Camden: Legislators busy proposing bills for upcoming session

Another would strengthen that 30-day rule and require unanimous consent by the four leaders when the Legislature is gone. It also would knock disobeying an order down from a gross misdemeanor to a misdemeanor, significantly reducing the penalties.

Another bill would allow three of the legislative leaders to limit any health emergency order from a local health office, or from mayors, city councils, county commissions or executives after 30 days.

The pandemic also has spawned at least two proposals for relief from the business and occupation tax, with one calling for an exemption for COVID-19 grants a company might have received and another calling for a one-time $5,000 tax credit. Another proposal would give employers a break from rising unemployment fees and spend $500 million from the Rainy Day fund to shore up the Unemployment Trust Fund.

Perhaps inspired by Monday’s Electoral College meeting, Rep. Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick, has proposed a new way to elect the governor. Instead of just giving it to the person who gets the most votes, he’d like to divide 147 electoral votes — the combined number of senators and representatives — among the 39 counties based on population.

But each county would get at least one vote, so it wouldn’t be as simple as making the legislative districts the same as the electoral districts. Counties in Eastern Washington and the Olympic Peninsula, which currently share legislative districts with other counties, would be guaranteed at least one elector while more populous counties with multiple districts like King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane would have fewer. A candidate who wins a county would get all of those electoral votes, regardless of how close the tally.

This could solve the Republicans’ frustration over a string of gubernatorial losses that started in 1984 because it will enhance their strength in small counties that they typically win, like Asotin, Garfield and Columbia, and turn smaller wins in Spokane County into total victories. But it might run afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s requirement of “one person, one vote.”

Another proposed change by Klippert, who leads the pre-filing sweepstakes with 10 bills, would require mailed ballots to have watermarks to help enhance their security.

There are some familiar ideas, such as a proposal to allow marijuana to be grown at home for personal use; to make Juneteenth, the day slaves in Texas learned of their freedom, a state holiday; to dedicate the sales tax from car sales to transportation projects; to restrict some abortions; and to give medical marijuana patients exemptions from taxes if they are registered with the state.

A proposal to divide Washington at the Cascade Crest and form a 51st state often shows up in pre-filed bills. One hasn’t surfaced yet, but it’s not clear yet whether someone else is ready to take up that crusade now that former Rep. Matt Shea has left office.