Gov. Chris Gregoire just signed the bill to ban cell phone chatting and texting while driving. Starting in 90 days, you could get a $124 ticket for it.

“Without question, it is a public safety issue for me,” she said. Currently, texting and talking is a secondary offense. Starting this summer, both will be a primary offense — meaning you can get pulled over for talking without a hands-free device.

Gregoire said she’s heard the argument that talking-while-driving is no different than drinking coffee. Not so, she said. “Coffee doesn’t have anything to say to me,” she said.

“It’s our belief that driving is your primary focus — or should be — when you’re driving in your car,” John R. Batiste, chief of the Washington State Police, said.

Sen. Tracey Eide said she’s been working on this bill for 10 years. She got this bill passed in the final hours of the last day of regular session.

Batiste said he’s looking to ban his officers from talking on their cell phones while driving, too. He said a policy is awaiting Gregoire’s signature.

Tags: cell phones

I know: You’re watching the Husky game. But when you’re done, here’s this week’s Q&A — with Sen. Joe Zarelli and Sen. Lisa Brown. I talked to them earlier today about the budget and tax negotiations and the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Rob McKenna over federal healthcare legislation.
First up, Sen. Joe Zarelli.

Q: Gov. Gregoire has said she’ll cut 20 percent of budgets if the Legislature isn’t done in the 30 day special session. Do you support that? Can she do that?

Zarelli: I think from an executive position she does have discretion under certain agency spending that’s under her office. I would hope that if she does, she would look at a perspective of higher priority to lower priority. You wouldn’t want to cut corrections to the point you might want to cut some more discretionary spending.
That’s probably similar to her Book 1 budget, which was a no frills, no taxes approach. It sounds like a solution.
I don’t know to what extent she can achieve the savings. I don’t know what that number would look like. I don’t know what she’d do – her choices might be different than mine, but if these folks in the majority can’t agree on something, that’s what she’ll have to do.

Q: The Senate voted today to go into conference over the revenue package – and you’re on the conference committee. Is this a sign of progress?

Zarelli: No, it just means that nobody desires to roll the bill back to second reading and deal with the amendments and debate again with the taxes that they’re raising and the jobs they’re going to kill.
A conference just means you put some people in a room, work out differences and then it gets an up or down vote without amendments. They’ve already in each body decided what direction they want to go with taxes.

Q: But you’re on the conference – does that mean anything?

Zarelli: I don’t know. It’s one thing to get on it, it’s another whether I’m invited to the discussions.

In the past, when we’ve done conference on the budget, usually I’m just asked to show up and sign the committee report at the end. I haven’t heard yet when they expect to hold those discussions. And the House isn’t in, so the request has to go back to the House and be accepted before technically a conference committee could meet. So the soonest that might happen would be Monday.

Q: Do you think you’ll be done at the end of the 30-day special session? (more…)

Tags: Thursday Q&A

Here’s tomorrow night’s edition of Inside Olympia — taped this morning. Host Austin Jenkins interviewed Attorney General Rob McKenna — who is one of a dozen attorneys general suing the federal government over healthcare reform — and Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who supports federal reform.

Tags: federal healthcare reform, lawsuit, McKenna

I just finished my final interview of the day for The Impact.  I talked with the governor’s legislative director, Marty Brown, about how the governor makes decisions on which bills to sign and which to veto.  I asked specifically about how the governor is using that power in negotiations over the temporary sales tax increase, which the Senate has included in its tax package but she and the House oppose.  Because portions of the House tax package can no longer be implemented by April 1, Brown also says the state has lost out on $13-$15 million in potential new revenue and will have to find another way to make that up.   He also told me Gregoire is leaning toward signing into law tougher restrictions on cell phone use while driving. He said we could see that happen around April 1.

In this earlier post, you can find more information on my interview with House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler and House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt about where the House and Senate stand in budget and tax negotiations and how quickly they could get out once the deal is reached.

