GOAL Post 2017-1

That time of year again...

As usual, I have made minor formatting changes but  no changes to content.

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FROM: GOAL WA (Joe Waldron)

TO: undiclosed

SENT: Fri 1/6/2017 3:36 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2017-1

Legislative Update from Olympia 6 January 2017 

• PALACE INTRIGUE IN OLYMPIA
• LEGISLATURE CONVENES MONDAY, 9 JANUARY
• SPLIT CONTROL CONTINUES
• LEGISLATIVE TUTORIAL
• LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR
• PRE-FILED FIREARMS BILLS
• LEGISLATOR DIRECT CONTACT INFORMATION
• HOW TO TESTIFY AT A PUBLIC HEARING

Senator Pam Roach (R), who has represented the 31^st District for more than 20 years, was elected to the Pierce County Council in November. She cannot hold two elected positions so she must resign from the Senate, halfway through her current term. Typically, up to three replacements are nominated by the Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) of the district, then one is appointed by the county council.

Because the 31^st District is split between King and Pierce Counties, BOTH county councils get to choose. The PCO’s made three nominations”, #1 recently re-elected Representative Phil Fortunato (R), #2 David Patrick and #3Cheryl Marshall. Both Patrick and Marshall reportedly support Fortunato. The Pierce County Council is ready to move, but the King County Council has refused to act. Why? Because the state Senate is now split 24-24, and any tie vote would go to newly-elected Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib (D).

The Democrats did this once before for a House appointment in 2014, and withheld approval for 60 days. As with the temper tantrum Hillary supporters have been throwing since election day, if Republicans had done this, they’d be condemned far and wide. But this is business-as-usual for the D side. More as the legislature convenes next week.

The 65^th Washington state legislature convenes Monday, January 9th for its long (105 day) session. The principal focus of the long legislative session is supposed to be the biennial budget, but rest assured several other topics, including firearms, will receive attention.

Control of the legislature remains split, with Democrats in charge of the House (50 Democrats to 48 Republicans), and Republicans continuing the Majority Coalition in the Senate, with 25 Majority Coalition members (24 Republicans and one Democrat) versus 24 Democrats. We can also count on a handful of pro-gun House Democrats siding with gun owners on legislation of interest.

For those new to legislative affairs, here’s how the process works: 

When a bill is filed in the House or Senate (or both, simultaneously, called “companion bills”) it is assigned to a policy committee. Most gun-related bills go to the Senate Law & Justice Committee in the Senate. In the House it’s a little more complicated, as it may be sent to House Judiciary or House Public Safety (most will go to Judiciary). Public hearings may be held, after which the bill may (or may not) be voted out of committee. If the bill has a fiscal impact (usually an expenditure of more than $50,000), it must then go to Senate Ways & Means or one of a couple of House fiscal committees. The bill then goes to the Senate or House Rules Committee, where it must be voted on to pass out to the floor for a full vote.

After a bill passes the Senate or House, it then goes over to the opposite chamber (House or Senate), where the whole process starts over again. If the bill passes the second chamber in the same form it passed the first, it goes to the governor for signature (or veto or partial veto).If changes are made in the second chamber, it goes back to the first for concurrence. It may also go to a conference committee from both chambers to resolve differences. The final version must pass both chambers.

The bill then goes to the Governor, who may sign it into law, veto (kill) the bill, or sign a partial veto (killing just selected section(s) of the bill). The governor may also allow a bill to become law without his signature. Most signed bills take effect on 1 July, although bills with an “emergency clause” (considered immediately necessary for public safety) take effect upon signature by the governor.

One of the first items of business in each session is the adoption of the session calendar, identifying dates by which bills must clear various hurdles. A bill that fails to clear the policy committee or chamber floor by the designated date is generally considered dead for the year, although they may be “resurrected” by parliamentary procedure. I’ll post the cut-off dates for the 2015 session in the next issue of GOAL Post.

Bills from the last session are dead. New bills must be filed for consideration by the 65th Legislature, with new bill numbers. Most of the bills covered in GOAL Post impact either RCW 9.41 (state firearms code) or RCW 9a.16 (use of force). At this point, three gun related bills have been pre-filed: HB 1000, by Rep. Doglio (D-22) amending use of force, HB 1015 by Rep. Shea (R-4) opening areas to licensed concealed carry, and SB 5000, by Sen. McCoy (D-38) also addressing the use of force. Bills have not yet been assigned to a policy committee. The Attorney General’s new proposed “assault weapon” ban has not been filed at this time.

The Legislature has not yet published new telephone and office directories because legislators are not sworn in until Monday, 9 January. The following links can be used at that time to identify direct contact information:

http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/

http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Representatives/

Legislative e-mail addresses will be available at http://app.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx

The link contains a quick tutorial on providing testimony at public hearings on bills under consideration. I would urge you to read it and consider visiting Olympia to let YOUR voice be heard. http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx

BILL STATUS:

HB 1000 Use of deadly force     Doglio (D-22) Pre-file

HB 1015 Limiting restrictions on concealed carry Shea (R-4) Pre-file

SB 5000 Use of deadly force McCoy (D-38) Pre-file

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS

HB 1000 UNDER REVIEW

HB 1015 SUPPORT

SB 5000 UNDER REVIEW

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

None scheduled

LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE: You may reach your Representatives and Senator by calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000.Toll free!!!The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993.Also toll free!!!

1-800-562-6000 TDD 1-800-635-9993

OTHER DATA: Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature's web site at "www.leg.wa.gov“. Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com.) You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573.Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000.You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/ (you need "RealAudio" to do this, available free at the TVW web site).

By reading the House and Senate "bill reports" (hbr, sbr) for each bill, you can see how individual committee members voted. By reading the "roll call" for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on any bill. The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is available, on line, to any citizen.

GET THE WORD OUT: If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail, send a message to "jwaldron@halcyon.com“. Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights. Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s). PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL. I can be reached at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" or by telephone at (425) 985-4867. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals. Limited numbers of hard copies MAY be available at the Second Amendment Foundation book table at WAC gun shows.

If you believe you have received this e-mail in error, please e-mail me at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" with the words "Unsubscribe GOAL Post" in the subject line. I will remove your name immediately. Keep in mind GOAL Post is also published on several gun lists. If you received GP via a list, you must contact that list's admin to unsubscribe.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

Puyallup 07-08 January

Monroe 21-22 January

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men."

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

Copyright 2017 Gun Owners Action League of WA