Brown leads Democrats in Senate

OLYMPIA – Two years after losing one state Senate majority leader from Spokane, the region has another: Lisa Brown.

Senate Democrats elected Brown their leader Sunday during a meeting at SeaTac. She defeated Sen. Ken Jacobsen of Seattle.

It was a historic vote – Brown is the first female Democrat in state history to hold the post, making her one of the top two most powerful lawmakers in the state. (The other is the speaker of the House.)

“No doubt we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are optimistic about the upcoming session,” Brown said. The legislative session, slated to last 105 days, will start in January.

Brown, a state lawmaker for 12 years, was elected to the Legislature in 1992. She is an associate professor of organizational leadership at Gonzaga University.

On Sunday, Senate Democrats also elected four lower-tier leaders, all of them women and all of them with a decade or more of experience as lawmakers.

Although some votes remain to be counted, it’s likely the Democrats will hold a 26-23 majority in the Senate and a 55-43 majority in the House of Representatives.

The party that holds the majority controls the committees that act as check valves for legislation. Committee chairs – who likely all will be Democrats – single-handedly can stop a proposed law or change in law.

Majority control also means Democrats will write the state budget – and presumably will have enough votes to slap down any attempts by Republicans to override their plans.

“Senate Democrats’ focus will be what we believe the people of this state find most important: schools, security – of health care and jobs – and a sound economy,” said Brown.

In recent years, Democrats repeatedly have been frustrated as they have called for more money for schools and colleges as well as additional pay for teachers and state workers, some of whom have gone years without a cost-of-living increase. But even with a healthy majority, House Democrats have not been able to muster enough votes to pass any of several small tax increases.

In the Senate, Brown and Democratic colleagues repeatedly have urged Republicans to look more closely at tax breaks. Hundreds have been passed since the 1930s, and very few have been repealed. Such incentives, Democrats say, should be examined to see if they’re really creating jobs or significantly helping the economy.

The four other Senate Democratic leaders chosen Sunday are Harriet Spanel of Bellingham as caucus chairwoman, Tracey Eide of Federal Way as floor leader, Debbie Regala of Tacoma as whip and Rosa Franklin of Tacoma as Senate president pro tem.

Senate Republicans will select their leaders on Nov. 19. House Democrats and Republicans will pick theirs next week.