GOAL Post, #2013-6
Legislative Update from Olympia, 22 February 2013
NEW BILLS INTRODUCED
POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF -- MOST GUN BILLS DIE
FISCAL COMMITTEE CUT-OFF NEXT FRIDAY
Two additional firearm-related bills were filed over the past week. SB 5739, by Sen. Ed Murray (D-43), would allow counties or cities to ban firearms in public parks and other recreation areas. SB 5831, by Sen. Ann Rivers (R-18), would prohibit double taxation of clay pigeons bought by non-profit gun clubs who collect sales tax when selling rounds of trap/skeet. SB 5739 was NOT scheduled for a public hearing. SB 5831 will be heard in Senate Ways & Means next Tuesday (2/26).
Today is the first major culling of bills filed To date, more than 2,800 bills have been filed for this legislative biennium (2013-14). Bills that did not make it out of their original policy committee by the end of business today are theoretically considered dead for the remainder of the session. They may be reconsidered during any special session or in the 2014 session. I say theoretically because the cut-offs are an arbitrary date adopted at the beginning of a session. If sufficient pressure is brought to bear, a bill may be resurrected.
The 2013 session sets a record: more than 30 firearm-related bills have been filed. This is a first in the 20 years I have been lobbying in Olympia. Eleven of the 30 are good bills, most of the rest are either overtly bad or containing sections that do not protect the rights of gun owners.
At this time it appears at least 18 bills failed to make the cut-off and should be considered dead for the session. These include most of the pro-gun bills and some of the bad ones as well. Again, a committee chair has full discretion as to which bills he or she moves or lets die.
Ten firearm-related bills remain under consideration. In this issue of GOAL Post I have listed ALL of the bills and their current status. Next week I will delete those bills that died in committee.
Bills that have a fiscal impact on the state require a second hearing in one of the legislative fiscal committees (House Appropriations or Fiscal or Senate Ways & Means). This is to allow the legislature to identify where the funding will come from to fund the bill's requirements. Or that's the way it's supposed to work! The last opportunity for these bills to be heard in their original chamber (House or Senate) is next Friday, 1 March.
Bills in the House or Senate Rules Committees sit there until leadership decides they want to bring them to the floor for a full vote. In many cases, they're waiting on drafting of floor amendments.
While SB 5660, the bill that would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a firearms safety education program along the lines of the NRA's "Eddie Eagle" program failed to pass out of committee, a similar Senate Joint Memorial (SJM 8006) did pass. Unfortunately, a Memorial can only recommend a course of action, not require it.
BILL STATUS: [below the fold]
House Bill numbering begins with 1000; Senate Bills with 5000. The following bills have been filed so far in the 2013-14 biennium:
[WWTPP note: bills still alive have been emphasized.]
Bill # Subject Sponsor Status
HB 1096 Juvi illegal firearm possession Hurst (D-31) H. Approp
HB 1147 1st degree juvi unlawful possess. Goodman (D-45) DIED H. Jud
HB 1184 Range protection Takko (D-19) DIED H. Jud
HB 1318 CPL renewal notice Taylor (-15) DIED H. Jud
HB 1371 WA Firearms Freedom Act Taylor (R-15) DIED H. Jud
HB 1383 Stalking protection orders Goodman (D-45) H. Rules
HB 1561 Short barreled rifles Blake (D-19) DIED H. Jud
SHB 1588 Background checks Pedersen (D-43) H. Approp
HB 1612 Firearm offender registry Hope (R-44) H. Rules
HB 1676 Mandatory safe storage Kagi (D-32) DIED H. Jud
HB 1703 Gun "safety" training and tax Jinkins (D-27) DIED H. Jud
HB 1729 Street gangs Warnick (R-13) DIED H. Jud
HB 1788 Firearms/school employees Pike (R-18) DIED H. Jud
SHB 1839 Background checks Goodman (D-45) H. Rules
HB 1840 Firearms/restraining orders Goodman (D-45) H. Rules
HB 1908 Firearms on school property Scott (R-39) DIED H. Jud
SB 5282 DSHS/WSP info exchange Carrell (R-28) S. Rules
SB 5376 Juvi illegal firearm possession Kline (D-37) S. W&M
SSB 5452 Stalking protection orders Conway (D- S. Rules
SB 5478 Firearms/mental health court Keiser (D-33) DIED S. L&J
SB 5479 Safekeeping of firearms Keiser (D-33) DIED S. L&J
SB 5485 Mandatory safe storage Kline (D-37) DIED S. L&J
SB 5604 NRA license plates Hatfield (D-19) DIED S. Trans
HB 5625 Background checks Kline (D-37) DIED S. L&J
SB 5635 Restoration of firearm rights Kline (D-37) DIED S. L&J
SB 5660 Firearm safety education Chase (D-3) DIED S. Early Learn
SB 5710 Mandatory safe storage Kohl-Welles (D-46) DIED S. L&J
SB 5711 Background checks Kline (D-37) DIED S. L&J
SB 5737 Ban on sale of "assault weapons" Murray (D-43) DIED S. L&J
SB 5739 Ban on guns in parks Murray (D-43) DIED S. L&J
SB 5831 Bans double tax on clay pigeons Rivers (R-18) S. W&M
Key to abbreviations: SB = Senate Bill, HB = House Bill, Jud = Judiciary, L&J = Law & Justice, HS&C = Human Services & Corrections, Trans = Transportation, Approp = Appropriations, Early Learn = Early Learning and K-12 Education, W&M = Ways & Means
GOAL POSITION ON BILLS
HB 1096 CONCERNS
HB 1383 CONCERNS
HB 1588 OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED
HB 1612 CONCERNS
HB 1839 SUPPORT
HB 1840 OPPOSE
SB 5282 SUPPORT
SB 5376 CONCERNS
SB 5452 CONCERNS
SB 5831 SUPPORT
HEARING(S) SCHEDULED
LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE: You may reach your Representatives and Senator by calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Toll free!!! The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993. Also toll free!!!
1-800-562-6000 TDD 1-800-635-9993
OTHER DATA: Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature's web site at "www.leg.wa.gov". Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com). You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573. Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/ (you need "RealAudio" to do this, available free at the TVW web site).
By reading the House and Senate "bill reports" (hbr, sbr) for each bill, you can see how individual committee members voted. By reading the "roll call" for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on any bill. The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is available, on line, to any citizen.
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Upcoming WAC gun show(s):
Puyallup 23-24 February
Puyallup 23-24 March
"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men."
Article 1, Section 24
Constitution of the State of Washington
Copyright 2013 Gun Owners Action League of WA
