WA State Senate Bans “title-only” Bills– Day One of Legislature

A major development in the legislature on Day one.

WA  State Senate bans title-only bills

A few days ago, we reported Senate GOP leaders had pre-filed legislation or rule changes that would do away with the practice of having (at times) title-only bills.

These bills contain a title, sometimes a brief explanation, but no specifics or concrete details about the policy.

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center explained it best:

"Title-only bills are essentially blank pieces of paper that provide a placeholder for action later in the legislative session. Not only are title-only bills not the norm across the country, they basically exist to circumvent Washington’s state constitutional protection for transparency on new bills introduced in the last 10 days of session." 

Monday afternoon, Mercier reported the Senate has adopted these rule changes, so not more title-only bills. However, he said no such rules were moved or adopted in the State House, which is controlled by a larger Democrat majority.

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Senate Rule 56 passed Monday, it is considered a major political victory for Senate Republicans and citizens, according to sources in Olympia.