GOAL Post 2019-14
Legislative Update from Olympia 12 April 2019
BILLS PASS SECOND CHAMBER
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FOR MOST
CHAMBER CUT-OFF NEXT WEDNESDAY, 17 APRIL
The House passed SBs 5181 (firearms/mental health) and 5205 (firearms/incompetence, both with amendments. The Senate passed HB 1225 (firearms/domestic violence) with amendments. All three bills await a concurrence vote (for the amendment) or go to a conference committee to iron out differences, where SB 5508 CPL background checks) still sits.. HB 1949 (firearm background checks) is on its way to the Governor. HBs 1465 (handgun delivery), 1739 (undetectable/untraceable firearms), 1786 (firearms/protective orders) and 1934 (military CPL renewal) and SB 5782 (spring blade knives) still await a floor vote. All five bills are on their chamber floor calendar, so a vote is possible in the next few days.
GOAL Post 2019-13
Legislative Update from Olympia 5 April 2019
POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF; BILLS MOVE, BILLS DIE
ACTION SHIFTS ONCE AGAIN TO CHAMBER FLOORS
17 APRIL CHAMBER CUT-OFF, 28 APRIL SINE DIE
The legislature is moving into the final leg of its 105 day/15 week regular session. Just over three weeks left. The primary focus of the long session in odd-numbered years is supposed to be development and adoption of the biennial budget, Whether a budget agreement will be reached or a special session will be called is hard to say right now. Both the House and Senate have passed budget bills, but the bills are $750 MILLION apart – in new spending only! The overall biennial budget runs over $52 BILLION. Now to guns… (more…)
GOAL Post 2019-12
Legislative Update from Olympia 29 March 2019
BILLS MOVE OUT OF COMMITTEE
BILLS STILL AWAITING COMMITTEE ACTION
SECOND POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF NEXT WEDNESDAY
Side note: according to various news reports, around 2,000 individuals attended a “Defend the 2nd” rally conducted at the state capitol building in Salem, Oregon last Saturday. It appears Washington and Oregon are in a race to see who can pass the most restrictive gun control laws this year. 2,000 is by no means perfect, or even fully representative of Oregon gun owners, but it was a respectable turn-out. (more…)
GOAL Post 2019-11
Legislative Update from Olympia 22 March 2019
GOV SIGNS BUMP STOCK BUYBACK FUNDING
AWAITING COMMITTEE ACTION ON BILLS HEARD THIS WEEK
PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED NEXT WEEK
SECOND POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF
Starting the second half of the 2019 legislative session. And I think it’s time for a pep talk. We dodged a major bullet last week when SSB 5174 (CPL training) failed to get a vote. That was no coincidence. They do a nose count before major votes, and if the votes aren’t there, they don’t bring it up for a vote. Should a bill as extreme as SSB 5174 become law, it would strike a major blow to the CPL program. (more…)
GOAL Post 2019-10
Legislative Update from Olympia 15 March 2019
SB 5954 PASSES LEGISLATURE
CHAMBER CUT-OFF/TURNOVER DAY
BILLS LIVE – BILLS DIE
PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED
In an unusual move, SB 5954 (bump stock buyback funding) passed out of the Senate on 28 February, was fast-tracked through the House on March 11th where it was amended, so it went back to the Senate, who concurred in the House amendment. It’s on its way (more…)
GOAL Post 2019-9
Legislative Update from Olympia 8 March 2019
CHAMBER CUT-OFF NEXT WEDNESDAY
SHERIFFS, FFLs WARNED
BILLS PASS ORIGINAL CHAMBER
BILL STATUS LIST CULLED
The chamber cut-off is in five days. Bills that do not pass out of their chamber of origin by 5 p.m. are considered dead. (Always subject to extraordinary action.) Of the nearly 50 gun-related bills filed since the session began on 14 January, more than half have died. There are still just over seven weeks remaining for the 2019 regular legislative session.
GOAL Post 2019-8
Legislative Update from Olympia 1 March 2019
CHAMBER CUT-OFF 13 MARCH
SHERIFFS’ REVOLUTION SPREADS?
