The 2015 legislative session did not adjourn at its scheduled deadline of Sunday, April 26. Rather, due to state House Democrats refusing to do their jobs and pass a complete budget, the state Legislature was forced into a special session. Last week, Jay Inslee called a 30-day special session to begin on Wednesday, April 29.
House Republicans didn’t like the idea of wasting anymore time—and taxpayer dollars—than Democrats have already wasted. So, they introduced a resolution requesting the special session begin on Monday, April 27. Unfortunately, Inslee ignored the resolution.
Why would Inslee want to wait four days, after the 2015 legislative session adjourned early on Friday, to get the peoples’ businesses back on track? It all has to do with partisan gain, of course.
By scheduling special session to begin on Wednesday rather than Monday, Inslee gave Carol Gregory—the Democrat appointed to the House seat of the late Rep. Roger Freeman—four days to raise money for her special election scheduled for this November (lawmakers cannot raise money while in session). A recent email from the Washington State Democrat Party—entitled, “Four days to make a difference in critical House election”—admits as much. The email reads,
“P.S. Carol has just four days to raise money until she reports back to Olympia for the special legislative session. Please make your contribution today, before the fundraising freeze kicks back in!”
Inslee and House Speaker Frank Chopp know the importance of Gregory winning this special election. Her loss would place Republicans just one seat from a tie and two seats from a majority in the state House. And, it would threaten Chopp’s security as Speaker of the House… leaving the door open to potential competitors, including Rep. Christopher Hurst.
In the end, it’s just another example of Inslee placing partisan interests ahead of what is good for Washingtonians.
You can check out the email below.
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