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Dear Friends,
The Legislature is reaching some important milestones.
Cutoff and floor action
Wednesday, March 4 will be the halfway point of the 105-day session, which is scheduled to adjourn April 26. We reached the fiscal cutoff for money-related bills on Friday and the cutoff for policy bills the week before. Any bills not passed out of their respective committees by now, except for those necessary to implement the budget, are considered “dead” for the year. You can go here to view the major session bills that are “dead and alive.”
This week and through March 11, our work shifts from the committees to the House floor. All of the bills that have passed their committees are sent to the House Rules Committee. There, members of that committee decide which will be sent to the House floor for a vote. You can keep track of which bills are being voted on by going here. You can also watch floor action live as it is happening on www.tvw.org.
Take action to advance Freedom Agenda bills
Six of my prime-sponsored Freedom Agenda bills remain alive. Please call House Speaker Frank Chopp at (360) 786-7920 or leave a message at the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and ask him to bring these bills to a vote on the House floor. They include:
- House Bill 1248 – Increasing jurisdictional limits to $100,000 for district courts: Passed the House. Now under consideration in the Senate Law and Justice Committee.
- House Bill 1552 – Legalizing industrial hemp: Under consideration in the House Appropriations Committee. This bill may be necessary to implement the budget, so it may be exempt from the cutoff. NOTE: Call Committee Chairman Rep. Ross Hunter at (360) 786-7936 and ask him to pass this bill to the House floor.
- House Bill 1817 – Providing liability immunity for local jurisdictions when wheeled all-terrain vehicles are operated on public roadways: Awaiting House floor action.
- House Bill 1858 – Prohibiting the names of county auditors and the secretary of state from being placed on ballot envelopes when running for re-election: Awaiting House floor action.
- House Bill 1918 – Modifying provisions of off-road and all-terrain vehicles: In the House Rules Committee and could be pulled to the floor soon.
- House Bill 1943 – Accountability for criminals under home detention: In the House Rules Committee and could be pulled to the floor soon.
Preserving state sovereignty
Five years ago on the steps of the state Capitol, I issued notice to President Obama, saying: “Mr. President, the Constitution is not just a meaningless piece of paper that you can simply disregard for your agenda. The Constitution means what it says, and that includes the 10th Amendment.” Read my press release from the Jan. 14, 2010 rally.
At that time, we announced legislation to reassert state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and to send a message to the federal government that it should back off from overstepping its constitutional bounds of meddling in matters reserved to the states. The 10th Amendment declares: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
We have not given up the fight. I am working to re-introduce a package of sovereignty legislation. They will include:
- The Health Care Freedom Act
- Defend the Guard Act
- 1033 Program Armored Vehicle Oversight Act
I will provide further details about our sovereignty legislation once these bills have been introduced.
Bad bill – House Bill 2009 – Forced immunizations
This is a real stinker of a bill because it would eliminate the philosophical and personal exemptions from mandatory vaccination in our state. Parents would no longer have the right to decide what is best for their children.
According to the National Vaccine Information Center, “House Bill 2009 creates a hostile environment for Washington families who don’t agree with safety, efficacy, or necessity of every single dose of every single government mandated vaccine.” Call the toll-free Legislative Hotline and leave a message for your representatives and senator asking them to oppose this very bad bill!
On the radio
I had the pleasure of being on the Rick Rydell Show on 920 KXLY Radio on Thursday. We talked about the many problems with the new gun background check law, a bill that would create an “extreme protection order” as a way for government to confiscate guns, and I gave an update on The Freedom Agenda. You can listen to that program here.
Stand up today for freedom!
Your support and input makes a difference! It is why The Freedom Agenda has become the most successful slate of conservative legislation in Washington in more than 20 years.
Let us remember the words of Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
If we want to preserve freedom for our children, it is us who must stand up and fight for it, and remind government that we the people are its masters and it shall serve us, not the other way around.
Please keep your calls, letters and emails coming! Together, we will ensure a society of lower taxes, less government and more freedom! Contact my office any time you have questions, comments or suggestions about legislation and how you can help to further the cause of liberty.
Sincerely,
Matt Shea