1/8 The 2007 session began with pomp. House members entered the chamber to loud applause, a military group brought in the flags, a Mormon choir sang the national anthem, a Catholic priest said a prayer and then [state Supreme Court] Justice Charles Johnson swore us all in. Republican members added “so help me God” to the oath, with a shout. So much for separation of church and state. The chamber is ornate and beautiful—and I feel a heavy sense of responsibility and privilege in walking out to that old desk and seeing my name up there on the electronic voting board. At the same time, as [retired Senate Majority Leader] Sid Snyder pointed out at our orientation, the nameplates can slide out as easily as they can slide in. The institution will go on long after all of us are gone.
1/11 [Democratic Seattle State Sen.] Ed Murray and Reps. Joe McDermott [Seattle], Jim Moeller [Vancouver] and I met with LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] groups and other stakeholders and held a press conference on the marriage and domestic-partner [DP] bills. I started gathering co-sponsors in earnest: We are up to 15 on the marriage bill and 22 on the DP bill.
1/18 Our office received our first hate mail today—ironically, not on a gay issue, but because I voted in Judiciary Committee against the funeral-protest bill [now a law requiring protesters at funerals to stay 500 feet away] on First Amendment grounds. I had a long string of meetings this afternoon: nurses and other SEIU [Service Employees International Union Local] 1199 members, dental hygienists, physical therapists, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Lutherans, credit unions and biotech employees. We had a dinner tonight for all of the lawyers in the Legislature. Our freshman class includes four (Roger Goodman [D-Kirkland], Deb Eddy [D-Kirkland], Troy Kelley [D-Tacoma] and I)—which brings the grand total to 10 out of 147. [Gig Harbor Democrat] Pat Lantz (the House Judiciary Committee chair) made everyone tell a story about themselves. Chief Justice [Gerry] Alexander says he has “a fetish for well-shined shoes.” I guess I would not have made a good clerk for him!
1/24 Ed [Murray] and I met with [Democratic House Speaker] Frank Chopp today for an hour to talk about extending the UW [University of Washington] code of conduct to the neighborhoods north of campus, the [Alaskan Way] Viaduct and the DP bill. Frank asked that we have weekly meetings to talk about district issues. I am lucky to have them as my seatmates.
1/25 At the law firm, our world is divided into six-minute increments, But sometimes, you work for hours on the same thing. Not here: 15-minute meetings with constituents and lobbyists are the norm, and when the time is up, my able legislative assistant knocks and says, “It’s time for your next appointment.” Today’s parade included clinical social workers, body-piercing proponents, midwives, Positive Christian Agenda (which informed me that abortion causes breast cancer), police and sheriffs, advocates of electoral-college reform, physical-therapy assistants, and rental-housing owners, The Senate hearing on the DP bill was today: Our opening panel was outstanding, especially Charlene Strong, with a heartbreaking story of losing her partner, Kate; being denied access at Harborview until Kate’s family gave permission, and then not being allowed to make funeral arrangements. This is why I am here. Ed and Michael [his partner], Joe, Jim and I went to dinner to plan our next steps.
2/1 The House and Senate Healthcare Committees met jointly today on healthcare reform. I think I will quickly tire of all of the people who oppose any significant change. [Seattle Democratic Rep.] Eileen Cody is strong and impressive—I am starting to understand why she has lost patience on issues such as provider discipline and hospital-acquired infections.
2/11 In caucus today, I raised a question about a bill to give high school diplomas to people who dropped out of high school to fight in Vietnam. The idea was to extend a program that does the same thing for WWII and Korean War veterans. The bill passed out of Education Committee unanimously. Apparently, no one realized that, as drafted, the bill would include kids who dropped out of high school today, too. Committee members thought that the military had stopped taking high school dropouts in the 1980s—but several members who are veterans (Larry Seaquist [D-Gig Harbor], Troy Kelley [D-Tacoma] and Chris Hurst [D-Enumclaw]) immediately said that the Bush administration is sending many high school dropouts to Iraq.
The most positive surprise here is the quality of the people I am serving with. There are many really bright, engaged, passionate people. The biggest disappointment is that we do not have or take the time to read the bills we pass.
2/20 I got a hearing for my seventh bill today—HB 1870, which would make Juneteenth a day of remembrance. I talked about how the day got started, to commemorate June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas, and informed the last slaves in the United States that they were free. [Speaker Pro Tem] John Lovick [D-Mill Creek] talked about how he and his family celebrate Juneteenth and what it means to them as African-Americans.
