Bill aims to ensure cheaters never win

The House approved Senate Bill 5088 on Tuesday, an anti-jackass bill intended to discourage people from cutting in line while waiting for state ferries. As things stand now, the only penalty at state officials’ disposal is to send the offender to the back of the line.

The bill would make cutting in a ferry line a traffic infraction, meaning a likely fine of $101. (And you’d still be booted to the back of the line.)

But for at least one ferry, Rep. Lynn Schindler felt, there’s little point to such a fine. The Martha S., State Route 21’s little Keller Ferry, which for nearly 60 years has been trundling on its 10-minute trip across the Columbia River between Ferry and Lincoln counties, isn’t exactly known for vast backlogs of commuters quivering with barely suppressed road rage. The nearest towns are Wilbur, 14 miles to the south, and Republic, 53 miles to the north.

In fact, there is usually no set schedule for the 12-car Keller Ferry. When you show up on either bank, the little boat’s crew sees you and comes to get you. (Also, the ferry ride’s free, a fact best not mentioned to the Puget Sound multitudes.)

So Schindler got an amendment put on the bill, exempting the Keller Ferry from the new rule. That’s right: Cut at will, Highway 21 travelers. At worst, you’ll be sent to the back of the line. If you can find a line, that is.

“I don’t think if one car goes in front of the other car” anyone should be fined $101, said Schindler, R-Otis Orchards.

Majority Democrats agreed. “I think she has pointed out something we need to address,” said Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island.

So, in a rousing show of bipartisanship, the House approved Schindler’s amendment.

We were rooting for the Martha S.

State vegetable? Check.

State frog? Check. (Oh, pardon: state amphibian.)

State boat? No.

Lawmakers moved to right that wrong Wednesday, as the Senate approved Rep. Brian Blake’s bill to declare the Aberdeen-based Lady Washington as the state’s official ship.

“The bill sometimes hit rough waters, but it’s now sailing on to the governor and hopefully into law,” Blake allegedly said, according to a press release about the bill’s success.

The ship – built in Aberdeen – is a life-size replica of the first American vessel to visit the West Coast 219 years ago. That original Lady Washington, which was nearly 40 years old when it rounded Cape Horn in search of Pacific Northwest sea otter pelts.

GOP view of the session

Outnumbered in both legislative chambers, the GOP is having a tough year. Here are some excerpts from Republican leaders’ meeting Friday with Capitol reporters:

On Thursday’s angry confrontation between Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, and Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam: “Easter being the season of hope and renewal, we’ll go and take a break and come back with hope and renewal.” (Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis)

On a bill to set up a worker-funded $250-a-week stipend for people who take leave to care for family members: “I think that they want to run it as an initiative and they want it to be a little more ugly than it is. And so I think that that’s the reason I don’t think it will come up on the floor. I think they used the session to just get the message out there.”(DeBolt, who predicts an initiative that splits the 2-cents-an-hour tax between workers and business instead.)

On how much say Republicans, far outnumbered in both the House and Senate, are having in the legislative process this year: “Other than the capital budget, it was pretty unpleasant.” (Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, who said he feels Republicans have largely been shut out of the budget process this year. Republican budget amendments – one for as little as $11,000 – were rejected by majority Democrats one after another, he said. “That was as partisan as I’ve seen in seven years here,” he said.)

On the same topic: “We haven’t really had the opportunity to comment. It’s a big freight train that’s moving forward.”(DeBolt)

Or put another way … “Things for us have gotten a little tense over there because of the lack of our ability to have our voice and put our fingerprints on it (the budget) … It’s like the guards and the prisoners … The guards make the rules and sometimes the prisoners get frustrated. But it’s still the guards are in charge.” (DeBolt, quoting an analogy that he said came from a Democratic House member.)