Washington Road Riders Association

Legislative Post Mortem 3/8/2008

 

            Well, campers, the legislative session is finally drawing to a close, and the inmates are being paroled back to district.  Now, half of the members of the senate and all of the house members will be heading back to district.  (and running on their records for reelection)

 

            As you have most likely gleaned from the title, SHB 1625 died on the floor of the senate.  Although it had plenty of steam when it went to the floor calendar, something happened after it got there.  I have no earthly idea what went wrong, but somebody behind the scenes declared war on our bill.  I do not think it was due to our lack of communication with the senate.  Constituents were definitely working the phones and E-mail with leadership, and I wore out my shoes and the phones myself, but to no avail.  (As a sidebar note, if you did not make the call you are not off the hook.)  None of my contacts, either on staff or with the full time lobbyist crew had any idea where the wheels fell off.  After everything cools off from session I fully intend to investigate further so that we can head this off next year.  I may not ever be able to divulge the total back story, but I will definitely be able to help us tailor the end run around our opposition next year.

 

            This brings us back to our most pressing issue.  Election season will be getting in full swing soon, so everyone will be back in district.  Now is the time for everyone to meet with their legislators in a more relaxed surrounding.  As a constituent you are well within your rights to ask your state senator why SHB 1625 did not get a vote.  If you get any good information we need to know.

 

More later, but right now I am going to pop off line for a while and see what life outside the legislative swirl looks like.  I have stuff to do the HMS Dribble, roses to prune, flower beds to populate, and blackberries to exterminate.

 

Until then,

 

Ride Free and Legislate Well