Legislation that would remove Washington’s now-unenforceable death penalty statute from the books will not get a vote in the House of Representatives for the second straight year because of Speaker of the House Frank Chopp’s opposition.
Senate Bill 5339, prime sponsored by Democratic Senator Reuven Carlyle and requested by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, passed out of the Washington State Senate back in February. It eventually received a hearing in the House Public Safety Committee and then secured a “do pass” recommendation.
After that, the bill landed in the House Rules Committee, where it spent several weeks in limbo before advancing to the floor. Despite getting on the House floor calendar, however, it will not receive a vote, even though House Democrats now wield a large majority of fifty-seven. Sources tell NPI that’s because Chopp is adamantly opposed to the bill and does not want it to pass.
Today was the deadline for policy bills from the opposite chamber to receive consideration. With 5 PM having come and gone, we’re past the point where Senate Bill 5339 is eligible to be considered in 2019 under legislative rules.
Last year, when House Democrats held a slim majority of fifty to forty-eight, Chopp’s public rationale for not holding a vote on abolition (as stated at a town hall in the 43rd District) was that the votes simply didn’t exist to pass the bill.
Although Chopp’s seatmate Senator Pedersen disputed that rationale, Chopp nonetheless stuck to it. Now, however, the caucus has fifty-seven members, which means seven members of the caucus can oppose a bill and it can still pass if the remaining fifty members are present and voting yes.
Support for abolishing the death penalty in Washington State is very high, according to NPI research. Last year, 69% of Washingtonians surveyed told our pollster that they preferred one of three life in prison alternatives to just 24% who said they preferred the death penalty, while 8% said they were not sure.
(Read more about our finding.)
Senate Bill 5339 would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the alternative endorsed by respondents in our poll.
We’re very disappointed that Senate Bill 5339 isn’t getting a vote in the Washington State House of Representatives this year. However, next year, there will be a new Speaker, and Senate Bill 5339 will carry over to the next session because the 2020 session will be a continuation of the current Legislature.
We will work during the interim to continue building momentum for abolition, keeping in mind that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice, as Theodore Parker and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said.
POSTSCRIPT: McClatchy’s James Drew has filed a story about SB 5339 getting blocked from a vote, in which Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Senator Reuven Carlyle both state (on the record) that there were enough votes to pass it.
Wednesday, April 17th, 2019
Washington State Senate passes bill ending the personal exemption for MMR vaccine
A provision in state law that allows parents of schoolchildren to opt their kids out of receiving a vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) on so-called personal or philosophical grounds is one step closer to being abolished.
Tonight, after a long, contentious floor debate, the Washington State Senate passed Engrossed House Bill 1638, prime sponsored by Republican Paul Harris.
The bill amends state law to allow schoolchildren and kids in daycare to be exempted from the MMR vaccine for medical or religious reasons only.
The roll call was as follows:
No Senate Republicans voted for the bill.
Two Democratic senators (Liz Lovelett and John McCoy) missed the vote and one (Bob Hasegawa) voted no. The chamber’s remaining Democrats voted aye.
A recent measles outbreak in Clark County served as the impetus for the bill; Clark County is Representative Harris’ home jurisdiction. The outbreak prompted Governor Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency earlier this year.
According to PBS, Clark County has one of the lowest vaccination rates anywhere: seventy-eight percent, which isn’t high enough to provide effective herd immunity.
“Since January 1st [2019], Public Health has identified seventy confirmed cases and is currently investigating two suspect cases,” Clark County’s official online summary of the investigation states. “Public Health has identified one new location where people may have been exposed to measles.”
“The measles vaccine isn’t perfect, but one dose is ninety-three percent effective at preventing illness,” reads an explanation from Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County’s health officer and Public Health director. “The recommended two doses of the measles vaccine provide even greater protection – ninety-seven percent.”
In approving HB 1638, the Legislature is following in the footsteps of the Left Coast’s largest state, California, which has also struggled with the issue.
Following a big measles outbreak at Disneyland, California lawmakers voted in 2015 to abolish the personal exemption for vaccines in the Golden State.
“Before the change, only ninety percent of California children were vaccinated, which is below the ninety-four percent threshold public health experts say is needed to create community immunity to measles. Now, according to a study released last month, ninety-five percent of California children are vaccinated,” Governing Magazine noted in a 2018 report presciently titled “‘Ripe for an Outbreak’: Vaccine Exemptions Are on the Rise” and written by Mattie Quinn.
Representative Harris has characterized EHB 1638 as “a small step” because it only ends the personal/philosophical exemption for the MMR vaccine.
EHB 1638 now heads back to the Washington State House for final approval because it was modified by the Senate. The Senate’s amendment made the following changes, according to a summary prepared by nonpartisan staff:
Senate Republicans introduced more than a dozen amendments in an attempt to weaken the bill, but Democrats defeated each and every one of them.
If the House signs off on the Senate’s changes, then EHB 1638 will go to Governor Inslee for bill action. Alternatively, the House can ask the Senate to recede from its amendments. If the Senate refuses, a conference committee would be appointed to produce a final version for each chamber to consider.
# Written by Andrew Villeneuve :: 11:50 PM
Categories: Core Encyclopedia Topics, Healthcare
Tags: Combating Diseases, Personal Wellness
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