State Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Hoodsport.
 

OLYMPIA, Jan. 11.—Senate Democratic leaders were faced with a revolt in their ranks on opening day – and since they couldn’t beat them, they joined them.

            A rule that made it virtually impossible to break the power of the majority party in passing budgets on the Senate floor was eliminated for the 2011 session. And that means it’s going to be a thousand times easier for conservative and moderate Democrats to build an across-the-aisle coalition with Republicans to write one of the most difficult state budgets in years.

            State Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Hoodsport, had been leading a revolt within Democratic ranks that took aim at “Rule 53,” one of the arcane rules of Senate procedure that has a great bearing on the way budget bills are adopted in the state Legislature. The rule, which has been in place since 1983, requires a 60 percent vote in order to amend budget bills on the Senate floor.

            But things are different this year, as one of the nastiest budget situations in state history has made it likely that Democrats will be unable to get the votes to pass a budget on their own. Sheldon, a conservative Democrat who often opposes his own party’s leaders, had lined up so many votes that it appeared leadership would lose when the issue got to the floor.

            So Sheldon was in for a surprise when Democrats met behind closed doors on Monday morning, just before the Senate opened for business. Senate Democratic leaders told him they were going to support it, too.

            “I had the votes, and I would have appreciated being informed earlier that it would be a leadership position,” he said. “I heard it when everyone else did, in caucus. But that’s probably the consequence of not voting the party line.”

            The rule-change passed quickly on the Senate floor, with no opposition from either party.

            A Very Important Rule

            It might sound technical, but the rule has a major impact on legislative debate. Every year, no matter which party is in power, there are some members of the majority party that might be tempted to vote with the other side and throw the floor action into chaos. Since the rule was adopted in 1983, however, there has been only one instance in which members have managed to overturn their leaders. That came in 1987, when a trio of conservative Democrats led by now-Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, found another parliamentary tactic that allowed them to throw control to the Republicans.

            What’s different this time is that the Legislature faces a whopping $5 billion shortfall, and it’s going to force lawmakers to slash virtually every state program, eliminating some of them outright. Democrats have a 27-22 advantage in the state Senate, but the situation forces them to make cuts that don’t sit well with some of the party’s more liberal members. To pass a budget this year, it’s probably going to take Republican help.

            A Challenge to Leadership

When Sheldon proposed his rule change, he said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown took it as a challenge to her authority. But Sheldon, who nearly always votes with Republicans on budget bills, said he just didn’t care. He was stripped of all but one of his committee assignments.
Nothing has changed there.

 The movement snowballed, and quickly it was clear leadership wasn’t going to win this one.

And even state Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the newly elected chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he could see the merit of the idea.

“I was interested in it all along,” he said. “But Tim pushed it.”

            A Game-Changer

Senators said the rule change is one of the most important developments of the opening of the session – considerably more important than the big blowup over the seating of Sen.-elect Nick Harper. State Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, said the rule change will make it possible for the Legislature to pass a bipartisan budget. And he said he sure wished the TV cameras had stuck around for this one.

“We are bringing the bar down to a simple majority here by this rule change,” he said. “This is significant and everybody’s gone. Will this even be in the papers tomorrow? I don’t know. Hopefully it will in a few papers.

“But this is really a big deal here, and you know it’s amazing how, when you have a little controversy about whether you’re going to seat somebody, you have all the cameras here and blah blah blah.

“But when you have something that follows what the people of the state and what the people the nation are demanding, which is get rid of partisan rancor and start to get down to work together, everybody’s gone.”

Sponsored by Murray and Zarelli

In its final form, the resolution changing the rule was sponsored by Murray and state Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, the Republican lead on the budget committee.

Murray said the main concern was that Republicans might seize the opportunity to run amendments on the floor that would embarrass Democrats – amendments that might force them to vote again mom and apple pie.

But he said he thinks he has assurances that won’t happen.

Zarelli said: “It’s a baby step in the right direction. However, we have a lot to talk about. This is significant, I agree. And it’s appreciated. Ultimately I would hope that we have agreement long before that particular budget bill comes to the floor.”

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