Standing guard for Fort Democracy

Time and again, the adage "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" has been offered up down through these 22 decades-plus of our American existence. Thomas Jefferson (perhaps) and numerous others (for sure) have wielded that faithful maxim likely first advanced by Irish orator John Philpot Curran some 223 years ago.

A big part of that eternal vigilance here in Washington? Keeping a watchful eye on our voting process.

 

Today, sentry duty at Fort Democracy in the Evergreen State comes in the form of the Election Administration and Certification Board, a panel to which state Rep. Sam Hunt was just recently reappointed by House Speaker Frank Chopp.

 

Hunt chairs the House Government Operations & Elections Committee. For many years, he's championed government efficiency, including safeguards in the electoral process.

In addition to Hunt and other legislators, the Election Administration and Certification Board features folks from the Secretary of State's office, and people representing county auditors and the major political parties.

Read this story in Spanish.

Lawmakers at the judge's table

Legislators reported for what promises to be a 105-day marathon of constituent meetings, committee hearings, and floor action on Monday. Considering the long months ahead, it would be easy to understand why a representative would want to spend the weekend before session relaxing at home with their family and friends.

Not the case for Representatives Sam Hunt, Chris Reykdal, and Dave Upthegrove.

The three lawmakers spent Saturday, January 12th judging the “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” civic education contest. High school students participated in the statewide competition held at the capitol campus in Olympia.

Tahoma High School earned first place, while Evergreen and River’s Edge took home the second and third place honors. Tahoma High will advance to the national finals in Washington, D.C. this April.

Despite their busy weekend schedules, we can confirm that all three lawmakers were able to catch the heartbreaking Seahawks defeat on Sunday. Although, we're not sure we would call that a relaxing morning kicking around the house.

Reps. Chris Reykdal (center) and Dave Upthegrove (right) judge students' knowledge of constitutional issues. Photo courtesy of Marcia Swanson.

Rep. Sam Hunt (center) checks his notes during the competition. Photo courtesy of Marcia Swanson.

Read this story in Spanish here.

Legislation would OK selling growlers of cider

No, not that kind of growler

State Rep. Sam Hunt has introduced House Bill 1008 to legalize the sale of growlers of cider.

The proposal would give a good many small and medium businesses in the tourism and refreshments industry another attraction for customers. Hunt's legislation is tentatively scheduled for a public hearing in the House Government Accountability & Oversight Committee at 9 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 17, in House Hearing Room E on the first floor of the John L. O'Brien Building on the State Capitol Campus right here in Olympia.

The bill states that folks who already have a license to sell "beer to a purchaser in a container supplied by the licensee or a sanitary container brought to the premises by the purchaser and filled at the tap at the time of sale may similarly sell cider to a purchaser in such a container."

Week 5 House Floor Speech Highlights

It was a historic week in the state House. After a very civil House floor debate earlier this week, Washington is on its way to becoming the seventh state in the nation to legalize equal marriage. The House also passed measures that will improve the lives of foster children, expanded suicide prevention training, and honored the National Guard. Check out these clips from this week's floor debates.


SB 6239 - Marriage Equality
Rep. Jamie Pedersen


Rep. Drew Hansen


Rep. Sam Hunt


HB 2592 - Extending Opportunities for Foster Care Children 
Rep. Reuven Carlyle



HB 2366 - Suicide Prevention Education 
Rep. Tina Orwall



HR 4655 - Honoring the National Guard 
Rep. Larry Seaquist


To read this story in Spanish, click here.

"From Washington green to Wisconsin red."

So proclaimed Rep. Chris Reykdal, addressing the throngs of public employee supporters who filled Olympia's capitol rotunda in a show of solidarity with the public employees currently occupying the rotunda in Madison and fighting a proposal by Gov. Walker that would essentially gut their collective bargaining units.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, along with a Wisconsin public employee, were both on hand to thank our state's workers for the show of support.

Dennis Kucinich-Approved.

It's Earth Day

On Earth Day, we thought it would be fun (okay, interesting, at least) to look back at what we've done here in Washington to play a part in keeping our air, land and water clean and healthy.

Just this year, we led the way on banning the toxic chemical Bisphenol A from baby bottles, sippy cups and sports bottles. We were the second state to ban this chemical in sports bottles, and the fifth in children’s dishware. Representative Mary Lou Dickerson worked for over two years to help protect our children from this toxic estrogren-mimic. There's currently a big push to make this national law.

And remember the headlines a few years ago about the toxics being found in all kinds of children's toys and products? In 2008 we passed the first bill in the nation with strong standards for lead, cadmium, phthalates in children’s toys and products. Rep. Dickerson’s Toxic Toys bill was so successful that the next year the Federal Government passed their own version modeled on much of what we had accomplished.

