Rep. Gina Mosbrucker is “extremely disappointed” that Gov. Jay Inslee has vetoed House Bill 1623 in its entirety, despite the measure gaining unanimous approval by 147 lawmakers in committees and in both chambers of the state Legislature. Mosbrucker’s bill sought to ensure the state continually addresses plans to help avoid energy blackouts, brownouts or other inadequacies of the electric grid.
“This bill focused on having stable, reliable, and sufficient energy sources as the state of Washington transitions to green energy, often which sources are intermittent. We want to make sure that Washingtonians don’t experience the same kinds of brownouts and energy blackouts that we’ve seen in other states going green, such as California,” said Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale.
“I believe, and so does the Legislature, that this legislation is very much needed to ensure we are looking at the entire picture of our electrical grid, not just wind and solar. And that as the governor’s climate policies place more demands on electrical energy, we begin now to set plans in place to modernize our energy system for the near and long-term future to meet these demands. The entire state Legislature agreed with me, Republicans and Democrats, and passed this measure unanimously,” noted Mosbrucker.
The governor vetoed the legislation on Thursday, March 31.
“It’s very frustrating that despite the time and effort spent to move this bipartisan-sponsored bill through the Legislature, the governor gave no indication at any point during the process that he would veto it. We never even received notification from the governor’s office afterward that he vetoed the bill,” added Mosbrucker. “I’m very concerned that without this legislation, there is no clear direction in statute to these state agencies and no focus to ensure electrical generation in our state will meet those future demands.”
The 14th District lawmaker said she will continue to address the issue, and hopes to work with the governor’s office to make the case such legislation is needed.
Out of 303 bills the Legislature approved and sent to the governor, 285 were signed, 12 were signed with partial vetoes, and only six were vetoed in their entirety, including Mosbrucker’s House Bill 1623. The governor did sign four other bills authored by Mosbrucker and approved by the Legislature, including:
- House Bill 1357 – Requires county auditors to mail a statewide and local voters’ pamphlet to registered Washington voters overseas, including military voters.
- House Bill 1497 – Prevents telephone solicitors from making calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m., no selling of the called party’s name and information, removal of the called party from the solicitor’s list upon request, and no further calls within at least one year after that request has been made.
- House Bill 1571 – Also known as the “Bring them home bill,” this measure allows tribal members to pray over a deceased indigenous person without compromising the scene before an autopsy is conducted. It also creates a receiving center to provide help for trafficked victims.
- House Bill 1622 – This bill will increase the availability of sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) in rural and underserved areas by requiring the Washington State University College of Nursing to establish an online and clinical SANE training program and a regional leader pilot program.
The 2022 legislative session concluded March 10.