Welcome to Policy Watch 2006

PART II – WEEK FOUR IN OLYMPIA

THE SCENE

For most practical purposes, the 2006 Session is half over. Here’s how it plays out.

During the 9-weeks of a short Session:

the first five weeks are devoted to moving bills through their “house of origin” (House bills through the House, Senate bills through the Senate),
the next roughly three weeks are devoted to moving all surviving bills through the “opposite house” (House bills through the Senate, Senate bills through the House), and,
the last week is used to reconcile differences in bills that differ in their House and Senate versions, and to finish work on the Supplemental Budget.

Given that timetable, and the pressure to act on as many bills as possible, this mid-Session Week Four typically has a killer schedule. There are extra Committee meetings (some lasting till 10:00 pm) crammed into already-full schedules, and staff working practically around-the-clock to keep up with last-minute changes in bills and schedules.

Since the Session Calendar is public knowledge, many citizen groups schedule their Lobby Days for this week. Like the legislators, they know that any bill that isn’t acted on this week is likely DEAD for this year. So – into the brew of a hectic schedule and sleep deprivation, mix in literally thousands of citizens descending on the Capitol to make their wishes known to their Senators and Representatives.

This week on one day alone several thousand additional people came to the Capitol: some 2,000 participants in Asian/Pacific Islander Day, 200+ for a Housing Advocacy Day, and a wide range of smaller groups ranging from the Washington Association of Diabetes Educators, to a group of Habitat for Humanity Executive Directors from around the state.

These lobby day participants didn’t come just to observe or admire the beautiful buildings, they came to tell their representatives how they wished to be represented. After all, that’s our job as members of a representative democracy. And their presence was felt throughout the Capitol campus. Most days our legislators can expect visits from lobbyists for farming, forestry and fisheries, for businesses large and small, for universities, local governments and labor unions.

But most days legislators are not likely to be visited by the growing ranks of people who don’t have a stable place to live, who work day-labor jobs and can’t afford high rents, or who stay in domestic violence shelters to escape their abusers. Legislators aren’t even very likely to be visited by the people who volunteer in, or staff, the shelters that have sprung up to fill the gaps created when housing prices outrun local wages: those people are too busy running shelters and scrounging for food, bedding, or other basic supplies. It just isn’t all that common for legislators to find they have appointments that include not only bankers and housing developers but current shelter residents, former subsidized housing residents, people needing low-cost housing that accommodates their disabilities, or community college students who are living in their cars.

But this week they did. From 40 of the state’s 49 Legislative Districts people poured into Olympia to talk about the need for more affordable housing.

This week a Committee Hearing dealing with affordable housing (House Bill 2418) was so full that staff not only had to stop people from trying to enter the Hearing Room, they had to put the “sign-in sheets” out in the corridor to accommodate the many, many citizens wishing to indicate their support for the bill. This week it would have been impossible for Committee members - or just about anyone - to get through the day without hearing from constituents about the need for more affordable housing in communities large and small, urban and rural, all across the state. (In addition to providing funds for some of the backlog of affordable housing projects just waiting to be renovated or built, HB 2418 has special Set-Asides for people with developmental disabilities, migrant farm-worker housing, domestic violence shelters, and more.)

Not only was the Hearing Room jammed, in the floors above the Hearing Rooms the individual Representative’s offices were also feeling the sheer crush of people. Most have very small offices – big enough for 4 or 5 visitors at a time, but not big enough to hold a dozen or more -- so all the corridors were crowded. That meant meetings spilled out of office doorways… into narrow corridors…. The people and their issues were impossible to ignore. A thirteen-year old who came with her father said she’d come to speak up for all the kids who didn’t have a place to live. As she explained to a room full of adults, “…that isn’t right … there shouldn’t be any kids who are homeless.”

Rules Committee Action – Next Stop

Once the Fiscal Committees complete their work on “house of origin” bills on February 7, the action shifts to the House and Senate Chambers for a week of Floor Action on all surviving bills.

But to get out to the House or Senate Floor, bills that found enough common ground to make it out of a Policy and/or Fiscal Committee in the House or Senate must first pass one more hurdle: the powerful House and Senate RULES COMMITTEES.

