Sen. Rebecca Saldaña is currently accepting applications for session aides for the 2019 legislative session, which begins in January.

Session aides provide a variety of support services to help senators and their legislative assistants successfully fulfill the obligations of the senators’ elected position.

We are looking for highly motivated individuals interested in public service who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment.

If you would like to serve as Sen. Saldaña’s session aide and you are committed to upholding the values of justice, dignity and inclusion for all, take a look at the job announcement for more information about the position and how to apply.

The Washington State Senate is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, persons over 40 years of age, disabled and Vietnam era veterans and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact Sen. Saldaña’s office at (360) 786-7688.

The Spokseman-Review / Jan. 21, 2018
By Jim Camden

Less than a day after legislative negotiators pushed them through the House and Senate on bipartisan votes, Gov. Jay Inslee signed key bills on state construction projects and a revision to water law.

It was so fast one had to wonder if the ink was dry yet from printing out the formal copies of the legislation.

A deal that eluded the Legislature for 193 days in the 2017 session came together in the middle of last week. Once an agreement was reached, lawmakers were either so happy to be shed of these troublesome issues or wary that if they delayed even a few hours, the deal would fall apart.

They wasted no time in passing a $4.2 billion capital construction budget, a $2.7 billion general obligation bond bill to help pay for some of those projects, and a complicated set of rules that govern whether and how much water can be drawn from the aquifer in some rural and suburban areas.

“I’m really pleased at the really rapid progress this Legislature is making,” Inslee said.

He signed the capital budget and the bond bills in a standard ceremony in his conference room, serenaded by Senate pages who have formed a ukelele band. The song’s chorus, which lauds legislation with a chorus of “They change the world, one bill at a time” might be worth inscribing over the entrance to the Legislature, he said.

Although he said he wished the Legislature had passed the capital budget much earlier, the budget has projects all over the state, and will support thousands of jobs, he said.

The governor skipped a public signing ceremony for the water rights bill, known generally as the “Hirst fix,” after a state Supreme Court ruling. He signed that one without fanfare in his office earlier. Some of his allies in the environmental community, and many tribal leaders, have criticized it for not doing enough to protect the state’s water resources.

Unlike the capital budget bills, which had near unanimous support in both chambers of the Legislature, the vote on the Hirst fix was mixed, with some of the more liberal and conservative lawmakers voting no.

Signing it in private is just as effective, he said. Asked if there were things he didn’t like about the bill, Inslee replied that is “largely moot” because it’s now law.

It will have a positive effect on the state’s water resources, has more protections for in-stream flows and will spend some $300 million over the next 15 years to improve water supplies, he said.

Voting Rights, and wrongs

Although much attention was given last week to the Legislature’s lightning approval of the $4.2 billion capital construction budget and the change in state water law that freed the spending from the hostage status it was held in through 2017, the Senate also passed another of the Democrats’ Holy Grail bills, the Voting Rights Act.

It’s designed to give minority groups equal opportunity to participate in local elections in cities, counties or other government entities through such things as redistricting or dividing at-large districts into smaller sections of the electorate. If more than 5 percent of those residents speak a language other than English, it also would require those local governments to send out information in that language.

When they were in control of the Senate, Republicans blocked previous efforts. This year, they didn’t have the votes, but they did manage a parliamentary maneuver to stall it for a couple days.

Republicans failed in several efforts to amend it, saying it would lead to lawsuits and gerrymandering. Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, and others argued it would generate fewer lawsuits.

“I think we currently have right now, over the last census, gerrymandering throughout Washington state,” she said.

That brought a rebuke from Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville: “I want to correct the gerrymandering comment from the relatively new member of the body. In our state, all four caucuses appoint their negotiator. It is virtually impossible for us to gerrymander our state’s boundaries legislatively.”

Schoesler is right, to a point, but the state is not completely free of gerrymandering for legislative and congressional districts. The redistricting commission has four members appointed respectively by the majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate. But they come to the table trying to get the best deal for the folks who appoint them, and they’ve been known to shift precincts around to make a district safer for one party or the other and draw some pretty strange shapes.

And the bill doesn’t deal with legislative or congressional districts, but local governments.

After a series Republican amendments failed on roll call votes, Saldaña tried to bring it up for a vote without a one-day delay – a standard request that every senator has used at some time. Republicans objected, keeping the vote from happening right away.

Schoesler said Republicans had some members absent to attend the funeral for a Pierce County law enforcement officer and they might want to vote on the bill, too.

Two days later, the bill came to the floor and passed 29 to 19 with some GOP support.

Sequim Gazette / Jan. 20, 2018
By Josh Kelety

The state Senate passed several bills aimed at expanding access to voting and promoting minority representation in local governments through redistricting.