This year we also passed the first law in the country that begins to phase out copper brake pads. Every time a car or truck hits the brakes, a little bit of copper dust falls to the roadway. Eventually that copper gets washed into our streams and rivers and damages our salmon runs. We’re hopeful that our efforts will help protect fish all across the country.

Another big win for the environment this year was the passage of the comprehensive producer responsibility program for mercury-containing light bulbs. This is the second such program to be launched in the whole country. People frequently toss their bulbs in their trash where the mercury slowly leaks into our groundwater supplies. Mercury harms the brain, kidney and liver, and Rep. Sam Hunt's legislation ensures convenient access to disposal in all areas of the state and holds the producers of these light bulbs accountable for paying for their safe disposal.

This is in addition to another trailblazing program passed a few years ago. Our state's E-Waste program was the first in the nation to provide manufacturer-funded free recycling of computers, monitors, laptops and televisions. The program went into effect last year and collected 38 million pounds of TVs and computers. Rep. Zack Hudgins helped lead this effort. Check here for drop-off information.

There's more we could highlight, but the point is that our legislators have long been champions of policies that not only protect our planet, but protect the health of the people who inhabit it.

For tips and ideas on how you can do the same, check here or head to an Earth Day event near you!

22nd District e-survey respondents get their two cents in

No, it’s not unusual for lawmakers to poll their constituents. Yes, you bet the elected folks who take the votes want to hear from real-world folks who by rights call the shots. Legislators naturally want to keep abreast of what’s eating Joe Meatball and Sally Housecoat (a shout-out there, if you will, to the Simpsons’ Mr. Burns).

But what’s a little different in this wired century is that more and more legislators are turning to the Internet and e-mail to see what folks have to say about the issues of the day. It’s significantly less expensive for the public treasury, and much more convenient for the public itself, to send out electronic questionnaires instead of mailing them, according to state Rep. Sam Hunt. These Jetsons e-surveys obviously don’t entail the production, printing and postage costs, not to mention the ink stains, that go into the Flintstones paper surveys. (Although the older technology, if nothing else of course, did manage to keep a lot of No. 2 pencil companies in business.)

Hunt recently sent out more than 17,000 electronic surveys to as many of his Thurston County neighbors as for whom he could round up e-mail addresses. So far he’s received several hundred responses to the budget and revenue questions on his survey. Some of the questions are very specific in terms of digging up detailed public opinion, such as this one: “Please tell me how you’d divide the budget.” And some of the questions are more open-ended, such as this one: “What would you like to add in your response to this survey?”

Hunt and his legislative colleagues kicked off this year’s session on Jan. 11. So now they’re just about within shouting distance of the halfway mark in the two-month 2010 meeting. And that means Olympia’s marching toward showtime in terms of the supplemental-budget debate. Input from citizens will no doubt be invaluable in deciding how best to carry out this year’s budget whittling.

Enviro Health Committee hears testimony on bill to reduce mercury in the environment

After eight years of bringing forth mercury legislation, Rep. Sam Hunt takes another step in reducing the amount of mercury released into the environment.

“The one sticking issue has been what do we do with fluorescent lights,” Hunt said at today’s House Environmental Health Committee hearing. “We encourage more and more use of fluorescent lights because it saves us energy. However, it also brings us more mercury and more mercury that can potentially leak into the environment.”

Hunt’s House Bill 2914 establishes a producer-designed product stewardship program for the collection, recycle, and disposal of mercury-containing lights.

Boards and commissions on the chopping block

The House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee will meet today at 1:30 to review plans for saving more public dollars. As alluded to in our earlier post, the committee is scheduled to discuss the potential elimination of additional state boards and commissions.

In the 2009 session earlier this year, the Legislature passed Engrossed Senate Bill 5995 to abolish 18 of these public bodies. Governor Gregoire announced yesterday that she’s eliminating 17 more boards and commissions by executive order and is asking the Legislature to axe another 78 when they convene for the 2010 session in January.

Gregoire's office is sending folks to today's committee meeting to discuss her proposal. Committee chair Rep. Sam Hunt wants the committee to hit the ground running with specific cost-saving proposals.

The committee will also hold a work session to talk about the Washington Management Service (WMS), which was set up in 1993 and “… is a decentralized personnel system established separately for civil service managers in state government. Agencies have delegated authority under the law to create management positions. [The WMS] recognizes the unique nature of management positions and the importance of strong management skills to effective state government.”

Regarding the Washington Management Service and other aspects of state government, the Legislature earlier this year approved and the governor signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2049. This legislation calls for yearly public reports from every state agency on the number of classified workers the agency employs, as well as the agency’s WMS employees and the agency’s exempt employees. The agencies must also report the number and cost of bonuses and performance-based incentives that have been awarded to agency staff.