“Rules” is in a category all by itself. Sometimes referred to as “the Gatekeeper,” Rules Committee members get to decide which bills will be scheduled for action on the House or Senate floor. As a result, seats on “Rules” are much coveted, and tend to go to more senior members – including some Chairs of other Committees.

The House and Senate Rules Committees differ from the policy committees in several ways.

They are bigger (the House Rules Committee has 19 members, Senate Rules has 20).
They give added weight to the majority party. Whereas the makeup of policy committees reflects the ratio of Democrats to Republicans in the body overall, the Rules Committee gives a few extra seats to whichever party is in the majority – tipping the balance in their favor.
Their Chairs are drawn from the leadership: the Speaker of the House of Representatives chairs the House Rules Committee, and the Lieutenant Governor chairs the Senate Rules Committee – even if s/he is not from the same party as the party holding a majority of seats in the Senate.
They have their own, unique process. They meet in rooms with very limited (usually no) space for the public. The times and topics of their meetings are often spur-of-the-moment: the Chairs just spread the word that the Committee will be gathering at x hour, or a board with the next meeting time will be posted near the cafeteria. And members of the public do not get to testify before Rules (House Rules will sometimes allow testimony from Committee Chairs; Senate Rules does not even allow that).

Voting in the Rules Committees

Because there are usually more bills than there is Floor time, the Rules Committees have a ruthless winnowing process. They work from two lists: a WHITE SHEET for bills when they are first sent to Rules, and a GREEN SHEET that lists bills “pulled” from the white sheet.

The Rules Committee Chair decides how many “pulls,” or choices, each Committee member will get from a list of all the bills that have made it to the Rules Committee. The first time they poll the members, each decides which bills s/he wants pulled from the White Sheet to the Green Sheet. At this point there is no discussion, no voting.

The next time, each Rules Committee Member indicates which bill(s) they want pulled from theGreen Sheet to go to the floor. In Senate Rules there’s a brief discussion, in House Rules a Committee Chair may sometimes speak about the bill. In both cases the brief discussion is followed by a vote. Bills pulled to the green sheet are eligible to go out to the floor.

Despite this elaborate process, it is not uncommon for bills to die in the Rules Committee. Occasionally the Committee just runs out of time, or, sometimes the Chair decides a bill should not come to a vote and decides to “sit” on a bill in Rules – effectively killing it.

In some cases Rules Committee members will group several bills together to go to the floor and be voted on in a block, other times a bill that fails to get a majority slips back to the White Sheet for another try. Some other procedural things can happen... but this is the basic drill for bills heading to Floor Action.

If a bill you care about has been sent to the Rules Committee... that is a good sign; it means the bill has a chance to come to a vote on the House or Senate Floor. It just has to get out of Rules.

PRACTICAL TIP

Because they don’t hold Public Hearings, the Rules Committees are less accessible than either policy or fiscal Committees. But Rules Committee members can be lobbied like any other members. This time of year it is a common to see them with index cards or notepads at the ready, jotting down the bill numbers their constituents and lobbyists want “pulled” the next time the Rules Committee meets.

You can get your bill on that card/notepad. If your Senator or Representative sits on the Rules Committee, they – and you – can have a lot of influence at this time of year. Tell them which bills you care about. (If your legislators don’t sit on the Rules Committee, ask your legislators to contact them for you.) Either way - they are just a Toll-Free call away: 1-800-562-6000.

The SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET

With the shift to Floor Action, there is no public action scheduled on the Supplemental Budget next week. Nonetheless it remains on everyone’s minds.

On February 16 the State Revenue Forecast will be available, followed soon by the Senate’s version of the budget (House and Senate alternate from year to year). But as one Senator told a group of visitors this week, people from his District have been asking him to champion certain items in the budget since early January; his list is already full. He even singled out a Lutheran pastor from his District for special praise – said he’d been the first to make clear what he wanted the Senator to do during the budget process.

Like that pastor, anyone concerned about an issue that requires new spending (e.g., those wishing to see children’s health coverage expanded, or more money for low-cost housing) needs to convey that ASAP to their Representatives and Senators.

** SNAPSHOTS -- Observations From some First-time Visitors to Olympia :

“I expected to feel intimidated… but they were all so nice. All preconceptions of intimidation left me …; I am so glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and actually went.”

