Chopp: House will protect teacher pay, trapping ban

Not enough votes for supermajority to override initiatives, House speaker says

DAVID AMMONS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Tuesday, February 26, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Memo from House Speaker Frank Chopp to teachers and varmints: relax.

The Seattle Democrat said Monday the House won't repeal a pair of 2000 initiatives, one guaranteeing teachers an annual pay raise and the other banning most animal trapping.

In both cases, their saving grace will be the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds vote in both houses to overturn an initiative within the first two years after voters approve it.

The Senate voted last week to repeal Initiative 713, which bans the use of body-gripping traps to capture any mammal for recreation or commerce in fur. Also banned are two specific poisons. Backers, including the Humane Society of the United States, argued that such methods are cruel.

The initiative drew nearly 55 percent approval, with 1.3 million votes.

Senate repeals ban

But 38 of 49 senators voted to repeal it. Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, and other initiative foes said the sponsors misled voters with emotional appeals and bad information, without weighing the impact on farming, logging and lawns.

Advocates of repeal said wildlife complaints have soared -- moles tearing up lawns and soccer fields, beavers swamping reforested timber lands, and coyotes snatching lambs and calves from ranchers' fields.

It was the first time either house had voted for complete repeal of a voter initiative.

Opponents of the repeal said voters cast informed ballots and should not be second-guessed by the Legislature.

Chopp told reporters the I-713 repeal legislation is dead in the House. More than one-third of House members, himself included, oppose repeal, meaning the necessary supermajority will be impossible, he said.

Lisa Wathne, director of the HSUS' Pacific Northwest regional office, was delighted.

"We're very happy to hear that the House of Representatives has more respect for the will of the voters than the state Senate does," she said in an interview. "We will still monitor the bill and ask our constituents to contact their members.

"We sent out 16,000 postcards to notify some of our members (about the Senate's repeal vote). The Legislature is hearing from some very angry people."

Her nose count was 45 House members opposed to repeal.

Ed Owens, chairman of Citizens for Responsible Wildlife Management, the main group that opposed I-713, refused to concede defeat.

"I think we're six votes short. It's still an open question. We're not giving up," he said in an interview.

He said opponents also are challenging the initiative in two separate lawsuits.

Chopp also indicated that teachers' scheduled 3.6 percent cost-of-living raise this fall will be safe from the budget-cutters. Voters approved Initiative 732, guaranteeing an annual raise, by 63 percent.

The speaker said House Democrats support teachers and their drive for better pay, but that his main point is that "I don't see us changing the initiative, which requires a two-thirds vote."

He said some school appropriations will be cut, as lawmakers try to fill a $1.6 billion budget hole. Salary increases for about 100,000 state workers and higher education employees may be on the chopping block, he said.

Charles Hasse, president of the Washington Education Association, said the union is pleased with the comment about teacher pay, but still concerned that salaries will be eroded by takebacks in other areas, including health-care costs and salary for three training days per year.

Senate Democrats release the Legislature's first budget draft later this week. Senate Budget Chairwoman Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, says a salary freeze for state workers is being considered, but that the teachers' pay freeze is more difficult because of the two-thirds requirement.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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