Odd-year elections, guns at the Capitol, the death penalty

2020 Washington Legislature, Day 24 of 60

Everett Herald political reporter Jerry Cornfield: jcornfield@heraldnet.com | @dospueblos

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OLYMPIA, Feb. 5, 2020 — Welcome to Wednesday.

With policy cutoff less than 72 hours away, loads of bills are getting voted out of committees. But the one to eliminate elections in odd-numbered years is not one of them. It’s dead, for now. There’s always next year.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders of the House and Senate met with reporters Tuesday. Here are a few tidbits from the confab:

• The Capitol Campus will not become a firearms-free zone this year. A bill to make it so arrived too late in the session to receive a thorough vetting and debate, according to House Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig. They fully expect it will get a serious look in 2021 because lawmakers were unsettled last Friday when armed demonstrators showed up to protest the treatment of Republican Rep. Matt Shea.

• House Democrats are expected to chat today about what they want to do, or can do, about Shea, Jinkins said. “It will certainly be a partial decision,” she said. While most in the caucus want to expel him, they need votes of at least nine Republicans to reach the two-thirds required for such action. Maybe a censure?

• Repeal of the state’s death penalty law could happen this session, though it’s not guaranteed. The Senate keeps passing a bill to eliminate it, but House Democrats then don’t bring it to the floor. “I’m open to it going to the floor,” said Jinkins, who has said she backs its erasure from the books.

• A clean fuel standard has passed the House. Its path for success in the Senate is unclear, and Billig didn’t offer any clarity. In 2019, Sen. Steve Hobbs bottled it up in the transportation committee on which he serves as chairman. Hobbs doesn’t like it any better in 2020. Billig acknowledged “it’s unlikely” a bill will move if the chair is opposed.

• Finally, there’s a hearing today on Hobbs’ Forward Washington transportation package. It spans 15 years and calls for $17.2 billion in spending. It would raise the bulk of money from carbon fees, the gas tax and/or cap-and-trade. While it “may not pass this year,” Billig said, a full-bodied transportation investment is something the Legislature will eventually “have to do.”

What we’re writing and reading

• Iowa caucus chaos has Washington Democrats feeling brilliant for switching to a presidential primary, writes Melissa Santos for Crosscut.

• On the run from Hamas, he’s now accused of nose-job fraud, reports Zachariah Bryan of The Herald.

• After President Trump addresses the nation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rips up the speech. AP’s Jonathan Lemire reports on the State of the Union.

• Seattle Times’ Mike Lindblom writes about legislative efforts to remove “congestion relief” and “improved freight mobility” from the state’s transportation goals.

What’s happening

• It’s Dairy Day at the Capitol. Cows won’t be roaming the halls, but I suspect you’ll be able to find some milk under the Dome.

• Republican leaders of the House and Senate will meet with reporters at 2:30 p.m.

• President Trump’s impeachment trial is supposed to end today with his acquittal by the U.S. Senate. Trump foes are organizing demonstrations on street corners around the state under the banner “Reject the Cover-up!”

• Democrats are trying again to rid ballots of those non-binding tax advisory votes. There were a dozen on the November ballot. Senate Bill 6610 will receive a hearing at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate state government committee. This bill eliminates the advisory votes and creates a task force to figure out “how best to gather and report public input on legislation with significant fiscal impact.”

Here’s today’s lineup of committee meetings.

Legislative agendas, schedules and calendars

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