Silver Loses Post As Appropriations Chairwoman Move Seen As Latest Reduction In East Side Clout In Legislature

Rep. Jean Silver, R-Spokane, has been removed from her post as chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Silver served as chairwoman for one year in what is widely regarded as one of the most important jobs in state government.

It’s the latest in a series of big changes for Spokane Republicans. First, former Rep. Mike Padden left his post as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to serve as a District Court judge in Spokane.

Former Rep. Todd Mielke, who served as chairman of the House Republican Caucus, left his job last week to work as a lobbyist for Johnson & Johnson.

Now Silver has been reassigned by House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, to a new position created to coordinate activities of the three House fiscal committees.

Silver will be chairwoman of Ways and Means, and report directly to Ballard.

Her charge is to forge a coordinated strategy among the three House fiscal committees to cope with a major reconfiguration of social programs expected to be adopted by Congress.

The new House Appropriations Committee Chairman is Rep. Tom Huff, R-Gig Harbor, a first-term legislator who served as vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee last session.

Silver said she looks forward to the new post, in which she hopes to help make the most of what are expected to be reduced federal dollars.

“We are really concerned about the federal dollars and we need to be in touch to make sure particularly our welfare and our senior citizens and our children who are having a tough time are taken care of.”

Silver said she feels her job is “an advancement.”

Others weren’t so sure.

“We’ll see if she serves on the negotiating committees. That will be the true test of whether this was a promotion or a way of setting her aside,” said Sen. James West, R-Spokane.

Conference committees of six legislators are appointed to negotiate the final versions of most of the important bills passed by the Legislature, including the budget.

West, ranking minority member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he welcomes coordination of the three House fiscal committees.

“If they are trying to bring balance and coordination to those committees that would be a good thing. It’s been very hard to deal with those committees in the past.”

Silver’s brief tenure as chairwoman was controversial.

Some Spokane lawmakers and boosters back home were concerned she didn’t command enough money and attention for Spokane programs.

A collaborative process used to write the budget diluted her authority. One lobbyist called Silver a “titular chair,” and some lawmakers wondered whether she was struggling in the job.

But Silver, a veteran in the Legislature and an accountant by training, also earned respect for her knowledge of the budget and solid work ethic. Many praised her first year in what is widely known to be one of the toughest jobs in the Legislature.

Silver will continue to hold her seat on the Appropriations Committee, as well as her posts on the Legislative Budget Committee and State Investment Board.

She said she’s looking forward to her new challenge.

“I think the Speaker’s decision to focus extra attention on the changes coming from Washington, D.C., is a smart move for the people of our state. We will be prepared and react promptly and intelligently to whatever decisions Congress makes.

“We won’t be caught short.”

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