“I thought that talking to my legislators would be difficult but I was wrong. My Representative was very thoughtful and respectful toward the opinions and/or questions that we had.”

“I even thought the legislators were going to be mean when responding to me, but they were not. They were actually very respectful. …. It was one of the most empowering experiences that I have had….”

“I came to Olympia for someone in the legislature to pay attention to my community… and I met my goal.”

“ I thought… that my legislators would be too busy to be meeting with people like me…. But my Representative was very welcoming. He listened and seemed interested with our concerns. After visiting Olympia and meeting with a few of the legislators, my concept of government has changed. People, no matter what race, age, and class are welcomed. Olympia is not only for professionals but for everyone.”

“ We did not have an appointment but we were able to squeeze into his tight schedule. … I was surprised that legislators were very willing to talk to us… very open to answering our questions … and wanted to hear what we wanted to say.”

“It was a wonderful experience to be in the state capitol and get a chance to talk to legislators. I didn’t expect it to be so easy. I thought that I would have to go through a very long step and screenings to meet the legislators. Although the building seemed very formal, the employees and the procedure were easy. It was a very welcome and friendly environment. I want to go again.”

** USEFUL TERM: JOINT MEMORIAL.

In addition to regular bills there are also House and Senate “Joint Memorials.” Typically these are measures that call on the U.S. Congress to take some specific action the state cannot take on its own. They don’t have the force of law, but they go through the same process as any other bill – Committee Hearings and Executive Session, Rules Committee action and Floor votes. Two got attention this week.

HJM 4038 asks Congress to certify diabetes educators as Medicare providers, and to give them a seat at the table when decisions regarding diabetes treatment are being decided.

HJM 4033 asks Congress to let the states to decide whether marijuana should be used legally for medicinal purposes.

Both House Joint Memorials passed out of Committee this week and are now in the House Rules Committee, waiting to be scheduled for Floor Action. (More next week about a Senate Joint Resolution – SJR 8201 – a slightly different vehicle, which in this case had a different fate.)

ON-GOING: BY NOW you should have taken these two easy actions

Sign up to get regular legislative alerts from an advocacy group that monitors the issue(s) you care most about. (One list is in PART III of POLICY WATCH; if that list doesn’t have what you are looking for, ask your friends, neighbors, co-workers – or google.) Those who write the alerts monitor what is happening and will tell you when your voice is needed. Most will offer a “sample message” you can put in your own words. You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to care about an issue, and talk about it from your own experience.

Promise yourself you will try to make a call or send a note or email once each week about one of the issues in the Legislative Alert you are receiving. With the state’s TOLL-FREE LINE (1-800-562-6000) you can leave a brief message for your Senator, your 2 Representatives, and the Governor – all in just a matter of minutes. 1 call or message a week for the next 7 weeks, and you can have an impact on the policies that affect your life. Pretty cool. (PART III of PW has lots of handy information to help you get, and stay, involved.)

REMINDER :

House Bill numbers begin with 1, 2, or 3;

Senate Bill numbers begin with 5 or 6.

Thus a bill identified as SB 6264 is the 1,264th Senate Bill introduced in the session; HB 1058 would be the 58th bill introduced in the House. More recent bills have higher numbers.

KEEP the LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR IN MIND .

The 2006 Legislative Session in Olympia runs from January 9 – March 10. Every day – including Saturdays, Sundays, and all holidays – is counted in setting the 60-day Session. The legislature may also be in session on weekends later in the Session. The “cut-off dates” below control the action on bills. Bills that fail to get the requisite action before “cut-off” usually die.

…here are several critical points in the 2006 Session:

1/09 – 2006 Session begins.
2/03 – last day for bills to be considered in the Policy Committees of the House/Senate - where they originate (a.k.a. "house of origin")
2/7 – last day for bill consideration in the Fiscal Committee (House or Senate) where they originate
2/14 – last day for bills to be considered on the floor in their “house of origin”
2/24 – last day for bills consideration in the Policy Committees of the "opposite house"
2/27 – last day for bill consideration in the Fiscal Committees of the "opposite house"
3/03 – last day for bill to be considered on the floor of the opposite house
3/10 – 2006 Session adjourns for the year.

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