Blue-Green Coalition Starts to Flex Muscle as Budget Vote Nears

By Josh Feit, Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 2:05 PM
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These pins—a Blue/Green yin yang— are popping up on the lapels and blouses of state House legislators.

Seen here: Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-23, Kitsap County) and Rep. Geoff Simpson (D-41, Covington).

It started out as a core group of 13 legislators—the number needed to hold up things like, oh say, the budget—including liberal Reps. Hans Dunshee (D-44, Lake Stevens, Marysville), Timm Ormsby (D-3, Spokane), and Tami Green (D-28, North Fort Lewis), but the  numbers of those sporting the pins have increased according to Rep. Appleton. 

Here’s the deal: A few weeks ago we reported on a special after-hours meeting between legislators who consider themselves labor Democrats and those who consider themselves environmental Democrats. Traditionally, both groups held separate informal Tuesday night get togethers—but late last month they combined the Tuesday night affair for a night of Blue/Green drinks. 

A few days later, the Blue/Green legislators met more formally, and now they’re getting organized (must have been the labor influence).

The Blue/Green coalition is promising to take action on bills they don’t have the numbers to work as individual blocs. Most notable among them: The now infamous Workers’ Privacy bill that leadership squashed earlier this session under a “manufactured scandal,” as Green Democrat Rep. Simpson called it today, standing just outside House chambers.

Democratic leaders tabled the privacy bill after they saw a potentially “unethical” email from labor threatening to pull campaign cash from Democrats if the bill didn’t pass. However, the Washington State Patrol ruled there was nothing illegal about the email and the Public Disclosure Commission didn’t even bother taking up the matter. Given that previous versions of bill have been killed by leadership in the past, the bill’s supporters, like sponsor Rep. Mike Sells (D-38, Everett) agree with their new Green brother Simpson, that the to-do over the email was really a ruse. 

There was even some  talk of blocking the budget if the workers privacy bill wasn’t resurrected for a vote. The green bill the group is prioritizing: Rep. Ormsby’s bill to tax the oil industry to fund water clean up. 

Both Rep. Appleton and Simpson told me the Blue/Green gang wasn’t actually intending to hold the budget hostage, but they were determined to join forces to push a vote on the privacy bill.

  • countrygirl
    Rossi would shut down DSHS? Are you out of your mind? He couldn't even if he wanted to. Most DSHS programs are funded either fully or partially by the feds and mandated, like Basic Food assistance and Medicaid. The ones that are state funded are already on the chopping block. Technically, you could privatize the administration of the mandated programs but this is neither fiscally prudent (see Wisconsin) nor practically feasible. There is no agency (for profit or not) that is prepared to take on the work that is done by DSHS, and wouldn't want to if they could simply because there's no money in social services. You think that Western State Hospital's patients could be absorbed by the private hospital system? Not a chance.
  • Rebelrd
    PM, you're joking, right? Yes, shutdown DSHS and DOE and DNR and F&W! Remove ALL regulatory and enforcement personnel!? What koolaid have you been drinking? Our state would not stand for that. You are way off in the deep end bud. How would he survive a re-election? And he's supposed to do that all by himself -- with a D majority in both houses? You evidently are not politically practical.
  • Particle Man
    Fat-tailed, your joking right? For a start Rossi would shut down DSHS and strip the department of ecology and other agencies of all regulatory and enforcement personnel. Most of the other pains we are expecting to feel across the board would remain since the projected deficit is huge. Then when things pick up he would give what the working class lost directly to his fat cat friends. Oh ya that would be nice.
  • Particle Man
    Trevor, the DLC has no role in state politics.
    It is ignorance to suggest that Governor Gregoire is some sort of republican or that the options being given serious consideration are not driven by the GOP legislators showing every intention of voting as a block.
    Now, I hope that a high income tax is sent to the voters, perhaps with a .5cent roll back of sales tax and that the voters pass it, allowing for reduced cuts in education, healthcare and social services. This along with any other tax package is a long shot for several reasons.
    1. With the R's voting as a block you will not be able to get a 2/3 vote in the H & S on any tax measure or to suspend the requirement that it go to the voters.
    2. The chance of ANY tax package passing in November is next to nill, though I think the high end income tax and sales tax reduction has the best chance.
    3. An income tax if sent to the ballot would draw a legal challenge which could prevent any positive benefit on the two year budget until it is resolved.
    4. ANY BUDGET that is based upon the voters or a court outcome, must BY LAW, be balanced without those funds included until such time as the voters and courts affirm the revenue.

    So as unpleasant as the task is, and it is very very unpleasant for the Legislature, Governor and staff, the job involves passing a budget into law that can stand alone as balanced.
  • Fat-tailed
    Seems like a promising development, but I'm not impressed with their strategy -- why exactly have they already declared they're not going to hold the budget hostage?

    Also, anyone else think the budget might be looking better if Rossi were Governor and the mainstream Dems were, as a result, fighting *against* budget cuts to critical programs? Ugly.
  • Particle Man
    Josh, it was the headline. The fishtail get together was initially just a byproduct of some legislators being interested in both groups and with limited time, having to chose which chill session to go to.
    You are right that the idea of gaining more influence through coming together as a coalition is an idea the blues likely helped the greens see.
    Actual membership is hard to measure. More important though is how many votes they can count on.
    For now, it looks like these folks could prevent a budget from passing that does not address their concerns. This would take less than 20 in the House. Some would say that with only 20 voted you could not pull a labor bill to the floor, but others point out that passing the same labor bill could be what delivers the needed votes for passage of a budget.

    Back when the R's had the majority in the House, the "conservative caucus" made up of the most righty of R's numbered 13 on a good day, but had real power. So this development will be interesting to watch.

    Could the budgets of both houses go to conference without either first being passed in the House or Senate?
  • Trevor
    It's important to note that even Gregoire admitted that she would have vetoed the WPA anyway if it had passed. Because, you know, Boeing opposes it:

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews...

    There is a new politics emerging as a result of these budget cuts, I think. It is not between Red and Blue, Republican and Democrat. It is largely between civil society organizations (like schools, labor unions and non-profits) and the Democratic Party that claims to represent them. On the one side are the corporate liberals like Gregoire who will cater to Republicans, cut budgets to the bone, and privatize everything they can to avoid reforming our tax system. On the other side is everyone else.

    Whether or not we call everyone else "progressive" is beside the point. They are hardly coherent-- yet. The real point is that there is a crisis of vision in the Democratic Party. DLC centrism no longer makes sense in this economic climate, in fact has become suicidal. New alternatives are emerging that are going to bypass Gregoire and her ilk. Make way!
  • I thought that was pretty clear from this bit in the lead, PM:

    Here’s the deal: A few weeks ago we reported on a special after-hours meeting between legislators who consider themselves labor Democrats and those who consider themselves environmental Democrats. Traditionally, both groups held separate informal Tuesday night get togethers—but late last month they combined the Tuesday night affair for a night of Blue/Green drinks.

    A few days later, the Blue/Green legislators met more formally, and now they’re getting organized (must have been the labor influence).


    I think the headline, which I'll amend, is throwing H off.
  • Particle Man
    I am not hearing that the "progressive lable" is what brings these folks together. Rather it is a desire to move environmental and or labor legislation forward that brings them together.
    As for the budget, it is not looking as though the house or senate has the votes to pass one.
  • H_
    What does "progressive" even mean?
  • kt
    Well glad they are getting over thier tiffs. I'd rather see them wear buttons that says 'Thou shalt not kill Enact an income tax'
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