Published by JD Rossetti in The Rebel on January 19, 2018
The 2018 session of the Washington State Legislature began Monday, January 8. It’s a short 60-day session and Democrats currently have narrow majorities in the state House and Senate.
Thanks to Senator Manka Dhingra’s victory in the 45th District special election for the Senate, Democrats now have a one-vote majority in the Senate, as well as a narrow majority in the House.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee delivered the annual State of the State address, where he called on lawmakers to pass a capital budget and a carbon plan to boost education spending and “fight against climate change and the damaging health effects of carbon pollution.” The governor’s carbon plan is similar to his past proposals including measures aimed at helping displaced workers. Industries that are Energy Intensive Trade Exposed would be exempted. Whether there are enough
votes to support legislative action remains unknow.
Another top priority of the Democratic Majority is passing the Washington Voting Rights Act. Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) sponsored the Washington Voting Rights Act as Senate Bill 6002, which is designed to help cities, counties, school boards, and other local elected bodies voluntarily adopt changes to their elections system. The policy changes are designed to improve representation in local elections. Different versions of the WVRA have passed the House for five straight years but had been blocked by the Republican controlled Senate. Action is expected on this bill, which is strongly supported by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Democrats are rumored to be planning to adjourn a day early. Cut-off deadlines will quickly expire this session. Legislative proposals only have a few short weeks to pass through committee before heading to the floor. Run lists and floor votes are expected as early as next week, the second week of session.
If you are interested in following what’s going on, check out the Washington State Legislative website at leg.wa.gov. Most public hearings and floor action in the House and Senate can also be viewed online at tvw.org. The Stand at thestand.org is an email publication brought to you by the Washington State Labor Council.
Sincerely,
JD Rossetti
Legislative Director, Washington Area Council, AWPPW