Hello Defender!
Thank you to all who plan to follow our legislative updates during this last week of Session. We have recently completed installation of a new software program that has enabled us to provide you with an improved model when interacting with the legislative process. You will see ongoing changes in the formatting of our reports through the remainder of this year. Please feel free to share with us your likes and dislikes.
HB 1589 RESPONSE NEEDED BY: IMMEDIATELY
HB 1589 — This bill would prohibit gas companies from connecting natural gas lines to new construction. Even worse, gas companies will no longer be obligated to provide natural gas service to existing customers. We are encouraging every one to write a very brief note to your district legislators asking them to please do everything within their power to kill this bill. You can also note in your email that this bill would require homeowners currently using gas to undergo unaffordable conversions to electricity within their homes, overburden our electrical grid, and unjustly benefit PSE with even greater profits. To equip yourself with more arguments, see the video below. Use the CON button to find your district and legislators, complete the contact information, register your opposition to this bill, and provide any written comments you wish to convey.
A DAY TO CELEBRATE
On Monday, March 4, 2024, the House and Senate approved three citizen-driven initiatives. These are Initiative 2081, which establishes a parents’ bill of rights; Initiative 2111, which prohibits state and local income taxes; and Initiative 2113, which restores vehicular police pursuits. The initiatives are immune to alteration by lawmakers, and the governor has no authority to veto them. Therefore, with approval from both chambers, each initiative will become state law in 90 days.
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, the author of all three proposals, issued the following statement regarding their passage by the Legislature:
“This is a great day for everyone in Washington. Leave the politics aside and look at the policy fixes we just voted into law. Restoring reasonable police pursuits of criminals and criminal suspects will lower crime rates. Establishing parental notification rights will support healthier and happier kids — and better school performance. And codifying Washington’s longstanding tradition of opposing any state tax on personal income will help working families and local economies.
“When common-sense conservative policies lead the way, things get better for everyone. I’m grateful for the bipartisan support they’ve received. Working together, we’re fixing what’s broken in Washington. This is just the start, of course. There’s much more work to do. Other problems to fix.”
As part of that work, the legislature should consider a constitutional amendment regarding the income tax, so citizens can be confident future lawmakers won’t repeal the ban or push an income tax again in two years. Consider the fact that Initiative 2111 got 446,000 signatures, over 120,000 more than required. Furthermore, voters have rejected a state income tax 10 times, most recently in 2010 by a crushing 64%. In all, 28 cities and counties have passed local income tax bans.
Six initiatives were introduced this session, but only three have been passed. Consequently, the November ballot will include the other three citizen-driven initiatives. Those are:
- I-2117 | Repealing the carbon tax
- I-2124 | Opting out of the state long-term care program and payroll tax
- I-2109 | Repealing the capital gains tax
A total of 27 Democratic representatives voted against at least one of the three initiatives. Nine representatives: Emily Alvarado, Liz Berry, Frank Chopp, Darya Farivar, Nicole Macri, Sharlett Mena, Melanie Morgan, Gerry Pollet, and Julia Reed voted against all three initiatives that were heard on the House floor. Another 11 voted against two of the three initiatives. Considering these Democrats refused to give three of the initiatives a public hearing, these 20 legislators opposed the peoples will on 5 or 6 of the initiatives. The six certified initiatives sponsored by Let’s Go Washington have all been certified. The Legislature has three options: (1) Adopt the initiative as proposed, making it a law without being placed on the ballot. (2) Alternatively, they can reject or choose not to act on the initiative, leading to its placement on the ballot during the next general election. Voters would approve or disapprove. (3) Another possibility is for the Legislature to propose a different bill addressing the same subject; in that case, both measures would be included on the ballot, and voters would decide.
On Monday, March 4, the House and Senate passed three of the initiatives: I-2113 (police pursuit), I-2111 (income tax ban), and I-2081 (parental rights). These will become law in 90 days. Unfortunately, they have refused to hold hearings on the remaining three: I-2117 (carbon tax repeal), I-2109 (capital gains tax repeal), and I-2124 (LCT tax repeal).
Based upon these results, I believe our write-in campaign to committee members has been 50% effective. Let’s flood the three committees who said they will not hold a hearing with emails and see if we can change their mind in these last few days before Session concludes.
We have updated our links so that each button will create an email page with each committee member listed. Simply type in the number of the initiative in the ‘Subject’ line and then type a two or three sentence message to the legislators.
I-2109: Repeal the capital gains tax. Send an email to all members of the House Finance Committee and the Senate Ways & Means Committee to demand prompt hearings be scheduled in accordance with our state constitution.
I-2117: Stop the hidden gas tax. Send an email to all members of the House Environment & Energy Committee and the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee to demand prompt hearings be scheduled in accordance with our state constitution.
