Weekly Roll Call Report on the Washington Legislature (Feb. 16-20)

How Southwest Washington lawmakers voted this week

Y = Yes, N = No, E = Excused, NV = Not Voting

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1694 — Addressing fiscal matters for the 2007-2009 biennium

ESHB 1694, which passed the Senate by a vote of 30 to 18, adjusts the spending for the 2007-09 biennial budget. The 2007-09 biennial operating budget was adopted in 2007 and modified in 2008. It appropriates $33.7 billion from the state General Fund and several other accounts, referred to as the Near General Fund. The total budgeted amount from all funds and accounts, which includes state and federal funds, is $57.2 billion. ESHB 1694 would reduce the 2007-09 Near General Fund budget by $635 million and the total budget by $344 million. The House concurred with the Senate’s amendments on ESHB 1694 by a vote of 80 to 14. The Governor signed ESHB 1694 into law.

District 18 Sen. Joseph Zarelli, (R-Ridgefield) N

District 19 Sen. Brian Hatfield, (D-Raymond) Y

District 20 Sen. Dan Swecker, (R-Rochester) N

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1694 — Addressing fiscal matters for the 2007-2009 biennium

District 18 Rep. Jaime Herrera Y

District 18 Rep. Ed Orcutt, (R-Kalama) Y

District 19 Rep. Brian Blake, (D-Aberdeen) Y

District 19 Rep. Dean Takko, (D-Longview) Y

District 20 Rep. Gary Alexander, (R-Olympia) Y

District 20 Rep. Richard DeBolt, (R-Chehalis) Y

Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5460 — Reducing state government administrative costs

ESSB 5460 passed the House by a vote of 88 to 7. This bill prohibits state agencies from granting salary or wage increases to any employees who are exempt from classification under the State Civil Service Act. ESSB 5460 also requires Office of Financial Management to reduce allotments for all agencies for salaries, wages, fringe benefits, personal service contracts, equipment, travel, and training from the 2007-09 biennial general fund and related funds appropriations to reflect the elimination of expenditures required by this act. However, this measure provides several exemptions related to specified functions of public health and safety, law enforcement, revenue collections, seasonal employment or use of non-state funds. The Senate concurred with the amendments adopted by the House by a vote of 48 to 0 and ESSB 5460 signed into law by the Governor.

District 18 Rep. Jaime Herrera Y

District 18 Rep. Ed Orcutt, (R-Kalama) Y

District 19 Rep. Brian Blake, (D-Aberdeen) Y

District 19 Rep. Dean Takko, (D-Longview) Y

District 20 Rep. Gary Alexander, (R-Olympia) Y

District 20 Rep. Richard DeBolt, (R-Chehalis) Y

Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5460 — Reducing state government administrative costs

District 18 Sen. Joseph Zarelli, (R-Ridgefield) Y

District 19 Sen. Brian Hatfield, (D-Raymond) Y

District 20 Sen. Dan Swecker, (R-Rochester) Y

Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5288 — Providing offender risk assessments

ESSB 5288 provides new requirements to the Department of Corrections for the supervision of persons assigned to community custody. Under current law Corrections must supervise any offender who has been sentenced to community custody and every misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor probationer ordered by the superior court to probation for crimes including sex offenses, burglary and drug possession, among others. ESSB 5288 reduces the requirements for Corrections to provide supervision on lesser offenses, such as burglary and drug possession. The bill requires continued supervision of higher risk offenses including sex offenses and violent crimes. ESSB 5288 passed the Senate by a vote of 38 to 8 and is now in the House Human Services Committee for further consideration.

District 18 Sen. Joseph Zarelli, (R-Ridgefield) Y

District 19 Sen. Brian Hatfield, (D-Raymond) Y

District 20 Sen. Dan Swecker, (R-Rochester) Y

Substitute House Bill 1079 — Substitution of Growth Management Hearings Board member

SHB 1079, which passed the House by a vote of 58 to 36, authorizes members of a Growth Management Hearings Board to select a member from a different Hearings Board to substitute for an unavailable member and render a case decision. The substitution would only be allowed by a Board in the case of vacancy, disqualification, illness or injury and requires that the selected substitute member attempt to maintain the applicable requirements governing the composition of the Board. SHB is now before the Senate for further consideration.

District 18 Rep. Jaime Herrera N

District 18 Rep. Ed Orcutt, (R-Kalama) N

District 19 Rep. Brian Blake, (D-Aberdeen) Y

District 19 Rep. Dean Takko, (D-Longview) Y

District 20 Rep. Gary Alexander, (R-Olympia) N

District 20 Rep. Richard DeBolt, (R-Chehalis) N

SOURCE: WashingtonVotes.org, a free, non-partisan Web site, offers plain-English explanations of bills and a record of each legislator’s votes. Do you want to know more about your government? Visit www.WashingtonVotes.org today.