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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

New rules adopted by WA House Democrats spark Republican ire

By Shauna Sowersby Seattle Times

OLYMPIA – New rules adopted by the state House of Representatives on Friday are raising some eyebrows, including changes that place new time limits for bill debates and control the access governor’s office designees have to House chambers during those deliberations.

One rule, in particular, caused immediate outcry from the minority Republican Party.

That rule, voted in only by House Democrats, amended the votes required to end a filibuster on the floor from a two-thirds majority to a simple majority, which Democrats have in the chamber.

House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, acknowledging that the rule had caused some “contention” between parties, said the same rule is in place in the Senate chamber, but he has not heard any concern that it prevents robust debates.

“That has been the case when both parties were in the majority, and both parties were in the minority,” Fitzgibbon said. States like North Carolina, Texas and California have similar rules in place.

But Republicans disagreed about the motives behind the change.

Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, told the Seattle Times on Saturday that he thinks the real frustration for Democrats is their “inability to manage their time and their members well enough,” which results in “time crunch situations” like when drug possession legislation fell apart on the last day of the 2023 legislative session.

Corry said the real test will be whether Democrats plan to use the new rule, as they said they only plan to do so if “we are not sticking to the debate or if we’re not offering new information.” He added that Republican members will start “tightening” those talking points.

“If you need to take away the one tool we have to advocate for our constituents, even if they don’t plan on using it, I think it still shows that they’re worried about being able to control their own caucus,” he said.

Fitzgibbon pushed back on that idea, saying Republicans have “used their prerogative to speak on any action to kill bills that have majority support.” As lawmakers grapple with limited time during the session, he said repetitive, redundant arguments just “eat up the clock,” which is not in the interest of the public. It is typical, he added, to see Republicans have dozens of lawmakers speak on noncontroversial bills on important cutoff days to waste time.

Early in the session, House members have up to 10 minutes to speak to a bill or amendments on the debate floor, but that gets limited to three minutes as the Legislature moves further into session.

Another rule adopted Friday changes the policy on automatic admission to the chamber for governor’s designees without an invitation from a House lawmaker. Previously, the governor as well as the governor’s designees were able to enter the chambers without approval.

That response drew speculation from Republicans as well.

Corry said he believe it’s a “petty” response by Democrats to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s inaugural speech earlier this month, while House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, claimed Democrats were “retaliating” after the governor’s remarks, which drew more praise from Republicans.

But Fitzgibbon, again, said that’s not the case. House Democrats, he said, simply want a more managed process of the flow of people in and out of the chamber, and the governor’s office is welcome to provide House lawmakers with a list of people they would like to see approved. Previously, House members didn’t have any role in approving which of the governor’s designees had access to the chamber.

He denied the claims of retaliation, and said he believed Republicans are upset about the simple majority rule.

Brionna Aho, Ferguson’s communications director , said that the governor’s office is “not focused on the internal rules of the House Democratic Caucus.”

“We are focused on reforming state government, improving public safety, and making Washington more affordable,” Aho said in an email.

Democrats and Republicans did have some agreements on rules adopted Friday.

Title-only bills are now prohibited in the House, a suggestion that came from Republicans.

Title-only bills only include a title or short description, but do not provide any other details, and are commonly used as a sort of placeholder to make changes to existing laws later in the session without the same restrictions as other bills, which face strict deadlines. The Senate also prohibits the practice of introducing title-only legislation.