We are pleased to report that the Senate passed SB 5539 today with a vote of 40 yea, 8 nays and 1 excused. We would like to thank Senator Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) for her leadership and support.
The following is a detailed account of the Senate votes:
- Voting Yea – Senators Baumgartner, Becker, Benton, Brown, Chase, Conway, Delvin, Eide, Ericksen, Fain, Fraser, Frockt, Hargrove, Harper, Hatfield, Haugen, Hewitt, Hobbs, Holmquist Newbry, Keiser, Kilmer, King, Kline, Kohl-Welles, Litzow, McAuliffe, Morton, Murray, Nelson, Padden, Prentice, Pridemore, Ranker, Roach, Rolfes, Sheldon, Shin, Stevens, Swecker, and Zarelli
- Voting Nay – Senators Hill, Honeyford, Kastama, Parlette, Pflug, Regala, Schoesler, and Tom
- Excused – Senator Carrell
While he ultimately did not vote for the legislation, we were encouraged to hear Senator Kastama (D-Puyallap) acknowledge the number of constituents who contacted him in support. Also noteworthy is that we added 10 additional Senate supporters during this legislative session, with 40 yeas in 2012 as compared to 30 in 2011. Great work! If your Senator voted for SB 5539, we encourage you to write and thank them. If they did not, please write and express your concern about their vote against job creation and economic development.
The bill will now be referred to the House of Representatives for consideration. While we are encouraged by today’s vote in the Senate, we must remain vigilant, as we expect significant hurdles in the House. As things develop in Olympia we will keep you informed. In the meantime, we strongly encourage you to write your Representatives in support of SB 5539.
You can find a sample letter of support in our previous post, Bill On The Move, including a link to help you find your Representatives.
Let’s keep up the momentum!