OLYMPIA, March 12.—You want proof the Legislature’s special session is off to a slow start? All you needed to do was to watch the opening-day ceremonies.
You would have been mighty lonely. The wings were vacant, and the galleries were empty save for a group of elementary school students on a tour of the Capitol. Only a handful of lawmakers bothered to show up for the big event. Washington State Wire counted a grand total of six, out of the total 147.
The whole show lasted somewhere between two-and-a-half and three minutes, and the only way to snap a photo of both houses in action was to run from one chamber to the other. Otherwise you might have missed the important part. That was when lawmakers moved to adjourn until tomorrow. On Tuesday they presumably will do the same thing over again.
The Legislature may have been called back into session by Gov. Christine Gregoire, but it’s not exactly ready to do business. Lawmakers ended their regular 60-day session Friday morning at 12:07 a.m. without an agreement on the budget. In fact, there may not even be an agreement on whether House Democrats will speak with Senate Republicans about the matter.
What happened is that the Republicans gained the upper hand in the Senate 10 days ago when three centrist Dems bolted party ranks and voted for the GOP budget. So the coalition forces had 25 votes and the majority Democrats had just 24. Instead of negotiating, Dems spent the final week of their regular 60-day legislative session trying to peel off a 25th vote somewhere. They had no luck.
The main news of the first special day was that leaders of all four party caucuses were called to the governor’s office for another “five corners” meeting to discuss the budget. No breakthroughs were announced.
Six Lawmakers Rate Gold Star
Rank and file lawmakers have been told they should count on being back on Wednesday to do business. Meanwhile, the work of the Legislature, if it can be called such, falls to the hardy souls who have leadership positions in party caucuses, or those who can be convinced to take their places.
State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, earned the gold star for attendance for the Senate Republican Caucus. “It’s a constitutional duty to be here, and the floor leader is the obvious designee,” he said. “If we get into budget negotiations, obviously I need to be here.”
The other stalwarts were Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, and Rep. Jeannie Darnielle, D-Tacoma, who was Monday’s stand-in in for House Speaker Frank Chopp.
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