Pragmatism, Compromise Mark Session

State lawmakers gaveled their 105-day legislative session to a close Sunday night, notching a rare on-time adjournment.

It also was the first session in many years in which lawmakers were forced to work out their differences.

With power divided between a Democratic governor and Republican majorities in both houses, the choice was gridlock or cooperation.

In many cases, lawmakers chose the latter. They credited a pragmatic work-it-out attitude for breakthroughs on the budget, a welfare-reform law and a juvenile justice bill passed this session.

“I’m very, very pleased,” said Gov. Gary Locke, meeting with reporters as he rocked his infant daughter, dressed in her pajamas. “I believe people want us to work together.”

The $19 billion budget was just one example of politicians splitting differences to reach agreement instead of bogging down in a legislative ground war.

When Locke came out with his proposed budget, GOP leaders praised it as reasonable and responsible. When he vetoed chunks of the budget lawmakers sent him, the Republican leadership went to work rewriting those sections. In only a matter of days, the budget battle was resolved with Locke’s signature on a bill that was $79 million larger.

It was a huge contrast with the last time lawmakers sat down to write a budget. In 1995, many House Republicans refused to compromise and took it as a point of pride that the Legislature struggled through a monthlong special session before finally adjourning around Memorial Day.

They wound up more or less splitting their differences with the governor - the same result this Legislature came to in only three days.

House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, said Republicans were more able to accept compromise this year.

The House has more experienced members now than during the previous two years when 33 of 60 GOP representatives had little or no experience in state government.

Lawmakers and the governor also started out with a similar list of priorities: education, juvenile justice reform, welfare reform and adoption of a budget on time and within the limits of Initiative 601, the state tax and spending limitation lid.

“We decided that for us to win, Gary Locke did not have to lose,” said Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue.

The juvenile justice bill was a bipartisan breakthrough.

Lawmakers have talked about reforming the juvenile justice system for years. But this was the first session when they were able to agree on a bill that will require more youths accused of serious crimes to be tried in the adult court system. The bill also will give judges more leverage sooner to get youths into treatment and prevention programs.

The logjam on welfare reform finally was broken, too, with a proposal signed into law that requires all welfare recipients to work or perform community service in return for their benefits. The new law also puts a five-year limit on public assistance.

But others were disappointed major problems were left on the table.

“Transportation was a walk-away. We didn’t do anything that solves the need there,” said Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

Sen. Eugene Prince, R-Thornton, tried to convince his colleagues to pass a gas tax increase, but action never was taken on the issue. He and others remain convinced that was a big mistake.

One of the biggest issues of the session, the Seahawks football stadium, didn’t come up in anyone’s discussion of accomplishments.

For some, the stadium symbolized their frustration over a legislative session they felt focused on all the wrong priorities.

More than $300 million in tax cuts were enacted or sent to the ballot, most of which will provide the biggest relief to large corporations.

Meanwhile, eligibility standards for programs helping the poorest of the poor were tightened, and premiums and co-payments were hiked for the state’s health plan for the working poor.

“Health care has to be as important as football,” Brown said. “When you look at the basic needs that aren’t being addressed, it’s a little hard not to compare it to the chariot races in the Roman Empire.”

, DataTimes