Highlights from Olympia: How did your elected representatives vote?

A project of the Washington Policy Center, WashingtonVotes.org issues a periodic report of recent votes cast by state lawmakers in Olympia. Following are the votes cast in February by District 42 representatives Vincent Buys (R-Lynden) and Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) and state senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale).

Senate Bill 6199: Concerning the individual provider employment administrator program. Passed the Senate on February 10 by a vote of 26–21 with two members excused.

Some 35,000 home health care workers currently contract with the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to provide services to the elderly and developmentally disabled children, but they are not full-fledged public employees because they can be hired or fired by the people who actually receive services from them. In 2014, the US Supreme Court in its Harris v. Quinn decision ruled that home health care workers are not required to pay dues or fees to public sector unions, since they are not full state workers. This union-backed bill would make these workers private employees by outsourcing the state contracting functions to a private vendor. This private status would then allow unions to create a “closed shop” through which home-care workers would pay mandatory union dues or agency fees. The bill is now before the House Health Care and Wellness committee.

State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) – No

Senate Bill 6079: Exempting public employee dates of birth from public disclosure requirements. Passed the Senate on February 10 by a vote of 25–22 with two members excused.

This is another union-backed bill, which would make it more difficult to identify and contact specific state employees. Proponents say it is necessary to protect state workers from identity theft and other threats to their privacy. Opponents, including some in the media, say it is harder to hold public employees accountable, because birthdates are key to identifying specific individuals. The Freedom Foundation, a Washington state think tank that has advocated reducing the power of public-sector unions, say the bill would also make it harder to notify public employees of their legal right not to pay union fees. The bill is now before the House State Government, Elections and Information Technology Committee

State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) – No

House Bill 2751: Concerning the deduction of union dues and fees. Passed the house on February 12 by a vote of 50–48.

Under current laws governing collective bargaining between certain public employees and employers, when an employee within a bargaining unit files a written authorization with the employer, the union has the right to have deducted from the employee's salary an amount equal to fees and dues required as a condition of acquiring or retaining union membership. The fees and dues must be deducted each pay period, and the employer must transmit the deductions to the union. This bill would remove the requirement that written authorization to deduct union dues and fees be filed by workers with employers. The bill is now before the Senate Labor and Commerce committee.

Representative Vincent Buys (R-Lynden) – No

Representative Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) – No

Senate Bill 6353: Concerning procedures in order to automatically register citizens to vote. Passed the Senate on February 10 by a vote of 34–13 with two members excused.

This bill would provide for automatic voter registration of applicants for enhanced driver’s licenses or identicards. It would also eliminate the birth day and month from Washington’s public voter rolls, but an amendment to the bill would still allow disclosure of a voter’s birth year. The bill was referred to the House State Government, Elections and Information Technology committee.

State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) – No

House Bill 2595: Concerning procedures in order to automatically register citizens to vote. Passed the House on February 12 by a vote of 50–48.

This is the companion measure to the Senate’s voter registration bill with essentially the same provisions. It is currently before the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections.

Representative Vincent Buys (R-Lynden) – No

Representative Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) – No

House Bill 1513: Concerning the collection of youth voter registration sign up information. Passed the House on February 12 by a vote of 52–46.

This bill would permit voter pre-registration of 16 and 17 year old citizens, automatically qualifying them to vote in the first election following their 18th birthday. It would require social studies teachers and county auditors to coordinate voter registration events on Temperance and Good Citizenship Day in history or social studies classes for high school seniors. Bills to allow pre-registration for teenagers have passed the House five times in the last five years, including this bill during the 2017 session, but they were not considered in the Republican led Senate. With Democrats now controlling that chamber, leaders say a vote in the Senate is likely this session. The bill was referred to the Senate State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections committee.

Representative Vincent Buys (R-Lynden) – No

Representative Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) – No

Senate Bill 6052: Eliminating the death penalty and instead requiring life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole as the sentence for aggravated first degree murder. Passed the Senate on February 14 by a vote of 26–22 with one member excused.

This bill would end capital punishment in Washington state, providing instead that all persons convicted of Aggravated First Degree Murder must be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release or parole. Opponents of the bill tried unsuccessfully to add exceptions for the first-degree murder of a police officer, or a corrections officer, and the bill was debated passionately before it passed on a close, but mixed partisan vote. Five Republicans voted with the majority, and four Democrats voted “No.” The bill was referred to the House Judiciary committee.

State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) – No