The Washington State Labor Council 
Annual report summarizing the 2000 Legislative Session 

A print version of the 2000 Legislative Report is now available. Email us and request a free copy.

1999-2000 Senate Voting Record -- 1999-2000 House Voting Record 
 

2000 WSLC LEGISLATIVE REPORT 
Ballard blocks, Chopp balks 

The 1998 elections swept worker-friendly Democrats into solid control of the State Senate (a swing of 4 seats) and, to the surprise of virtually everyone, very nearly into control of the State House (a swing of 8 seats, resulting in a 49-49 split.)

Organized labor’s aggressive member-to-member registration, contact and turnout efforts were credited by pundits with making the difference in ‘98.

So after years of relying on Democratic governors to be the last line of defense against a plethora of worker-hostile bills from the Republican-controlled legislature, working people finally had reason to hope that some positive things could be accomplished in 1999-2000.

But in 1999, the divided House was Death Valley for working family bills. Some positive things were accomplished in the budget as Republican solidarity crumbled amid the pressure to break the political logjam. But still, the inability to get House Republicans to allow votes led the Washington State Labor Council, for the first time ever, to withhold publishing a legislative voting record.

Going into the 2000 session, a number of House Republicans indicated support for labor bills and at least one, Rep. Tom Campbell (R-2nd), was willing to vote with Democrats on procedural motions to force votes on workers’ issues.

Again, there was reason for optimism that the fruits of labor’s labor in the 1998 elections could be realized.

Some were. But many more were not because the Republicans clinging to co-leadership in the House again used what power they had left to deny votes on priority working family bills.

And frustratingly, House Democratic leadership put what they called the "integrity of the institution" ahead of fighting aggressively to clear the Republicans’ hurdles.

High hopes for 2000 agenda

Before the 2000 session began, labor worked with Senate and House leaders to develop a pro-worker legislative agenda that included:

-- Unemployment benefits for dislocated workers so they could participate in retraining programs;
-- Civil service reform that would end the second-class treatment of state employees and grant them the collective bargaining rights enjoyed by private sector and local government workers;
-- A Patient Bill of Rights that includes the right to sue;
-- Needlestick protection for health care workers;
-- Pension reform for public workers;
-- A contingent workforce study.

Governor Locke had indicated a desire to accomplish apprenticeship set asides for public works projects through an executive order. Therefore, this priority bill that died in 1999, was dropped from the 2000 agenda.

Fast action, a major win

The Senate jumped fast out of the gate, with Sen. Darlene Fairley (D-32nd) holding hearings and passing a number of excellent bills from the Senate labor committee. There was bipartisan support for the entire working families package, including both the civil service reform and unemployment insurance bills.

Additionally, the crisis created by the 15-month (and counting) lockout of steelworkers at Kaiser Aluminum led the Senate to pass a bill providing extended unemployment benefits to locked-out workers. Kudos to the Kaiser workers and the United Steelworkers of America for mounting an effective lobbying effort in Olympia.

The Senate strategy was to quickly move these bills to the House. Knowing full well that House rules allow the Republican committee co-chairs to bottle up bills without a hearing, quick action by the Senate would enable early efforts to pull the bills directly to the floor with a 50-vote procedural motion.

But by the second week of session House Co-Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43rd) indicated he no longer felt he could pursue the 50-vote strategy for the U.I. retraining bill. He and the Governor’s office had been negotiating the bill with the business community, and ultimately added another $160 million worth of UI tax breaks for business, along with provisions making it more difficult for workers with seasonal or intermittent work to requalify for unemployment benefits and restricting eligibility for certain good cause quits.

The concessions raising the bar for benefit qualification were negotiated without input or consultation with the Labor Council. (Labor was later told the compromise was necessary to clear the way for Civil Service Reform’s passage. ) A strong bipartisan vote then passed a bill that provided $140 million in dislocated worker retraining benefits in exchange for $600 million in tax breaks for business.

Kudos to the International Association of Machinists, the forest products unions and other labor lobbyists who forced this issue to the legislative forefront.

But Speaker Chopp’s unwillingness to pursue a 50-vote strategy was a harbinger of things to come.

No fight, just frustration

Tensions mounted as weeks passed with no action in the House on Civil Service Reform or the UI-lockout bill. Clearly, Republican Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard (R-12th) was the obstacle, but there seemed no will among House Democratic leaders to fight him.

House labor committee co-chair Rep. Jim Clements (R-14th) agreed to hear the needlestick and contingent worker study bills, but he was unwilling to allow committee votes. Pension reform discussions were ongoing.

It became crystal clear that if any of the priority labor-supported bills were to pass, it would require a major floor fight between the two House caucuses. Rep. Campbell’s support and commitment for these bills was unwavering and he remained willing to be the 50th vote for a rule change to bring them to the floor. But still, no movement.

In the closing weeks of the session, Steelworkers had begun lobbying in large numbers and circulating a "discharge" petition that demonstrated that a majority of representatives wanted to vote for their bill. But still, no action.

The Patient Bill of Rights was passed after it became tied to a Individual Market Reform bill that eviscerated the remaining health care insurance reforms from 1993.

"Integrity" redefined

Compromise and negotiation are certainly not bad things -- although some would argue that unnecessary concessions were being made. In fact, Civil Service Reform, which included language allowing certain contracting out of public services along with collective bargaining, was the product of more than a decade of negotiation / compromise.

But the problem now faced was that Republicans were not interested in negotiating on the remaining bills and the House Democratic leaders would not fight for them. (The exception was a public employees pension reform bill that passed, with positive and negative features for working families.)

Finally, in the waning days of the regular session a pro forma attempt was made to pull Civil Service Reform and the UI-lockout bills to the floor. A Point of Order was raised on the procedure and Co-Speaker Ballard refused to rule on it, singlehandedly thwarting the will of the majority. But Democrats refused to challenge him on it. They said that honoring this arcane rule allowing Ballard to not rule on the Point of Order protected the "integrity of the institution." So the "fight" ended inside the House Chambers.

Outside the House Chambers it was another story. Several hundred steelworkers, state employees and allies from within and outside organized labor sat on the floor and shouted "shame on you," "vote Clyde vote," and "change the rules, Frank." A vigil began, led by the steelworkers and state employees, that included several nights of 60 to 80 people sleeping (or trying to sleep) in the rotunda. There were mass lobbying efforts, daily meetings, rallies, marches, skits and singing, but nothing changed inside the doors.

Adding insult to injury, there was talk from legislators that "maintaining the integrity of the institution" (read: allowing Ballard to stifle the democratic process using arcane rules) was more important than the cries for justice from state employees and locked-out workers. Apparently, that "integrity" was also necessary to negotiate a budget.

With great fanfare, a bipartisan House budget emerged that had folks on both sides of the aisle gushing over the spirit of compromise. It was dead on arrival in the Senate. Looks like House Democrats were negotiating with the wrong people.

A special session was called and after 30 days legislators were still unable to agree on a budget. But that was 30 more days to pass civil service reform and the UI-lockout bill, right?

That didn’t happen. The Senate passed the bills a second time, even amending the UI-lockout bill (in the spirit of compromise) to limit the time workers would get benefits. But nothing moved in the House.

Ballard blocked and Chopp balked.

1999-2000 Senate Voting Record -- 1999-2000 House Voting Record 

Copyright © 2000  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO