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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

WA Lege SpeSess: GOP senators send fan mail to McKenna

OLYMPIA -- Most of the country may keep in touch with e-mail and texting, but Attorney General Rob McKenna needs to  keep his letter opener handy for a while. He's getting messages the old fashioned way, in letters..

His latest pen pals are the 16 Senate Republicans, who Thursday announced that they were sending a him nice letter to him for joining the lawsuit against the federal health care mandates. According to the recently issued press release, they told him:

“Our caucus has long sought to ensure all Washingtonians have access to high-quality, affordable health care while maintaining our commitments to the vulnerable, working poor and elderly. Over the years we have introduced legislation to accomplish this goal,” the letter stated. 
“We believe that the future of our government ‘of the people and by the people’ is in peril when any group sees fit to suspend the constitution and laws in service of their own agenda. …It is vital that our courts address these fundamental constitutional concerns prior to the full implementation of the legislation. We are convinced that a legally sound approach to health reform will be more successful and will better serve our fellow citizens over the long term.”

They also mentioned several pieces of legislation that various Republicans introduced to block federal health care reform mandates in Washington. None of the bills got a hearing or a vote, but they are on the books.

This press release comes just a few  hours after a pair of legislative Democrats, Sen. Karen Fraser and Rep. Eileen Cody, said pretty much the opposite, that federal health care reform is both constitutional and important for the state's ability to maintain the Basic Health Plan, is constitutional, and should not be challenged by McKenna. They said they were sending  him a letter asking him to drop out of the case.

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader LIsa Brown also sent him a letter with pretty much the same message.


The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.