Four West Siders To Shape East Side Story Leaders Of Transportation, Budget, Health Panels Are Key

Sometimes overlooked in politics is the role individuals play in things getting - or not getting - done.

Here’s a glimpse of some key legislators from the other side of the state who will influence topics that matter to Eastern Washington this session.

Tom Huff, R-Gig Harbor: The House Appropriations Committee co-chairman will be the Legislature’s only Republican with a hand in the state budget.

This year, budget writing starts in the House, where the retired Sears executive and founder of the Washington Retail Association shares power with Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Tacoma, the only House member present during the last tie, in 1979.

By all accounts, the two get along, but Sommers will have an ally in the Senate in Ways and Means Chairwoman Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco. Huff will stand alone in “carrying the GOP’s fiscal flag,” said Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane. “He’s the linchpin to the whole thing.”

But, “He’s not the kind of guy who believes it’s `I only win if you lose,”’ West said.

Karen Schmidt, R-Bainbridge Island, and Ruth Fisher, D-Tacoma: The co-chairs of the House Transportation Committee will help determine how and where $2.4 billion in transportation work gets spent, and, in many areas, they fundamentally disagree.

Fisher will be stuck trying to please Senate Democrats, who should have little trouble passing a plan. Schmidt, meanwhile, will have to answer to all Republicans, who feel “a sense of ownership” for passing and promoting the referendum that provided the money. “It may be a little bittersweet,” Schmidt said.

Fisher wants to give the state Transportation Commission broad authority on how to spend the money, preferring not to get into the business of choosing projects one-by-one. Schmidt, on the other hand, said that by not dictating projects to the commission, the decisions are not accountable to voters.

“We want to make sure there’s accountability,” Schmidt said.

The two also differ on how - and how much - road money to share with cities and counties. And both have their pet projects: Fisher loves inner-city transit; Schmidt loves ferries. They have served together on the Transportation Committee almost continuously since 1983. They’ve not always gotten along, but claim they can work together.

“We’re two strong-willed women with the state’s best interests in mind, but we disagree on philosophy,” Fisher said.

Eileen Cody, D-Seattle: An activist, rehabilitation nurse and union organizer, Cody got into politics in the 1980s to push for health care reform. Now, as co-chair of the House Health Care Committee, Cody will help lead the charge to salvage the state’s individual insurance market.

She will work closely with co-chair Rep. Linda Evans Parlette, R-East Wenatchee, and a pharmacist, but Cody has slightly more legislative experience and a take-charge personality.

Even her political opponents acknowledge she knows her stuff. And Cody makes no secret of her long-term goal: “These problems won’t go away until we have comprehensive health-care reform,” she said.

Cody and Parlette’s committee will be staffed primarily with freshman lawmakers, who will look to their chairs for leadership.