Sen. Andy Billig [D-Spokane] talks about the function of the legislative Rules Committees in Olympia.
The Washington and Idaho legislatures are in the homestretches of their respective sessions. Lawmakers are working to finalize budgets and put the finishing touches on a variety of bills.
In Washington, the Rules Committees [chaired in the Senate by Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, above] have an important role in determining which bills move on and which ones die. Today we get a Civics 101 lesson from Sen. Andy Billig [D-Spokane], a Rules Committee member.
Andy Billig: “I counted once and found there were 37 places that a bill could die along the legislative process, but really no place where it can get a direct route to becoming a law. Our founders really had this idea that it should be hard to pass a law. Laws are momentous and significant and they should get lots of checks and double-checks and triple-checks before they pass. One of those checks, one of those filters that a bill has to go through is the Rules Committee. It is the only committee on which the lieutenant governor serves. The lieutenant governor, who is the president of the Senate, serves as the chair and a voting member of the Rules Committee.”