Posted by Jonathan Bechtle - January 15, 2009It's an annual tradition to see what kind of bills legislators feel are so important that they must include an emergency clause (a constitutional tool that allows a bill to go into affect immediately after session, forgoing any opportunity for a citizen referendum; it's only to be used when necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of state government).
A quick check of the filed bills this morning yielded twenty-five measures with emergency clauses. Several are what you would expect, dealing with the capital budget, "fiscal matters" and road repairs. But as has always been the case, some are of the decidedly less urgent variety. Such as:
- Prohibiting local governments from imposing fees or taxes on the transfer of disposable shopping bags (HB 1154)
- Issuing "horseless carriage" license plates to trailers more than thirty years old (SB 5020)
- Providing tax exemptions for solar hot water components (HB 1188)
- Ensuring that cities cannot prevent people from using RV's as primary residences in trailer parks (HB 1227)
I'm concerned the most about
the emergency clause being used to prevent citizen referendums on highly controversial topics, something that happens in nearly every session. None of these seem to be of that type, but the clause should still be reserved for true emergencies. In the past two sessions Gregoire vetoed quite a few unnecessary clauses, something we hope continues. But in the long run, we probably need a
constitutional fix.
Posted by Jonathan Bechtle - June 30, 2008If you're in the habit of shopping for cars on EBay, you may be in for a nasty surprise when you try to register that almost-brand new car you had shipped from out-of-state.
Rich Roessler (
Spokesman-Review)
explains: "Starting with the 2009 model year, new cars sold in Washington must meet strict California emission standards. Buy a car that doesn't and you're in for a shock: You won't be able to register it in Washington."
Rich indicates there was substantial opposition from car dealers back in 2005 when
the bill passed by extremely narrow margins in the state House and Senate. Oddly enough, an emergency clause was attached, declaring the law "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety." What? For a law that doesn't go into effect for four years? And since when is copying California necessary for our preservation?
Makes me wonder if the real reason for the emergency clause had something to do with preventing a referendum on the controversial new law...
sound familiar?
(hat tip -
Jason Mercier)
Posted by Jonathan Bechtle - December 17, 2007The 2008 legislative session is looming, and with it the prospect of many more unnecessary emergency clauses.
The clause is contained in the state constitution, and allows bills to be implemented immediately (thus preventing any referendums) to address emergencies. Last year 73 bills passed with the clause (see our report
here), and already the clause is appearing on 2008 bills.
In a recent check of pre-filed legislation, we ran across what appears to be the first 2008 policy bill with an emergency clause.
House Bill 2449, sponsored by Rep. Pettigrew and 23 other legislators, includes the clause declaring the bill "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety...."
What dire emergency prompted HB 2449? Reports about a lack of quality childcare in Washington, apparently due to low wages and insufficient training of day care workers. The bill's proposed fix is to extend the umbrella of
public sector unions to cover these
private sector day care workers.
To call this aggressive union expansion an “emergency” is a major stretch. These private workers already have the federal right to form a union, if that's what they need. If low wages are a problem, they need to be bargaining with their employer, not the state. Also, unlike a one-size-fits-all government entity, wage and training problems in the private sector are addressed by the marketplace. I'm a parent, and if my daughter was being neglected at a day care, I'd find a new one. Day care workers look for employers who give good benefits and training. The marketplace is the answer for wage and training problems.
Having public sector unions step in is no emergency, if it's even a need at all. This emergency clause looks simply like an attempt to ward off any possibility of referendum for the bill.
