Article by Erik Smith. Published on Friday, April 22, 2011 EST.

For Them a Gutsy Move, but Leaves Republicans Unimpressed – Bill Remains Stuck in Labor Committee When Another Procedural Vote Fails

The vote-board at the front of the House chamber Thursday.

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, April 22.—Republicans tried forcing another vote on a controversial worker-comp bill Thursday, and something unusual happened – an act of rebellion so flagrant, so amazing, so absolutely impossible, that the entire state House was left agog.

            Four Democrats voted “maybe.”

            Most people didn’t even know it could be done.
            When it came time for them to vote on a procedural motion Thursday, the Gang of Four didn’t vote yes and they didn’t vote no. They just didn’t vote.
            The buttons on their desks stayed lit. They were supposed to press red or green, and they didn’t move a finger.

            The startled presiding officer, Jim Moeller, who stands in for Speaker Frank Chopp during floor sessions, tried reminding them:

“Under the rules of the House, every member present is supposed to vote.”

Nothing.

With a sigh, he locked the electronic voting machine. It didn’t affect the outcome. The motion failed 51-41. The Gang of Four – Deb Eddy, Chis Hurst, Troy Kelley and Dean Takko – was counted as “absent.”

One Democrat tossed protocol to the winds and voted with the Republicans – Jeff Morris of Mt. Vernon. Meanwhile, two Republicans were legitimately absent – Larry Crouse and Mike Hope. Otherwise the GOP score would have been 43.

Maybe it wouldn’t mean much to anyone who stands more than ten feet away from the Capitol building. But in the Legislature it could be seen as a gutsy move toward mutiny from House Democrats who are used to lock-step party discipline. Or as an empty protest by weenies who lacked the courage to go all the way.

And it drove home the point that at least a few Democrats are upset enough with their own party’s leaders on workers’ comp that they were willing to go at least halfway toward the unthinkable. That may prove important in the Legislature’s special session, when those same Democrats will be asked to vote on the budget. Some of their fellow Democrats already are urging the speaker to lop off their heads.

In Olympia, members almost never vote against their own party’s leaders on a procedural motion.

But not voting at all?

“I’ve never seen it happen,” said House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt.

            Bill Bottled Up

The issue is this: House Democratic leaders have bottled up a big worker-comp reform bill and are refusing to bring it up for a vote on the House floor. Senate Bill 5566 is a top priority for business, and labor hates it. So even though the bill made it out of the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 34-15, it has been stuck for the last five weeks in the House labor committee. 
            The measure would allow voluntary lump-sum settlements by injured workers, in place of pensions. The payouts would be a little less than workers would receive over the long haul – perhaps 80 percent. And a proposal from eight moderate House Democrats Tuesday – itself a mild act of rebellion – aimed to answer every objection offered by opponents. It would reduce the state’s long term liabilities by $1 billion in the first two years alone.

Over on the Republican side of the aisle, where 42 members stand ready to vote for it, leaders decided to force the question – and see if the eight would be willing to join them in a vote against Democratic leaders.

The vote wasn’t actually on the bill itself, but rather on a motion to “advance to the eighth order of business,” which would have allowed the members to remove the bill from the committee and advance it to a vote on the floor. If the bill ever comes up for a vote, most insiders predict a dozen or more Democrats would vote yes on the bill itself. Republicans tried the same motion last week, and it failed. With a new Democratic proposal on the table, DeBolt thought he’d try again.

            Didn’t Press the Red Button

Hurst, one of the four, said the motion put the moderate Democrats in a tricky spot. Not pressing the red button seemed an elegant way out.

“I am not going to vote to remove the speaker or blow this place apart,” he said.

“But at the same time, morally, I can’t vote against a policy that I think needs to move forward, so some of us felt that a procedural vote which would tear the place apart would accomplish nothing, and we are not voting against our caucus, we are not voting against our leadership, but morally you have to draw the line sometimes.

“This is a bill that should be moving forward. There are plenty of votes to pass it, and I think we have offered a good compromise.”

Hurst hinted that there may be gamesmanship ahead in the special session, if the governor and the Senate keep up the pressure. One thing the Democrats can do is vote no on the budget. In the House, where Republicans aren’t playing ball, all it would take is seven Democratic no-votes to scuttle it.

“If the governor declares [workers’ comp] is a go-home issue, and the Senate decides it’s a go-home issue, and we believe it is a go-home issue, you tell me how you get a budget without it,” Hurst said.
            Asked by a reporter if that should be taken as a veilled threat of a no-vote on the budget, Hurst said, “That’s not what I said. That’s not what I said.”

            Just Trying to Help

Some Republicans saw it as a wimp-out. If the Dems had guts, they would have pressed green. “I’m tired of this,” said state Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum. “Frank rolls them every year.”

DeBolt said he was disappointed the moderate Dems didn’t cross over, but said there might be other chances later to move the bill.

“I think that we are moving incrementally, I mean, at least this time they weren’t a no. There are at least some people who are saying we have got to get this done, that’s a positive, but I would like action, I would like to see the vote pass. They had the votes for it, let’s get it done.

“They had eight people on that amendment, so those people should support all the procedural all the way through the process, so we can get the bill out and put their amendment on it. We’re just trying to help. And we are unanimous in our caucus on this, so we have more than enough votes to get this done.”

            Can’t Trust Them Ever Again

Voting “maybe” wasn’t the slap in the face that a yes vote would have been, but some members say the Democrats should be punished just the same.

Two of the four are committee chairs. Hurst oversees the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee, and Dean Takko is chairman of the Local Government Committee.

And one of the big questions Thursday was whether their heresy will cost them their chairmanships.

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