The final amendment fails as well so we're on to final passage. #waleg
Amendment fails. Next amendment sunsets the program in 2031. We are a no. #waleg
Amendment fails. Next amendment says only businesses incorporated in the State of Washington could get Abortion Savings Grants (so not Planned Parenthood), and requires those organizations to comply with audits from the WA Auditor. #waleg
Nice to know I can still yell after all those amendments yesterday. #waleg
That amendment fails. The next amendment requires the Dept of Health to produce a report on this program annually. We are a no. #waleg
Apparently I posted more than 100 times yesterday while taxing millionaires. #waleg
Fun fact!
That amendment fails. The next amendment says 50% of the Abortion Savings Programs grants have to be provided to organizations that provide IVF or fertility services. We are a no. #waleg
This amendment prohibits people who reside outside of the state of Washington from receiving healthcare from organizations receiving Abortion Savings Program grants. We are a no. #waleg
First amendment fails. On to the next amendment. #waleg
There are a bunch of amendments and they're all from Rep Marshall. As an added fun fact, Rep Marshall is the founder of the Washington State Three Percenters. #waleg
Estate tax rollback passes. We're on SB 6182 which levies a tax on health carriers that provide coverage through health benefit exchanges to provide grants to support patient access to abortions. It prohibits this from being passed to individuals #waleg
Rep Fitzgibbon speaking on the final bill. Notes that our estate tax currently is 35%, Hawaii is the next one with 20%. The change in this bill would make us tied for first instead of being way out at super first. #waleg
I voted to support the amendment but it didn't hang. Democrats arguing it's not good for us to be such an outlier with estate tax rates. #waleg
There's a Shaun Scott amendment that says that the estate tax break shouldn't start until we start collecting the millionaire's tax. #waleg
Next up we're doing SB 6347, which addresses the estate tax. We significantly increased this last year, making us the highest in the nation, which isn't great cause we end up collecting nothing if well to do people move out of state before they die. This brings us back to the previous rate. #waleg
36th leads the way!
I think it's safe to say that everyone on this floor is tired. We were all doing pretty well until about 9, but the wear and tear of yesterday's 25 straight hours of debate is hitting now. We all got good sleep last night, but not enough to make up for the night we lost. The work goes on #waleg
Good evening.... it's Night Floor! It's 11:25 AM, we're doing a @noelframe.bsky.social bill about the warehousing of prescription drugs, SB 6228. This bill is important for the operating budget having to do with loopholes for drug warehousing. #waleg
For those tracking this HB 1923, the Mosquito Fleet Act, was NOT concurred with, so it goes back to the Senate to see if they'll recede from their amendments. #waleg
WHAT?! I AM SHOCKED. SHOCKED! 😊🫠
To be fair, it's because so many past budgets *did not* adequately fund this that we're taking out the debt to generate a lump sum because of the large need for delayed maintenance. #waleg
Good catch.
It's not over, just the mid-point. Take heart!
A bond bill like this requires 59 votes to pass -- meaning all of the Democrats in the House in this case. That threshold is achieved, bill passes on party lines. #waleg
Bonding, as a reminder, is not free money. A big chunk of the Transportation budget goes to pay the debt service on bonds we've already issued. And every dollar we spend paying interest on debt is a dollar we can't spend on transit and multimodal transportation. #waleg
However, the ST bond issue is dead for this session and this is here. Given the scale of the need to maintain and preserve our transportation network, I'm going to support this bonding proposal. We do need this and I hope and expect we'll be able to revisit ST bonds next session. #waleg
I'm particularly irritated because we did not advance 75-year bonds for Sound Transit out of House Transportation this year -- despite my support and fighting for it. But the new authority for roads is going forward -- they're not apples to apples, but still. #waleg
There's no doubt: our roads and bridges are in very bad shape and we need to repair them. The House Transportation budget used most of our existing bonding authority to meet this need without expanding bonding authority. I liked that proposal better. #waleg
