Repeal Ineffectual Rules? Republicans Think It Is Time
When the state of Washington enacted rules limiting teenagers’ ability to hold jobs, it provoked plenty of objection. Employers complained, as did a lot of teenagers and their families.
The critics warned there would be adverse impacts on young workers as well as the businesses that hire them.
Now, newly empowered Republicans, who control the House and are only a seat short of running the Senate, want to repeal those rules. Gov. Mike Lowry and Mark O. Brown. director of Labor and Industries, are braced for a fight.
Brown said this week his department conducted a study and found that, despite the dire predictions, the rules have had little if any impact.
OK, isn’t that reason enough to repeal them? Or will Brown and Lowry argue that being ineffectual is justification for keeping rules and regulations on the books?
Quick, lower the blinds, the voters are watching
Also in Olympia, Sen. Mark Gaspard of Puyallup is resisting the idea of letting the public watch legislative conference committees in action.
Conference committees are the place where House and Senate members try to work out their most stubborn differences over legislation.
When the House supported wide-open proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Gaspard grumbled that “opening these meetings will definitely slow things down” and make it hard to finish business in the allotted 105 days.
Whenever doing the public’s business in broad daylight results in a slower process, the process needs to be slowed.
A couple of items for the to-do list
Ignore, for now, whether a teenager’s allegations that a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy had sex with her are true. Mere discussion of the issue has exposed at least two loopholes that need to be closed, promptly.
If sheriff’s department rules don’t specifically prohibit a deputy from engaging in sex with a teenager - or anybody else - with whom the deputy is dealing while on duty, they should.
If the state law that prohibits sex between minors and adult authority figures such as teachers or job supervisors doesn’t specifically cover law enforcement officers, it should.
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