When things are slow in the Legislature
OLYMPIA -- After passing a supplemental budget, the Legislature is expected to adjourn sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. They have a few bills tied to the budget that still have to pass, but mostly, members of each chamber are killing time waiting for the other chamber to something.
At one point, Sen. Pam Roach, who was acting as the president pro tem, reminisced about the good old days when the amendment process was so much easier. A member could just fill out a form kept in his or her desk drawer, turn it in and bring it to a vote. That led to a mention that members would sign the inside of the drawer.
Sen. Bob Hasegawa, whose tenure in the Legislature isn't as long as Roach's decided to test it out by pulling his drawer out of the desk and reading the names in it, which included current members like Roach and Sen. Sharon Nelson, as well as some others he didn't know, like Leo Thorsness.
"Medal of Honor winner," Roach said quickly to offer a key bit of information for those who didn't remember Thorsness, who served in the Senate from 1989-92.
He was also a candidate for U.S. Senate in 1992.