On the evening of Jan. 17, in a reconvened Senate floor vote session, the body passed SB 6021, which would allow voters to register for elections in-person up until 8 p.m. on the day of an election and eight days before if registering online or by mail.

The bill passed 29-20 and now goes to the House.

The Senate also passed the 2018 Voting Rights Act: a bill which allows local governments to restructure electoral districts to avoid gerrymandering that disenfranchises minority groups. The legislation also allows for for lawsuits to be filed against governments that refuse to restructure their electoral districts if disenfranchisement is identified.

Versions of the bill have passed the House five times over the past few years, but have always died in the then Republican-controlled Senate and have never made it to the floor for a vote.

“I’m really tickled that we’ve been able to get this long reworked bill to the floor for a vote,” said Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, prior to the Jan. 19 vote.

“We’re doing something that has not been done anywhere else in the country,” said Sen. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle, the primary sponsor of the bill. “We are creating a process where communities can give notice and work together with jurisdictions to find a solution that works for their city and district without a long drawn out process that causes division and bitterness.”

While the bill was passed on Jan. 19, it was originally brought up for a floor vote two days before. Senate Republicans attempted to add several amendments, which were all voted down, before they blocked an attempted early vote on the bill.

On the Senate floor, Senate Republicans argued that the bill, as written, will result in a torrent of lawsuits against local governments claiming that their electoral districting disenfranchise minority groups.

“This bill is actually the gerrymandering and litigation act,” said Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale.

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, said that the legislation is unnecessary due to longstanding federal law: “Where there is allegations of real discrimination, there is the Federal Voting Rights Act which was passed in 1965 and we have 50 years of interpretations.”

Senate Democrats countered that the bill designates legal action as a measure of last resort, and that the bill gives local governments the option to voluntarily redesign their districts.

“The primary purpose is to provide local decisions to local leaders and governments without ever having to go to court,” said Sen. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia.

“There will be no court case unless a local government refuses to act and unless there has been a pattern proven of discrimination.”

“What you have before you, I believe, strikes a good balance,” said Sen. Saldana. “Good process and dialogue can prevent litigation.”

On Jan. 17, Hunt was impatient with his Republican colleagues’ attempts to amend the bill at the last minute before passage.

“We have been working on this bill for six years now,” Hunt said. “It is all worked out. It is a good solution.”

The bill passed with a wide margin of 29-19 with one excused absence.

The Cascadia Advocate / Jan. 19, 2018

The United States Senate may be wracked by dysfunction and disagreement — especially this week — but here in Washington, our State Senate is on a roll, working diligently to advance the good of all the people under its new Democratic majority. After having passed the DISCLOSE Act, same-day voter registration, and the capital budget earlier this week, our Senate today voted for the first time to adopt the Washington Voting Rights Act (ESSB 6002), liberating a bill that had been stuck in the Senate Republicans’ graveyard of progress for years.

“This bill is a significant step forward in our ongoing effort to expand access to democracy in Washingtonian, and establish a truly representative government,” said Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D-37th District: Seattle).

“We saw a dramatic change in representation in cities like Yakima and Pasco after they implemented district-based elections. Washington needs a voting rights act so that every local jurisdiction has the opportunity to do this, and so that impacted communities can truly have a voice that counts.”

“Voting is a right, not a privilege,” agreed Senator Sam Hunt (D-22nd District).

“We don’t need barriers to voting, we need pathways. It is our most basic duty to make our democracy accessible to every single eligible voter. We won’t succeed by just by increasing opportunities for voting. We must also increase transparency in our elections by shining a light on hidden money. This package accomplishes those goals. Access to democracy is essential in having a strong government.”

“After years of hard work by committed community leaders and legislators, today the Washington Senate passed the Voting Rights Act,” said Rich Stolz, Chief Executive Officer of OneAmerica Votes. “This is a tremendous victory for communities of color striving for greater representation across our state, made possible by community members who campaigned to elect Senator Manka Dhingra in the 45th Legislative District.  Today, Dinghra is one of two women of color in the State Senate.  The other, Senator Rebecca Saldana (LD37), sponsored this legislation.”

“The Senate’s action today stands in stark contrast to the theatrics and threatening rhetoric emanating from the White House. Washington State is setting its own path toward greater equity, representation and a stronger democracy.”