NEW BILL FILED
Correction: Last week I said the chamber cut-off was March 3rd. I missed a “1.” It’s March 13th! Ten more days to pass bills that threaten the constitution, threaten your wallet, or both!.
20 of 33 county commissions in New Mexico and their sheriffs have publicly stated their opposition to proposed gun legislation, declaring the proposals unenforceable. Not surprisingly, NM’s Democrat governor has ridiculed the sheriffs. Apparently, it’s not just Washington sheriffs who have decided enough is enough.
First, a quick Civics 101 refresher. The Constitution is a restriction on government power, not a limitation of the people’s power. The Washington State Constitution begins with Article 1, “Declaration of Rights.” Section 24 of Article 1 states, “SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. 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.”
There can be no question that the right of the INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE IMPAIRED. The common English meaning of “impaired” is “weakened or damaged.”
GOAL Post 2019-7
Legislative Update from Olympia 22 February 2019
NEW BILLS FILED
POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF PASSES
SOME BILLS NOMINALLY DIE
FOCUS SHIFTS TO FLOOR ACTION
HB 2103, by Rep Matt Shea (R-4) effectively rolls back much of I-1639. The bill was filed just before cut-off, and barring extraordinary action, will go nowhere – this year. SB 5954, by Sen. Christine Rolfes (D-23), modifies bump-stock buyback procedures.
GOAL Post 2019-6 Legislative Update from Olympia 15 February 2019
GOVERNOR AND AG SAY I-639 WILL BE ENFORCED NEW BILLS FILED BILLS PASS OUT OF COMMITTEE POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF NEXT FRIDAY PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED
In a press conference Thursday, both Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson said I-1639 WILL be enforced by Washington law enforcement officials. I wonder if they’ve ever heard of civil disobedience?
There were no new gun bills filed this week.
A few bills passed out of committee this week. HB 1381 (UAVs/contraband) and SB 5150 (college safety officers) apparently were amended and passed out of committee (final results not posted at this time). Presumably both are in their respective Rules Committees.
As a general (procedural) rule, bills must pass out of their first policy committee by next Friday (22 Feb) or be considered dead for the session. Because bills with major fiscal impact usually go to a fiscal committee, that cut-off date is a week later. In most cases, the cut-off rule holds, but exceptions can be made, and bills revived. No bill is truly dead until the end of the session.
Executive session (committee votes) will be held on several bills next week, given the Friday committee cut-off.
Public hearings are scheduled next week for several bills. HBs 1934 (military CPL renewal) and 1949 (firearm background checks) will be heard in House Civil Rights and Judiciary on February 19th. SB 5782 (knives) will be heard in Senate Law & Justice on February 18th. SB 5016 (arming animal control officers) will be heard in Senate Law & Justice on February 19th. SB 5181 (firearms/mental health) will be heard in Senate Ways & Means on February 19th as well.
HB = House bill, SB = Senate bill. L&J = Law & Justice , CR&J = Civil Rights and Judiciary, PubSaf = Public Safety, HC = Health Care, H. K-12 = House Early education, Aprop = Appropriations, Fin = Finance, W&M = Ways & Means “S” before a bill number indicates Substitute (amended).
HEARINGS SCHEDULED: 18 Feb Senate Law & Justice John A. Cherberg Bldg 10:00 a.m. SB 5782 (knives) 19 Feb House Civil Rights & Judiciary John L. O’Brien Bldg 10:00 a.m. HBs 1934 (military CPL renewal) and 1949 (firearm background checks) 19 Feb Senate Ways & Means John A. Cherberg Bldg 3:30 p.m. SB 5181 (firearms/mental health) 19 Feb Senate Law & Justice John A. Cherberg Bldg 10:00 a.m. SB 5016 (arming animal control officers)
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 24/7 , to any citizen.
GET THE WORD OUT: If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail, send a message to “[email protected] “. Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights. Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s). PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS REPRODUCED WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL. I can be reached at “[email protected]” or by telephone at (425) 985-4867. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals. Limited numbers of hard copies MAY be available at the Second Amendment Foundation book table at WAC gun shows.
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Upcoming WAC gun show(s): Puyallup (Pavilion) 23-24 February Puyallup 30-31 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