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Dear Friends,
We’ve reached the first main cutoff phase in the legislative session where bills need to be out of the policy and fiscal committees. Legislators will spend the next ten days debating, amending and voting on legislation that will have an impact on your lives. It’s imperative – more now than ever before – for citizens to weigh-in and let their legislators know how they feel on certain issues.
Here is a list of bills – both House and Senate – that have made it past the policy committee cutoff. These bills will be winnowed down some via the fiscal committees. The remainder will then be eligible to be pulled to the House floor for a full vote.
As the ranking Republican on the House Environment and Energy Committee, I’ve seen a lot of bad environmental bills this year. We’ve worked hard to make those bad bills just a little – and in some cases, a LOT – better. To date, the committee has taken over 40 of our amendments as we fight to protect our economy and our freedoms from overreaching environmental regulations.
If you’d like to weigh-in on some of the larger environment issues, I encourage you take my quick, online survey. What do you thing about the “New Green Deal” at the national level? Or the governor’s efforts to implement a costly “Low Carbon Fuel Standard” here in our state? Or potential efforts to implement a carbon tax? Hearing from you helps me better represent our combined interests, priorities and values.
The Second Amendment
For an updated list of all the House bills dealing with guns and the Second Amendment, click here. You can then click on each bill to see its status, but pay attention to whether or not it has a “companion bill.”
Overall, we’re working hard to protect our Second Amendment rights. However, there continues to be a push to ban so-called “assault weapons” and to put limits on how many rounds a magazine can have. There is even a bill that would retroactively require certified training (at your expense) for each weapon a concealed pistol license holder uses. So, if you carry a 9mm Glock, you’d have to have training on that weapon. But if you switched to a .45 Kimber, you would again have to receive training for that weapon. It’s ludicrous and something I’m fighting hard against.
It’s also interesting to me to see how many sheriffs across the state are refusing to enforce I-1639, the gun initiative from last year. I personally find it insulting that an 18-year old can enlist and die for his or her country, but can’t go to White Elephant and purchase a Ruger 10/22 rifle? Here is a breakdown on which counties supported the initiative:
Here is a breakdown on all the Sheriffs who refuse to enforce the law, mostly because they feel it is unconstitutional:
And here is a screen shot of a Yakima Herald poll, taken at the end of its one-week existence, asking if readers support their sheriff and prosecutor’s refusal to enforce the initiative:
I’m curious what you think? Should our county sheriff enforce this initiative? Should state lawmakers work to overturn the initiative? Click here to let your voice be heard.
Thank you for staying involved in YOUR state government. We are here to serve you and work on your behalf. If you have questions or concerns with an issue we’re working on, please contact my office at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Matt Shea