Washington: Frank Chopp

First, I have to acknowledge the valuable contribution by Curt Woodward, Associated Press reporter, who requested the exchange of e-mails between the governor's office and others about the Worker Privacy bill, which was killed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.

The rest of the press corps merely piggybacked on Curt's request. I singled out this particular e-mail because the Boeing lobbyist was telling the governor's main Boeing liaison that the Worker Privacy Bill, which was being pushed by Labor, was on the verge of winning approval by the Legislature. That was gonna be bad news for Boeing.

The Worker Privacy Act - organized labor's biggest priority for the 2009 legislative session - is dead, according to Governor Chris Gregoire, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, and House Speaker Frank Chopp, who issued the following statement this morning:
We are no longer considering action on House Bill 1528 and Senate Bill 5446, also known as the Worker Privacy Act.

Immediately upon becoming aware of an email linking potential action on the bill to campaign contributions, bringing the bill forward was no longer an option.

The email raises serious legal and ethical questions.

The matter has been referred to the Washington State Patrol for investigation.

House Republicans want Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, to make a ruling on whether the House can repeal tax breaks with a simple majority vote of the 98 representatives, or whether it takes a two-thirds supermajority.

(The layman lawyer in me says if you're not paying taxes today, but you have to start paying taxes tomorrow, your taxes have been raised. But I get it wrong too often to be confident in that assessment.)

The GOPers think Initiative 960 and Initiative 601 say a two-thirds vote in needed. But what really matters (at least early on during a legislative session) is what the Speaker of the House rules and what the President of the Senate rules for that chamber.

A few days ago, the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 5895, this year's version of the Homeowner's Bill of Rights, prime sponsored by Senator Rodney Tom (D-48th District).

SB 5895, as we've explained before, adds a warranty to new homes that would protect buyers from getting stuck with the repair bill and losing their life's savings if something goes wrong with their home.

We have a lemon law for cars and we have laws that guard against defective appliances. Why is it that Washington homeowners have no recourse if they discover a latent defect with their home? That's the question to be asking lawmakers, who for years have considered legislation similar to SB 5895 but haven't sent anything to Governor Gregoire's desk for her signature.