The roll call was as follows:

Roll Call
ESSB 6002
Voting rights act
3rd Reading & Final Passage
1/19/2018

Yeas: 29; Nays: 19; Excused: 1

Voting Yea: Senators Billig, Carlyle, Chase, Cleveland, Conway, Darneille, Dhingra, Fain, Frockt, Hasegawa, Hawkins, Hobbs, Hunt, Keiser, Kuderer, Liias, McCoy, Miloscia, Mullet, Nelson, Palumbo, Pedersen, Ranker, Rolfes, Saldaña, Sheldon, Takko, Van De Wege, Wellman

Voting Nay: Senators Angel, Bailey, Becker, Braun, Brown, Ericksen, Fortunato, Honeyford, King, O`Ban, Padden, Rivers, Schoesler, Short, Wagoner, Walsh, Warnick, Wilson, Zeiger

Excused: Senator Baumgartner

Four Republicans crossed over to support the Voting Rights Act: Joe Fain, Brad Hawkins, Mark Miloscia, and Tim Sheldon. Senator Baumgartner did not vote on final passage. The remaining eighteen Republicans voted nay, while the entire Democratic caucus was unified in support of the legislation.

Passage of the Voting Rights Act is one of NPI’s legislative priorities for 2018. We’re thrilled to see today’s action on the floor of the Senate. The approval of the WVRA is fantastic news for the people of the State of Washington.

ESSB 6002 now goes to the House, which has previously voted several times to pass previous versions of the Washington Voting Rights Act.

SeattlePI / Jan. 19, 2018
By Joel Connelly

The Washington State Senate, unlike a gridlocked Congress in the “other” Washington, has powered ahead on multiple fronts this week, culminating Friday with passage of the long-delayed Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA).

The Senate cleared up a six-month impasse, late Thursday night, by passing a $4.2 billion state capital construction budget.

The capital budget, left hanging when the Legislature adjourned last June, funds 1,400 projects across the state, creates 19,000 jobs and protects Blanchard Mountain south of Bellingham. A compromise on water rights cleared the way for its passage.

“What a week!” said State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. “We’ve been able to bring to the table (things) that have been flattened for the past five years . . . There is a powerful desire here to make government work.”

Democrats retook control of the Legislature’s upper chamber last November, after being under Republican control since 2013.

The WVRA passed on a bipartisan 29-19 vote. It has repeatedly passed the state House of Representatives in recent years, but stalled when Republican Senate leaders refused to bring it to a vote.

But on Friday, it passed with the blessing of Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman, and the votes of such front-rank GOP legislators as State Sens. Joe Fain, R-King County and Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way.

The act removes barriers in state law and allows counties, cities school boards and other elected bodies to change their election systems. It is designed the facilitate creation of district-based elections, notably in Eastern Washington counties where at-large voting has excluded large Latino populations from pubic office.

“It will encourage people to run for office, it will boost turnout by voters long neglected, and it will make people running for office go into parts of communities they have ignored,” said Rich Stolz of OneAmerica, the immigrant rights group.

Using their one-vote Senate majority, Democrats have already pushed through a package of voting legislation — including provision for same-day voter registration.

“We don’t need barriers to voting, we need pathways: It is our basic duty to make our democracy accessible to every single eligible voter,” said Sen. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, who chairs the Senate’s state government committee.

Want to know the need for WVRA? Yakima proved Exhibit A. The city, more than 40 percent Latino, had never elected a Latino city council member or school board member with at-large voting.

When the American Civil Liberties Union brought suit, the city ran up legal fees in the seven figures fighting to maintain its all-Anglo government. A federal judge found evidence overwhelming, ruling for the plaintiffs without a trial. The Yakima City Council has two Latina members elected by district.

The WVA will produce “truly representative government,” said Sen. Rebecca Saldana, D-Seattle, WVRA sponsor. “We saw a dramatic change in representation in cities like Yakima and Pasco after they implemented district-based elections.”

The state capital budget was dammed up last spring in a dispute over water rights. The State Supreme Court, with its Hirst decision, left some rural property owners unable to drill wells on their own land.

The divided Legislature plowed through three special sessions, did pass a budget at the 11th hour, but adjourned with Republicans holding up the capital budget and insisting on a fix of the Hirst decision. Democrats engaged in broad-scale blaming and grandstanding over projects put on hold.

The dam was breached this week. A bipartisan compromise, reached in short order, eased regulations on small wells and committed $300 million to water conservation projects.

Both the water bill and capital budget passed with overwhelming majorities, cleared the House, and were on Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk by Friday afternoon.

The highs and lows of the capital budget can be seen in the northwest corner of the state, the district of State Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island. The budget permanently protects Blanchard Mountain south of Bellingham, the state’s premier takeoff point for hang gliding. It renovates buildings and upgrades labs at Western Washington University. It invests in the Skagit Valley Family WMCA.

The partisan rancor is not gone from Olympia.

“It is extremely unfortunate and, frankly, irresponsible that for nearly a year Republicans stalled these projects and refused to vote on the $4.2 billion capital budget,” Gov. Inslee tweeted as he prepared to sign the budget.

