WA Senate vote on silencer bill 5112 may be close.

[dr drae]

I hope this takes awhile.. I need to send in some more form 4's before you WA nerds get to flood the ATF.

Back in your hole!

 

[huntpotter]

E-mailed Zarelli. Hope he comes through for us.

 

[twoclones]

I emailed Jerome Devlin.

 

[sigman]

I got the following responce from Senator Swecker.

Mr. La Course,



Thank you for writing to me about SB 5112, a bill that would legalize the use of firearm sound suppressors in Washington State. I am glad to hear that you and your son are still involved in the political process. As a strong supporter of second amendment rights and hunting, I fully support the use of firearm sound suppressors.



You also may be interested in the following story about my son, Joel, who had a close encounter with a grizzly on a recent hunting trip!



<broken link removed>



Again, thank you for contacting me about this issue. It is a very busy time in the Senate right now, and we will be hearing many bills before an important deadline tomorrow (Monday). This bill has passed out of the Judiciary Committee, and hopefully, it will be allowed a vote on the Floor of the Senate. I will not have an opportunity to vote on SB 5112 until that time. When I do get the chance, you can be sure that I will support it.



Regards,




20th Legislative District

103 Irv Newhouse Building

PO Box 40420

Olympia, WA. 98504-0420
( Office: (360) 786.7638

Fax: (360) 786.7819

* [email protected]

 

[nubus]

Thanks Sigman, i knew Swecker was in our camp, nice to see how firmly planted!

 

[Ranb]

The bill is stuck in the Rules committee now. Hopefully it will get a second reading then go on to a vote on the Senate floor. Here are the Rules committee members. Committee Members & Staff I have written to all of them, but no replies as none of them are in my district.

Ranb

 

[amodei1]

Dear Gary,

Thank you for contacting Senator Pam Roach regarding SB 5112 firearm noise suppressors. Senator Roach signed the Majority Report in support on February 9, 2011.

The bill is currently in Rules and eligible for second reading.

Kind regards,

Jessica Reeder
Intern to Senator Pam Roach
202 Newhouse Building
P.O. Box 40431
Olympia, WA 98504
Interim Only District Office
253-333-4918
Session Only Olympia Office:
360-786-7660

I emailed Pam Roach. Noticed on her site, it was not listed as one she supports.

 

[seattlewingsfan]

Well 5 people that signed the Majority report on Feb 9th are "ON" the RULES committee. I would hope that would fair well on it getting placed on the floor. It is my understanding that the Rules committee only meets when it is convinient for the members. I know the last week has been hectic being today was the last day to here bills still in committee. Stuff already in Rules was not getting any attention. March 7th is the day we need to be aware of. Granted HB1016 has a date even after the 7th in the senate, since it was introduced in the house.

I think the rules committee will be meeting soon, since now everything is out of committee or it's done. Well except for transportation and weighs and means.

 

[mxitman]

I've contacted my Senator who is Rosemary McAuliffe, she is on the Committee but I haven't heard anything back yet.

 

[seattlewingsfan]

I just wanted to update you guys. I called olympia today and inquired as to when the rules committee might be meeting as I do every 3-4 days. I was told that the Rules Committee met today! Unfortunatly after waiting for 10 minutes for the lady to find the Pull sheet for today. There was no progress on SB5112 today. She didn't know when the Rules Comittee would be meeting again.

It is very Important that we contact officials and make it know that we want 5112 on the floor for a vote!

 

[Ranb]

I have been calling various Rules committee members, but there seems to be no one that is interested in letting bill 5112 get any further. I have not been able to speak to anyone in Senator Prentice's office, I can only leave phone messages. Her office has not replied to any of my letters or e-mails either. The other key person on the Rules committee seems to be Senator Brown. I have been able to speak with her aide, but have not been able to talk to her directly either.

Senator Honeyfield says he will speak to some Rules committee members to get the bill pulled. Anyone else having any better luck? Thanks.

Ranb

 

[wsu 5.9er]

Is there a need for it? Since the House bill has to come to the Senate anyways, is this effort for the Senate bill needed?

 

[seattlewingsfan]

The problem isn't that they don't want to see it go forward. It's that they base what they PULL on what they get requests for. All the Rules Comittee members have Pull Sheets. When someone requests they pull a bill the requests go on a sheet. And based on the sheets and the Senators impressions from people on what issues are important, they decide what bills to pull.

Most of the Senators haven't even had a request to pull the bill. Most of the assistants told me that they haven't even had a conversation with the Senator on the bill. If thats the case those senators are not going to waste their pull on a bill. It won't give them any Cred so to speak with their supporters. If they have 40 requests to pull a bill on say a health care bill and only 5 to pull SB5112. Guess which one is getting pulled. The problem is that since they get a limited number of pulls, a low interest bill probably won't get pulled until it's one of the few options left.

