Gop’s Grip Not Felt On Social Issues

For the first time in a generation, Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature and were able to push through a conservative fiscal agenda. But their conservative social agenda struck out.

From abortion restrictions to a ban on same-sex marriage, one item after another fell by the wayside. In the end, advocates could point to no major victories, save for a pair of larger social bills that passed with broader support - overhaul of youth crime laws and the welfare system.

All session long, Gov. Gary Locke, a social liberal, stood by ready to veto anything he didn’t like. In most cases, the legislation didn’t get that far.

Examples: Gay marriage. Sponsors came closest with a bill to ban same-sex marriage. They passed a measure to the governor, who vetoed it as mean-spirited, divisive and unnecessary.

The Senate narrowly killed a bill to put the issue on the statewide ballot, a fallback position designed to get around Locke’s desk. Three moderate Republican senators, Jeannette Woods, Eugene Prince and Shirley Winsley, voted for the initial bill but joined minority Democrats in killing the referendum, saying it could lead to gay-bashing and social strife.

The House sponsor, Bill Thompson, R-Everett, was disappointed, saying most Washington people want to ban gay marriages. Abortion. Both houses passed measures, but neither survived. One would ban the late-term procedure that opponents call “partial-birth abortion,” and the other would require parental notification before a minor can have an abortion.

Locke had made it clear that he would veto both measures. In the end, neither even passed the GOP Legislature, and there was never a question of gathering enough support to put either of them on the ballot.

In addition, the new state budget will contain funds for Medicaid abortions for poor women, as it has for years.

Parental rights. Parental rights, one of the favorite topics of national social conservatives, showed up in several bills. The most sweeping measure would have given parents much more say over the health care, education and counseling of their offspring. Another would have required parents to give explicit permission for sex education, AIDS prevention instruction and other classwork, rather than opting out if they don’t want their child to take part. Neither bill passed.

House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, and Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue - both Reagan fiscal conservatives who support some religious-right positions - directed most of their energy to issues that had been on a House-Senate scorecard from Day 1. Those included tax cuts, a slim budget, welfare overhaul and big changes in the juvenile crime laws.

The leaders didn’t try to avoid the social issues and, in fact, worked hard to pass the same-sex marriage ban.

“We had a vote on them and they didn’t make it all the way through,” Ballard said in an interview. “That’s fair. … I’m pleased that people understood that if you don’t have enough votes, you just move on and come back another year and try again.”

Most social conservatives want tough crime laws and smaller, less powerful government, and this session gave them clear victories in both areas, the speaker said.

Locke said the social agenda measures failed because they weren’t mainstream enough.

Ballard took issue with that.

“A lot of people in this country are concerned about social issues, like having a 13-year-old girl have an abortion without a parent being notified, when that same girl can’t go to get a shot without getting permission first. That’s not a radical, extreme position, and I think the polls would show that 60 or 65 percent of the people agree with us,” he said.

Majority opinion also is against “partial-birth” abortions, he said.

“There will be votes on this in the future,” Ballard said.

Sen. Prince, meanwhile, said Republicans should stick to what they know best - fiscal conservatism - and let the rest of the agenda go. It gives the GOP a bad name and makes the party seem intolerant, he said in an interview.

Small groups of moderates in both houses kept most of the bills from passing, he said.

Sponsors “simply didn’t have the votes. They were between three and five votes short on everything in the Senate,” Prince said.