Partisan maneuvering clogs Senate

GOP plus one Democrat win more time to scrutinize bills

PAUL QUEARY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Wednesday, February 20, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Senate action slowed to a tortured crawl Tuesday as minority Republicans and a single Democrat seized control, prompting the remaining Democrats to resort to a series of stalling tactics.

Lawmakers faced a 5 p.m. deadline to pass bills out of the Senate and send them to the House. The cutoff normally prompts a rapid-fire succession of bill passages. But with less than three hours remaining, the 24-member GOP minority and Sen. Tim Sheldon successfully exempted a package of pro-business bills from the cutoff.

Sheldon, D-Potlatch, often joins Republican lawmakers on bills relating to business. With him, the GOP has an impromptu 25-vote majority.

"It's imperative that we be able to consider these bills so we can start to do something to address the business climate in the state of Washington," said Senate Minority Leader Jim West, R-Spokane.

On a 25-24 vote, Republicans and Sheldon gave the Senate more time to consider bills that would: limit state agencies' power to adopt rules; require the governor's specific approval for all rules; delay the effect of significant rules until lawmakers could review them for a full legislative session; make challenging agency rules easier; and exempt some types of financial businesses from the state's business and occupation tax.

The bills had been about to die in committee.

"Some of these need a lot more scrutiny," said Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach.

The informal majority also tried unsuccessfully to overturn several close votes from previous days. The Republican-Sheldon alliance was hindered at every step by the temporary Democratic minority, which used a variety of procedural motions to slow debate.

Sen. Betti Sheldon, who isn't related to Tim Sheldon, assumed the role of minority gadfly with apparent relish. Normally the Democrats' floor leader, she demanded lengthy roll-call votes on every motion and amendment, leaving the chamber ringing with the monotonous recitation of all of the names in the 49-member Senate, from Benton to Zarelli.

Delayed action

In the process, action on several bills sponsored by Democratic members was delayed until after the deadline, effectively killing them.

"I guess they're willing to burn down their bills in order to stop competition for businesses," said Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver.

Sheldon, D-Bremerton, said most of the Democrats' priorities had already been approved.

"It's a little frustrating when you're in the majority to lose the majority," she said. "Members just thought, 'Well, why not flex our limited repertoire of muscles?' "

The maze of motions and maneuvers became so complex that even Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who usually presides over the Senate with a master's command of its procedure, pronounced himself befuddled.

"It may be midnight before I figure this all out," said Owen as he tried to sort out three competing motions.

But at 4:59 p.m., both sides suddenly dropped the fight for a standard-issue debate over a bill that would mandate more stringent statewide rules for food-service business.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, but supported by nearly all of the Senate's Republicans. Several Democrats protested that the change would trump counties that already impose strict health standards, and pushed through an amendment allowing waivers for such counties.

Senate Bill 6588 passed 29-20 and now moves to the House.

Before the Sheldon-Republican takeover, the Senate also passed:

-Senate Bill 6076, by Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, giving officers of the Department of Fish and Wildlife broader authority to issue citations and make arrests. Such officers are now limited to enforcing fish and wildlife matters unless a crime occurs in the officer's presence. Supporters argued that the officers would provide a needed law enforcement presence in remote rural areas. Opponents worried that the change might give the officers too much power and cost the state money by eventually allowing them into the state's more generous pension system for law enforcement officers. The bill passed 25-24.

-Senate Bill 6568, by Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, requiring senders of commercial e-mails to include the letters "ADV" in the subject line to help people filter out such messages. The bill passed 49-0 and now goes to the House.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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