The following FOUR BILLS are displayed further down this page:
HB 1625, SHB 1625, HB 2919 and SB 6643.
I spoke with Rep. Clibborn aids office yesterday, and I was informed that it is her intention to amend SHB 1625 and move it out of the House in lieu of hearing HB 2919. By removing the insurance language from SHB 1625 it will make the language the same as that of HB 2919.
This is a good thing. It will put us two weeks ahead in the process of moving the "Left Turn Bill" to the Senate and finally to the Governor's desk. Although at the beginning of this session SHB 1625 was stalled in Rules, I have no doubt that the level of attention, and the quality of the bi-partisan sponsorship that HB 2919 subsequently received this year was instrumental in restoring life to the original bill.
SHB 1625 has been moved to the House Second Reading Calendar, which makes it eligible to be cleaned up and moved forward.
What we need now is the ground swell that only the riders of Washington can provide. Each and every one of you need to contact your House Members and ask that they remove the mandatory insurance language from SHB 1625 and pass it on to the Senate. Remind them that their Chamber has passed this version of the left turn bill twice before, and that the sooner they get it to the Senate, the better the chance that we will finish the task this year and not have to revisit the issue next year. (Feel free to appropriate that language to get the message across.)
Ride Free and Legislate Well,
"Texas" Larry Walker
Government Relations Specialist
WRRA (Washington Road Riders Association)
This is the bill that Geoff Simpson cluttered up with mandatory language. The BAD NEWS is that it passed with the offensive language still on board. The GOOD NEWS is that I have already entered into negotiations with Senator Haugen to give the bill a hearing AND strip the language. I will be meeting with her staff early next week to make the pitch. I am going to reaffirm my request and as an alternative, ask for Senator Tim Sheldon's bill, SB 6643, to receive a hearing. Either way, the insurance language goes away.
I think that our best chance will be to press forward with the original HB 1625 bill as long as possible. We still have many ways to kill the bill if we need to, but now is not the time. By passing the damaged version out of the house as soon as they did, we have been given a head start on the legislative cutoff deadlines we would normally come up against. If we can get it amended in the senate then all we will have to do is get a concurrence vote from in the house. At that point, all Geoff Simpson becomes is a single "no" vote.
Every rider needs to contact their senator and ask that they support a committee amendment to remove any reference to insurance and pass a clean version of the bill.
Co-Sponsors for
|
|
|---|---|
| Jacobsen (D 46th) | McAuliffe (D 1st) |
| Shin (D 21st) | Stevens (R 39th) |
| Hatfield (D 19th) | Roach (R 31st) |
| Benton (R 17th) | Kline (D 37th) |
| Rockefeller (D 23rd) | Delvin (R 8th) |
Ride Free and Legislate Well,
"Texas" Larry Walker
Government Relations Specialist
WRRA (Washington Road Riders Association)
Here's the original HB 1625
which doesn't contain the mandatory insurance language.
Read first time January 24, 2007
The House Bill Report on HB 1625 contains important information on this topic and is worth the short time it takes to read.
While HB 1625 and HB 2919 are identical in scope they do not use identical language. Still, neither bill contains the unwanted mandatory insurance language, nor does Senate Bill 6643. Only Substitute House Bill SHB 1625 contains the insurance language, but it is the bill progressing through the legislative process the quickest. Our challenge is to get the insurance language stripped before the bill becomes law.
Here's the Substitute House Bill, SHB 1625, which contains
the unwanted mandatory insurance language highlighted in yellow.
Read first time March 5, 2007
This bill passed the House on Friday, January 25, 2008
but the highlighted language needs to be removed before it can be passed.
Please contact your Senators & Representatives in Olympia.
Here's HB 2919 which doesn't contain
the unwanted mandatory insurance language.
Read first time January 17, 2008
While HB 1625 and HB 2919 are identical in scope they do not use identical language. Still, neither bill contains the unwanted mandatory insurance language, nor does Senate Bill 6643. Only Substitute House Bill SHB 1625 contains the insurance language, but it is the bill progressing through the legislative process the quickest. That's why the language must be stripped before the bill becomes law.
Here's SB 6643, companion bill to HB 2919.
Neither bill contains the unwanted mandatory insurance language.
Read first time January 21, 2008
