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Statement from House Republican Leader Dan Kristiansen on the end of the third special session

Rep. Dan Kristiansen has served in the Washington State House of Representatives since 2003, and is the leader of the House Republican Caucus. Dan represents the 39th Legislative District, which includes parts of King, Snohomish, and Skagit counties. He is the Ranking Member on the House Rules Committee.

We’re disappointed that Hirst negotiations ended at an impasse. In the end, the House Democrats failed to bring any Hirst-related bill to the floor for a vote. If they would have allowed a vote on the bipartisan striking amendment offered on June 30, it would have passed both chambers of the Legislature. We are now left with no Hirst solution and, as a result, no capital budget. This is unfortunate.

Our state has enough water. It’s fundamentally unfair that families are being denied access to water on their private property. A group of lawmakers from Seattle, an expanding city that gets its water from rural parts of our state, want to micromanage rural Washingtonians and transfer our state’s water rights to special interests. Republicans will never support delegating this constitutional authority.

Like we have since this flawed court decision was released, House Republicans will remain at the table and continue to put forth comprehensive, long-term solutions to this problem. We hope negotiations will continue.


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