vice chairmen, Ed Murray and Chris Marr.
* Water, Energy &Environment: chairman, Erik Poulsen; vice chairman Phil Rockefeller.
* Ways and Means: chairwoman, Margarita Prentice; vice chairman for operating budget, Craig Pridemore; vice chairwoman for capital budget, Karen Fraser.
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