All Concerned Citizens:
Your action is needed! In the past week at the Friday Republican Breakfast Club and the Spokane Valley Republican Action Club, we briefly discussed SB 5599: "Approving the entry of WA into the agreement among the states to elect the president by national popular vote." If that is signed into law by Governor Gregoire, it means that regardless of which presidential candidate Washington voters vote for in the general election, all of our electors will have to vote for the presidential candidate who has received the greatest popular vote in the nation. In other words, Washington voters might choose one presidential candidate but our electors would have to vote for the other one, if that person received the most popular votes in the nation as a whole.
Current status: The bill has passed the Senate and was, unfortunately, sponsored by 3rd District Senator and Majority Leader, Lisa Brown, and 6th District Senator, Chris Marr. If it passes both Houses, then it will be signed by the governor and become law in Washington State. It would go into effect in Washington as soon as enough other states also pass such a bill. By enough, it means that when the number of electoral votes in those states that pass the bill add up to a majority of all electoral votes (270 out of a total of 538), the law will take effect. Right now 4 states have enacted a National Popular Vote law. Moreover, it has passed both Houses in an additional 9 states, and one legislative chamber in 7 more, including our state.
Act Now: The bill currently is in the House Rules Committee. What I just learned is that any member of the House Rules Committee can "pull the bill" and it will be placed on the "green sheet" to be voted on by the entire House. However, the Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp (D) is the one who decides which bills from the green sheet are voted on. Rep. Chopp is also the Chair of the Rules Committee. At former Rep. Lynn Schindler's suggestion, I have left a message for Ranking Minority Member, Rep. Richard DeBolt and have also talked to Jim Robinson, Rep. Matt Shea's legislative assistant, to find out what is happening with the bill and for suggestions as to what we might do to prevent it from becoming law.
Jim emailed the following:
"The bill is sitting in the House Rules, last stop before the floor. There are some real good R's here (on the Rules Committee) - DeBolt, Armstrong, Hinkle, Bailey, and Kretz. Schmick and Warnick are solid too. Make certain the Chair and ranking member (DeBolt) are targeted. I would focus on the D's but don't ignore the R's. If any of the R's are getting 40 or 50 emails on this per day, they'll be able to say so during the Committee meeting."
So I guess Jim's message is to keep calling and emailing. As the saying goes, "Every little bit helps." So, even making a few phone calls or leaving a message at the legislative hotline for as many officials as they will allow from one voter might make the difference.
More specific suggestions: 1. Contact your representatives, let them know your oppose SB 5599 and urge them to use their influence with members of the House Rules Committee. 2. Send a message to those on the Rules Committee, especially to the Chair, Rep. Frank Chopp and to Rep. DeBolt to try to keep the bill in the Rules Committee. If it passes out of the Rules Committee and is voted on by the entire House, then we want our representatives to vote NO! When you email or call, make sure your comments are short and to the point and that you state that you are opposed to SB 5599 so there is no doubt as to your position. As you think of reasons against the bill, especially when you are contacting Democrats, consider reasons which might be most appealing to them and focus on those.
3. Email your friends who share your views and live in other parts of the state to see if they will also contact their reps. 4. Also, call the governor's office and let her know your concerns so she will start hearing that people are upset. Most, but fortunately not all, Democrats voted for it in the Senate; I do not believe any Republicans supported it. If you want to read the actual bill, open up the attachment or go to www.washingtonvotes.org. Even though it is now in the House, you should continue to use the Senate bill number: SB 5599. If you are interested, on the website it will also tell you whether the bill is still in the House Rules Committee or has been passed by the Committee and will soon be voted on by the entire House. 5. If you talk to a representative and/or a legislative assistant or get an email with comments you think would be helpful to the rest of us, please email me and I will forward that information.
Some reasons to vote "no" on SB 5599? (Please email me other reasons.)
1. SB 5599, in effect, circumvents the intent of the authors of the U.S. Constitution and does not require a Constitutional Amendment. With SB 5599, the U. S. President could be elected "either through the domination of one populous region (in the United States) over the others or through the domination" of large cities over rural areas. Half the population of our country resides in only 9 of the 50 states (CA, Fl, GA, IL, MI, NY, OH, PA, TX).
2. SB 5599 would weaken our federal system of government and representation that was carefully established by our Founding Fathers, and designed to ensure that each State had rights and could not be totally dominated by what happens at the national level. "The collective opinion of the individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population taken as a whole." ** (If interested this point is further explained at the end of this email.)
3. The current system "enhances the status of minority groups" and results in presidential candidates paying attention to the needs of these groups. "This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make the difference between winning all of that State's electoral votes or none of that State's electoral votes." This principle applies to ethnic as well as special interest groups such as employee associations, farmers, small business owners, National Rifle Association, American Association of Retired Persons, and many others. Quotes in #1, 2, and 3 from: http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php
4. If there is voter fraud in the more populated cities and states, the problem will be compounded if those areas have a greater impact on the presidential election.
5. For those unhappy with the current Electoral College, there are many other options for change, http://fairvote.org/e_college/reform.htm. Our state needs much more discussion before we make major alterations. When we have not carefully looked at possible negative consequences, we often end up with something worse. Most people in Washington are not even aware of SB 5599. Washington citizens need to be informed about this bill, have the opportunity to provide considerable input, and then have the option of voting on this issue. It should not be something decided by just our representatives when so many of our citizens do not even realize what the bill entails.
If you need more information, email addresses, or phone numbers, let me know.
Gretchen McDevitt 509.624-2562
Email addresses are lastname.firstname@leg.wa.gov; all lower case letters Example: parker.kevin@leg.wa.gov Or, you can leave a message for any elected official, including our governor, through the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000
Governor Christine Gregoire 360-902-4111 Fax: 360-753-4110 Can email her at http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/default.asp
Local Representatives: (For a list of all representatives: www.washingtonvotes.org or, http://apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/Default.aspx)
3rd District Reps Ormsby, Timm (D) 360.786.7946 Wood, Alex (D) 360.786.7888
4th District Crouse, Larry (R) 360.786.7820 Shea, Matt (R) 360.786.7984
6th District Parker, Kevin (R) 360.786.7922 Driscoll, John (R) 360.786.7962
7th District Kretz, Joel (R) 360.786.7988 Short, Shelly (R) 360.786.7908
9th District Cox, Don (R) 360.786.7942 Schmick, Joe (R) 360.786.7844
House Rules Committee Members
*Ranking Minority Member
** If interested, more explanation for reason #2 above: SB 5599, by requiring WA electors to vote for the candidate that received the national popular vote, even if WA voters disagreed, "would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and would lead to the nationalization of our central government - to the detriment of the States. Indeed, if we become obsessed with government by popular majority as the only consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of population? Should we not correct the minor distortions in the House (caused by districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to a system of proportional representation? This would accomplish "government by popular majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also demolish our federal system of government. If there are reasons to maintain State representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons apply to the choice of president" through the Electoral College. ...the original design of our federal system of government was thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. State viewpoints, they decided, are more important than political minority viewpoints. And the collective opinion of the individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population taken as a whole. Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected in the Electoral college. To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret." http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php |