At the annual Roanoke Conference, GOP state lawmakers praised their colleague Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, who debated floor rules Friday with Democrats, that ended with Democrats failing on their efforts to push a vote on the “levy cliff” bill.
Walker Orenstein, reporting for The News Tribune, put it this way:
“Democrats had been hoping to bypass Republican leadership in order to force a Senate vote Monday on a bill dealing with school district levies.
But they could only do so because the Senate, usually controlled by a 25-vote Republican-led coalition, has been at a 24-24 tie since Republican Brian Dansel resigned Tuesday to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A Republican appointee will replace him, but that hasn’t happened yet.
With that in mind, Democrats invaded a morning floor session usually reserved for ceremonial busywork to try and amend Senate rules so they could force a Monday floor vote.
Only state Sen. Joe Fain, the Republican floor leader, represented the GOP at the makeshift debate. He was initially outnumbered by Democrats 24-1.
Democrats had thought Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, a Democrat who is in charge of making rulings on parliamentary procedure, might decide the Senate’s rules could be changed by a majority of senators actually in the Senate at the time.
But Habib denied Democrats’ attempt to change the rules, saying they needed a majority of the 49-member Senate to do so. Habib made the ruling after hours of deliberation”
At the Roanoke Conference, Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and Senate Majority Leader, put it simply.
From left, Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm. (Courtesy of the Washington Legislature website.)
“Joe Fain is a rock star,” he said to the conference attendees.
Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, agreed with that sentiment.
“Sadly no one knows more about how to be a great minority than the House Republicans and the Senate Democrats have a heck of a lot to learn, because I thought they looked quite foolish out there,” Wilcox said at the conference. “You know If you’re going to go out and lose you should lose fast.”
Your support matters.
Public service journalism is important today as ever. If you get something from our coverage, please consider making a donation to support our work. Thanks for reading our stuff.