The Senate has ventured into social policy as well. On Friday afternoon, it passed bills to ban so-called conversion therapy for LGBTQ children, and to prevent bullying in schools.

If the Trump administration and Congress seem intent on making the federal government look dysfunctional, the Washington Legislature seems intent on showing an innovative, activist state government.

A lot of heavy lifting — e.g. gun safety legislation and Gov. Inslee’s proposed carbon tax — remains in the days ahead.

Columbia Basin Herald/ Jan. 17, 2018
By Emry Dinman

Gov. Jay Inslee talks about the importance of new gun control regulations, flanked by Democratic lawmakers, gun control advocates and survivors of gun violence.

OLYMPIA — About 1,000 gun rights and gun control advocates met at the capital this week to testify on five bills that would affect the right of Washingtonians to keep firearms.

One bill, SB 6049, would make possession of a large capacity magazine, or a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds, a gross misdemeanor. The proposal would continue allowing large capacity magazines already owned when the law would take effect.

Another bill, SB 5444, would require anyone purchasing an assault weapon to have a license for that weapon. Applications for a license would require the applicant’s personal information, including full sets of fingerprints, and a list of every assault weapon or large capacity magazine owned. The applicant would have to pass both state and federal background checks.

Assault weapons include semiautomatic rifles and pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have certain features, or rifles and pistols with fixed magazines capable of holding over 10 rounds. Also included are short-barrel rifles, semiautomatic shotguns with certain features and shotguns with revolving cylinders.

Assault weapons already owned by the law’s effective date would not require a license until July 1, 2020.

Those who testified against SB 5444 and SB 6049 said that they would not make Washingtonians safer. Keely Hopkins, Washington state liaison for the NRA, said that there was virtually no safety distinction between a 10-round and an 11-round magazine. Hopkins also pointed to a federal ban on large capacity magazines from 1994 to 2004, which she said had no effect on crime rates.

Jane Milhans, a firearms instructor who volunteers to train women through the Tacoma Rifle and Revolver Club, said that women would be negatively impacted by a ban on assault weapons. Milhans said that women gun owners often prefer AR-15s, which would be considered an assault weapon, due to their adjustable stocks and low recoil.

“It is a woman’s right to own firearms,” Milhans said. “It gives her a fighting chance.”

Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who requested both bills, said that assault weapons are more likely to be used in mass shootings and would result in more deaths.

Ferguson pointed to the 2016 Mukilteo shooting, in which 19-year-old Allen Ivanov entered a house party in Mukilteo and emptied a magazine into the crowd, killing three. About a week earlier, Ivanov had walked into a Cabela’s and walked out with an AR-15 the same day, which Ferguson called, “unacceptable.”

A third bill, SB 5992 would criminalize possession of any trigger modification devices, including bumpstocks, in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting last October. Anyone possessing such a device after July 1, 2019, would be guilty of a Class C felony.

Ann-Marie Parson lost her daughter in the Las Vegas mass shooting last October, and testified in favor of SB 5444, 6049 and 5992. The combination of weapon type, large capacity magazines and bumpstocks all contributed to the deadly scene in Las Vegas, Parson said.

“If the gunman was in this room, none of us could run in time,” Parson said.

Parson was just one of several people who testified on behalf of loved ones who had been present at the Las Vegas mass shooting, or who had been there themselves.

Under a fourth bill, SB 5463, any firearm not in the immediate possession of its owner must be kept in a locked storage space or be secured with a lock that prevents the firearm from discharging.

Nyla Fritz testified on behalf of her brother, Arnold Fritz, who was 14 when he was killed during the 1996 school shooting at Frontier Junior High in Moses Lake. The gunman was a fellow student, 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis, who came to the school armed with a rifle and two handguns taken from Loukaitis’ father.

“Barry should not have been able to get a gun,” Fritz said.

Those who testified against SB 5463 argued that forcing law-abiding gun owners to keep their weapons in storage would prevent them from acting quickly in defense of themselves or others.

Anne Hamilton was once the victim of armed robbery, where she was blindfolded and robbed in her own home. She said that she feared she would not be able to get into a safe quickly enough to defend herself in the future.

Under SB 6146, local jurisdictions would be given the authority to write their own gun control legislation. State preemption currently prevents local jurisdictions from placing more restrictions on gun owners than allowed for under state law.

Sen. Rebecca Saldana, who sponsored SB 6146, said she was inspired to write the legislation after finding five shell casings next to a swingset in a local park.

Opponents of the bill are concerned that it would create patchwork regulations, in which a gun owner could unknowingly bring a firearm from a jurisdiction where it was legal into one where it was not.

Unless otherwise noted, the effective date for these laws would be 90 days after the 2018 legislative session ends.