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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Down To Earth

Overtime in Olympia

At the stroke of midnight tonight, the constitutionally prescribed 60 days for the 2010 Washington State legislative session will expire.  My how time flies.  It seems like just yesterday that we were rallying support at the start of the session for the Environmental Priorities. 

But is it really over? “I think it’s likely the budget will not be negotiated by midnight tomorrow,” Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said Wednesday to The Olympian.  The paper went on to report that Brown was referring to a $30.5 billion spending plan that House and Senate Democrats can agree on, as well as the tax increases and adjustments needed to pay for it.  "If lawmakers miss their deadline of midnight tonight, a special session awaits. Either Gov. Chris Gregoire or the Legislature has the authority to call the special session," the article said. 


That, however, doesn't mean we're void of a recap, or good news for that matter.

Nicole Fallat, communications director for the Environmental Priorities Coalition wrote us yesterday that they were excited that the Safe Baby Bottle Act passed, calling it a "big win for kids’ and mothers’ health."  The Safe Baby Bottle Act cruised through both the House and Senate, and was one of the Coalition's priorities. The Safe Baby Bottle Act would address the health problems found in children because of contact with BPA, by phasing out BPA in baby bottles, food and beverage cans, and other consumer products.

Also pleasing to the Coalition, and to mercury conscious Washingtonians alike,  was the passage of a bill that would allow consumers to conveniently recycle energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights.  This bill also cruised through the House and the Senate with strong bi-partisan support.  It was prime-sponsored by Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, and Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, and, according to The Columbian, is modeled on a similar law covering computers and TVs, also prime-sponsored by Pridemore, that passed the Legislature in 2006.

There are however some big questions and concerns as the session comes to a close, and heads into OT.  Two of the Coalitions' Priorities, Working for Clean Water, also known as the Clean Water Act of 2010, and Sustain Environmental Protections in the Budget, won’t be resolved until the budget is. 

As it stands now, there's a lot of uncertainties.  We'll do our best to let you know what happens.  One thing you can do as the session overtime period is hashed out is email your legislators today and urge them to sustain the core environmental protections restored by the House budget in the final State budget.

In case you were curious, here's a little history of special legislative sessions in Washington - courtesy of the Everett Herald.

In 2007, after the state Supreme Court tossed out a cap on property tax increases, lawmakers returned for one day to reinstate the limit.

In 2003, legislators didn’t have a budget deal when the 105-day session ended. They went home for two weeks then returned for a full 30-day session. Two years before that legislators spent 58 days in special session, wrapping it up in late July.

The last 60-day session to run long was 2000. Then, Gov. Gary Locke kept legislators in Olympia and the overtime lasted 29 days. That wasn’t quite enough as they needed three more in a second overtime.



Down To Earth

The DTE blog is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.