Watch The Impact Wednesday nights at 7 & 10 on TVW.

Tags: The Impact

Here’s today’s list of new laws:

• Second Substitute House Bill No. 1761, relating to the ethical use of legislative web sites.

• House Bill No. 1966, relating to adding wheelchair users to the types of individuals for whom drivers must take additional precautions.

• Substitute House Bill No. 2402, relating to a property tax exemption for property owned by a nonprofit organization and used for the purpose of a farmers market.

• Substitute House Bill No. 2420, relating to the promotion of the industries that rely on the state’s working land base.

• Substitute House Bill No. 2503, relating to modernizing the criteria for membership on the board of natural resources without altering the number of members.

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 2518, relating to oath requirements for interpreters. (more…)

Tags: new laws

There’s no floor action today — the 10th day of special session — and at this point, it’s a game of who blinks first, according to Rep. Lynn Kessler, who was interviewed for The Impact this morning with Rep. Richard DeBolt.

Kessler said she’d vote for any of the proposals currently on the table. DeBolt said Republicans would rather rewrite the budget than vote for a tax package.

When an agreement is reached, it will take two days to print the budget and vote, Kessler said. DeBolt confirmed that Republicans would give the budget the procedural “bump” needed to vote that quickly.

Watch The Impact tonight at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW — or posted as early as it’s available here. Not only will you see the Kessler/DeBolt interview, you’ll also get an excellent explanation of GA-U and how it will transform into Disability Lifeline. And more.

Tags: special session

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the following bills into law today. Learn more about them by searching bill numbers here.

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 1714, relating to association health plans.

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 1956, relating to the housing of homeless persons on property owned or controlled by a church.

• Substitute House Bill No. 2443, relating to conforming the uniform controlled substances act to existing state and federal law.

• House Bill No. 2540, relating to repealing the expiration date for provisions relating to the licensure of dentists from other states.

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 2547, relating to franchise agreements between new motor vehicle dealers and manufacturers.

• Second Substitute House Bill No. 2551, relating to the establishment of the Washington vaccine association.

• Substitute House Bill No. 2596, relating to defining child advocacy centers for the multidisciplinary investigation of child abuse and implementation of county protocols. (more…)

Tags: new laws

Soon, you’ll be able to watch your favorite TVW shows on KBTC, the PBS affiliate based in Tacoma. That means you can watch Inside Olympia and The Impact on Click! Network Channel 3, Wave Broadband Channel 12, DirecTV Channel 28, Dish Network Channel 8620 and more.

Both shows will continue to air in their regular time slot on TVW — that’s 7 and 10 on Wednesdays for The Impact and 7 and 10 on Thursdays for Inside Olympia. But they’ll replay on KBTC –The Impact will re-air on KBTC on Fridays at 7 p.m. starting April 23 and Inside Olympia will re-air Sundays at noon starting April 25.

Tags: Inside Olympia, The Impact, TVW

I’m taking a break from hand counting all the bills the governor has signed or vetoed over in her first five years in office.  I’m only on #347, and that’s still from her first legislative session in 2005.  On The Impact Wednesday, we’ll take a closer look at how the governor decides what to sign, what to veto, and when to use her power for a line-item veto. The governor’s legislative affairs director, Marty Brown, will be here to speak on that topic.

In our first segment, we’ll update you on where budget/tax negotiations stand in week two of the special session.  Yesterday, I met with a former participant in the state’s General Assistance Unemployable program (GA-U), which will be renamed Disability Lifeline under a reform bill passed by both House and Senate.  GA-U reforms were among the most contentious sticking points between the two chambers this session.  In the GA-U interview, I get a better idea of how the program works, who benefits, and how it has be abused. On set, I’ll be getting an update from House leadership on progress in other budgetary negotiations.

You can watch The Impact every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Tags: bill signing, GA-U, The Impact, veto

Here’s video of Sen. Lisa Brown’s media availability today, in which she discusses negotiations between the House and Senate during special session:

Tags: special session