Don't forget even though Mike was a Sponsor for the bill, and we hope that he Pulls it. He said when it was introduced to the committee that he was asked to sponsor the companion bill by someone in the House side of the legislature. It doesn't mean that he is going to use his Pulls to pull it until it has priority on his list.

We need to make it higher on everyones list. I Hope that Mike pulls it since his name is on the bill. But in reality I don't care who does it. Thats why I asked for everyone to add it to the pull list. If Mike doesn't pull it, I hope they put together another Package pull. The Democrats did it last week.

 

[seattlewingsfan]

Is there a need for it? Since the House bill has to come to the Senate anyways, is this effort for the Senate bill needed?

Well HB1016 passed in the house easy. It now either has to make it though the Senate, which I doubt would happen since Calendar cutoffs are starting to be in play. HB1016 although introduced to the senate, hasn't even been read once in committee. Primary reason is that the same bill SB5112, is already in the Rules committee. If SB5112 isn't passed out of Rules and to the Floor for a reading and vote before March 7th. We have to try to get the Senators to move HB1016 through the whole senate process by the next deadline on the cutoff calendar. Just saying.... We NEED SB5112 to make it out of rules!


I don't see the HB1016 going anywhere. Everyone has already heard it, made opinions on it and decided what they want to happen on it "as SB5112". If they don't approve SB5112, why would they do MORE work to move the House bill through the whole senate process?

 

[seattlewingsfan]

Update... I called Marks office again. But asked point blank how many bills he has on his list to pull. I was told 12 total this session. He has pulled half the bills he has been wanting to. It didn't get pulled today. I expressed my concern that since it is "his bill", I have been hearing from other senators offices that they believe he will be puling his own bill. I said. I DO NOT want to see this bill go unpulled because everyone thinks he is going to pull it and he runs out of Pulls. How high on his list is this particular bill. She couldn't state a definative answer. But said that he is strongly for it. Then I said, but I do understand he has people requesting other bills and I am sure the numbers are higher. She paused and said exactly. I expressed my concern that he wastes his pull, pulling a bill that somone else also has a lot of requests for and would possibly let 5112 go unpulled because that other senator has no interest in our bill.

She assured me she would talk to him about it and maybe he could see what other senators have on their pull lists so 5112 can be pulled sooner.

 

[Ranb]

Most of the Senators haven't even had a request to pull the bill.

Who is the Rules committee awaiting a request from? Another Senator? The bill sponsor? A WA resident? None of the Senators on the Rules committee are willing to speak to me on the phone or in person. Senator Honeyford (a 5112 sponsor) says he is going to ask the Rules committee to pull the bill. Is this what the Rules committee chairman is waiting for? A simple request from another Senator?

Ranb

 

[seattlewingsfan]

Basically, anyone on the rules committee can pull it. Only one person has to elect to use one of their pulls to get a vote of the rules committee members to place it on the floor calendar since its already been pulled once. I know it will pass the vote no problem there are a strong majority of the rules committee that support it. It's just getting someone to use one of their limited "I pick this one" pulls to get it open for the vote. Several of the senators have assured me that it's on their list to pull or rather their assistants. It just depends how many other bills have more people calling in writing or lobbying these rules committee members to pull their bills. I believe a senator asking rules committee members to pull the bill will benefit the cause, and influence their decision more than we as a few that keep calling.

 

[Ranb]

Thanks. In the future I think we need to start talking to certain key committee members as soon as a bill is introduced. This "learning as I go" crap is straining the abilities of my high blood pressure medication to keep me from having a stroke.

Ranb

 

[seattlewingsfan]

Who is the Rules committee awaiting a request from? Another Senator? The bill sponsor? A WA resident? None of the Senators on the Rules committee are willing to speak to me on the phone or in person. Senator Honeyford (a 5112 sponsor) says he is going to ask the Rules committee to pull the bill. Is this what the Rules committee chairman is waiting for? A simple request from another Senator?

Ranb

My comment was simply several of the senators assistants have said that people have called in to say they support 5112, or ask if the senator supports 5112. However nobody had asked the senator to pull 5112. Asking them to pull it and asking if they support it are 2 different things. Granted if tons of people call in expressing support, that might persuade them to pull it on their own. Even if 6 senators say they will pull it. How many other bills will they pull first?
That's the real question...

 

[Ranb]

Every time I call a Rules committee member, I start out by saying I am calling to express my support for the bill, and ask if it will be pulled. When they say the predictable "maybe", I ask if their Senator will pull it, then I get more maybe stuff.

Ranb