By Susanna Ray
Herald Writer
OLYMPIA — With less than two weeks left in the 2002 legislative session and a final bill cutoff looming today, state lawmakers are frantically trying to convince each other to pass their pet measures.
Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is using a different tactic with the Senate in trying to get Highway 99 named after William P. Stewart, a Union soldier who was one of the first black settlers in Snohomish County.
Not once did he or anyone else bring up Jefferson Davis, slavery or racism in Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee. Dunshee carefully alluded to, but avoided mentioning his ultimate goal in passing HJM 4024, which is to get rid of a marker at the Canadian border designating Highway 99 the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway. His contention that the marker wrongly honors a man who, as the Confederate president, stood for slavery and secession, has turned his bill into one of the most controversial of the session.
"There are parts of this larger issue upon which people disagree, but I think we can agree that William P. Stewart, a pioneer in our county and a Civil War veteran, is worth honoring," Dunshee said. "It was drafted with that intent, that this is a positive statement."
In contrast to the hearing the bill got in the House, Thursday’s hearing in the Senate was quick and quiet. Two of Stewart’s relatives from Snohomish County and two leaders of the state’s black community testified briefly on the measure’s behalf, and no one spoke against it, but that may have been because most of the senators hadn’t arrived yet. Only five of 17 committee members were present when the bill was heard.
No action was taken Thursday, and the bill has until today’s cutoff to get out of committee. If it makes it out and is brought to a floor vote in the Senate next week, it will likely pass, Minority Leader Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane, said.
Other bills being considered:
The symbolic support of the Legislature is what brought an Edmonds teen-ager back this session, a year wiser and with a little more help, to push for the creation of a .xxx domain name for Internet pornography sites.
Last year, 16-year-old Paul Hawley got the Senate to pass a measure asking Congress and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to establish the new domain to make it easier for filtering software to detect adult-content sites and keep kids from viewing them. It stalled in the House, about where it is now.
Hawley, who is home-schooled, got involved in the issue after getting a shock when he was looking for the White House’s Web site and landed on a porn site. Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, has sponsored Hawley’s plans with SJM 8007.
"I think if a whole entire state were to back it and say, ‘Hey, this needs to be changed,’ that would show how much it’s needed," Hawley said after testifying Thursday from seven pages of notes.
He’s hoping his extra research will be what’s needed to convince lawmakers this year, but that bill also has only until today’s cutoff to make it, as do two others that deal with helping people filter through unwelcome solicitations.
One bill would require anyone who sends commercial e-mails to put "ADV" at the beginning of the subject line to signify that it’s an advertisement. That would also make it easier for filtering software to keep advertisements out of inboxes. Another would establish a "Do Not Call" list to keep unwanted telephone solicitations at bay.
A bill aimed at controlling the state’s rapidly rising drug costs continues to make its way through the Legislature.
Senate Bill 6368 passed out of a House committee on Thursday. The bill would allow the state to create a "preferred drug list" for Medicaid patients.
From drugs considered essentially equal by a scientific panel, the state would select the cheapest. The state would then use the power of the list to negotiate lower prices with manufacturers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 1-360-586-3803 or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com.
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