2/26 We are hurtling toward the first cutoff, and anxiety and grumpiness abound. I went to speak with Helen Sommers [D-Seattle], the Appropriations chair, about HB 1922, my bill to provide housing vouchers for youths [who are] aging out of foster care. She doesn’t want to schedule the bill for a hearing because it is a new program that would cost money. So I asked for help from [House Majority Leader] Lynn Kessler, Eric Pettigrew [D-Seattle] and others. One thing I have learned is that, unless you keep working a bill at every stage, it will die. It’s not enough to get a bunch of co-sponsors and file it, even if it is the best idea ever. You need to ask the Policy Committee chair for a hearing and ask for an executive session to vote it out of committee. If it has a fiscal impact, you need to do the same thing all over again with the Fiscal Committee, and then, when it winds up in Rules Committee, with several hundred other good ideas clamoring to be let out on the floor for a vote, you have to work on leadership and the other Rules members. And then, if you get a floor vote before cutoff, the whole thing starts all over again in the Senate, only you have even less leverage!
2/28 Today was the midpoint of the session, the Policy Committee cutoff, and the first day so far that I had neither a constituent meeting nor a committee meeting. We were on the floor for most of the day, and I passed out my very first bill, HB 1642, which concerns no-contact orders and protecting domestic-violence victims. All told, we passed 57 bills today. Needless to say, most people had not read most of the bills—this place runs on trust of other members, committee chairs, good staff and the process.
3/1 The domestic-partner bill passed the Senate today, 28-19. I sat on a couch in the back of the chamber and watched. Ed gave a marvelous, moving speech (his first on the Senate floor as a freshman senator, so by tradition he had to give all of the other senators gifts). Val Stevens [R-Arlington] gave the only nasty speech, referring to “bestiology” (sic) and necrophilia.
Today we were in session or caucus for 12 hours, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It takes a long time to process anything controversial. The night ended—unexpectedly—with Juneteenth. I gave my short speech, followed by Charles Ross [R-Naches], my lead Republican co-sponsor. And then Lovick, who was presiding as speaker, started to cry and asked the House to be at ease. When we came back into session, Maureen Walsh [R-Walla Walla] called out, “We love you, Mr. Speaker,” and the whole House stood and applauded him, and then passed the bill unanimously. Symbols can be very important.
3/7 It’s hard to believe that the final month has arrived. People are pretty grumpy these days because all sorts of bills that have made it a long way through the process are either dying (e.g. nurse staffing levels at hospitals), being amended beyond recognition (e.g. gravel mining on Maury Island) or stripped of content to keep them alive (e.g. family leave insurance).
4/2 This morning we ran the Insurance Fair Conduct bill (which would prohibit insurance companies from wrongfully denying claims and, if they did, allow policyholders to sue and get treble damages and attorney fees). The debate ended when [Bonney Lake Republican Rep.] Dan Roach got up and said that everyone should prepare to get railroaded because “the Keith Kessler [trial lawyer and husband of House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler] express is coming through.” Dan made a hooting sound and pumped his arm, imitating a train whistle, and sat down before he could be gaveled. Lynn [Kessler] asked for an apology, and the whole House melted down. Folks who had been around for a long time said it was the worst breach of decorum in recent memory. Dan told the Seattle Times reporter that he had done it on purpose to get attention. We had much debate in caucus about an appropriate response, but because the Legislature works on such strict deadlines, we are [in effect] giving the Republicans what they want if we stop passing bills to talk about retribution.
4/10 A big day: the DP bill passed out of the House and both the foster-youth housing and no-contact-order bills passed out of the Senate. People were really proud to be part of a historic move to protect the families of same-sex couples.
4/12 I stood in the wings of the Senate and watched as they passed the simple-majority [authorization of school levies] bill today after decades of trying. Now we just have to convince the voters. This may be the most important thing we did this session for the long-term health of the public education system. Back in November, I had told a PTA group that if we couldn’t muster the two-thirds vote, we didn’t deserve to be in charge. So I am glad we did it!
4/17 The governor signed my first bill today, [commemorating] Juneteenth, and my constituent who suggested the bill was able to come down. Back on the floor, we are working through the slow process of reconciling House and Senate bills.
4/21 The governor signed the DP bill in the state reception room, which was packed with several hundred people. She was eloquent, as was Ed. Eric [Pedersen, my partner] and I stood behind her as she signed. It was a great moment, and it made it feel as if all of the time away from home, late nights and long commutes were worthwhile. L&P
Jamie Pedersen has been a business lawyer at K&L Gates since 1995. In fall 2006, he took on another job as well: state representative for the 43rd District (downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, Madison Park, Montlake, Eastlake, Wallingford, Fremont, the University District, Ravenna and Greenlake). Pedersen starts his second legislative session in January.
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