I-2124: Opt out of the state-run Long-Term Care Coverage Act. Send an email to all members of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee and the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee to demand prompt hearings be scheduled in accordance with our state constitution.
HB 1589 initially dropped last year after Puget Sound Energy (P.S.E.) — the primary provider of natural gas and electricity in our state — lobbied to limit gas supplies in order to comply with the Clean Energy Transformation Act. Fortunately, thanks to lobbying efforts by the Building Industry Association of Washington, Avista, and the Washington Hospitality Association, the bill died in the Senate. Unfortunately, those in favor of this legislation, specifically Governor Inslee and bill sponsor Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, returned this year more determined than ever to push this bill through.
This bill would prohibit gas companies from connecting new natural gas lines to new construction. Even worse, gas companies will no longer be obligated to provide natural gas service to existing customers.
As it stands now, this legislation would impact utility companies serving 500,000+ customers in Washington. P.S.E. customers would be the only one’s affected for now; however, you can be sure this will eventually impact the majority of the state.
How does this impact our followers? If you are a customer of P.S.E. and you heat your home with a gas furnace or gas fireplace they will have to be converted to electricity. Likewise, your gas water heater, gas dryer and gas stove will also have to be converted. The cost to convert could easily top $40,000+ dollars. For those with older homes, you may be required to upgrade your electrical meter and panel – which could add thousands more to your expenses.
On January 22, House Democrats passed this atrocious climate legislation by a vote of 52 to 45 with 1 excused. A second public hearing on HB 1589 was held in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on January 31. An Executive Session was held on February 16 and it received a ‘Do Pass’ recommendation. During floor debate late last week, Senate Minority Floor Leader Shelly Short, R-Addy, noted the bill violated Senate rules and the state constitution. Thus, the bill was referred to Lt. Governor and Senate President Denny Heck. Despite a favorable ruling from Heck, the bill ultimately passed the Senate by a vote of 27 to 22 after Democrats voted down multiple Republican amendments.
Due to the legalities of the issues noted above, this bill remains active. Although no committee hearings will be held, we are encouraging every one to write a very brief note to your district legislators asking them to please do everything within their power to kill this bill. You can also note in your email that this bill would require homeowners currently using gas to undergo unaffordable conversions to electricity within their homes, overburden our electrical grid, and unjustly benefit PSE with even greater profits.
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THIS WEEK’S NEWS …
This Thursday, March 7th, is the last scheduled day of Legislative Session for 2024. It is important to note that any bill can technically be revived during the legislative session so a bill is never considered ‘completely dead’ until Sine Die.
I am sorry to report that several very good bills did not survive the first cutoff, including:
- HB 5820 which would have provided protection to those gathering or signing initiative and/or referendum petitions;
- HB 2358 that would have made obstructing highways a crime;
- HB 2233 that would have removed parents or guardians actively using controlled substances in a home where underage children reside;
- HB 1888 which created more ‘baby boxes’ in safe locations where newborns up to one month in age could be dropped off;
- HB 2002 which established criminal penalties for the public use of fentanyl or methamphetamine;
- HB 1380 which would have provided increased funding for the recruitment, retention, and support of law enforcement officers;
- SB 6026 which would have forced public schools to use student’s given names rather than their gender-identified names — without parent or guardian awareness.
However, it is with absolute joy that I can report many horrendous bills have also died in committee to date, including:
- HB 2150 which sought to keep the name of Donald J. Trump off the presidential ballot in Washington state;
- HB 1151 which would have promoted the mishandling of human embryos;
- HB 2470 that would have created a local sales and use tax to address ‘gender-based’ violence;
- SB 5427 which would have created ‘hate crime’ bounties, paying up to $2,000 to citizens who turned their neighbors in for ‘bias incidents’;
- HB 2177 to put a sex offender on the State Sex Offender Policy Board;
- HB 2030 which would have allowed any incarcerated criminal to vote, serve on a jury and/or run for office;
- HJR 4208 that would have removed all gender terms from our Washingon State Constitution;
- HB 1960 which would have increased staffing in public schools at a time when enrollment numbers are dropping dramatically;
- HB 1333 which would have created the infamous ‘Domestic Violent Extremism Commission’;
- HB 1868 which would have outlawed the use of all gasoline powered tools and landscaping equipment;
- SB 5770 which would have allowed our property tax rate cap to increase from 1% to 3% annually.
To read our full recap of Bill Updates from previous Action Alerts, click here.
In conclusion, please continue to pray for our state, our governmental leaders, FPIW and all other Christian and/or conservative organizations as we lobby for biblical values in the public square in these last few days. Thank you!
We cannot be over-comers without troubles to overcome!
Brad Payne
Policy & Government Affairs Director
Family Policy Institute of Washington
