I haven't checked this out myself, because I'm not about to look up the prime sponsor for all 229 bills awaiting action in the House Rules Committee.

But I'm told that Republicans are prime sponsors (the lead person) on 10 bill. Democrats are prime sponsors of 219 bills.

That's a little less than 4.4 percent. Working together for One Washington.

And just for the record: If Republicans were the majority party, the split most likely would be pretty much the same, with them on top 95-5.

The majority party always runs roughshod over the minority party. It's a legislative tradition.

Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson defended a proposed consultant contract worth as much as $321,000 before members of the City Council's Government Performance and Finance Committee on Wednesday, saying it was part of an on-going effort to change the culture of city government.

Scaling back the contract or opening it up to bid could set back the effort, Anderson said.

"I'm very concerned we'll lose ground," he said, adding that council members hired him in 2005 to be a "change agent."

"If you don't want a change agent, you don't want me," Anderson said. "That's why I'm here."

Council members held up the proposed contract with The Orion Partnership last month, saying they weren't prepared to approve in part because of its size. If approved, the contract will raise the total amount of money Tacoma has paid to the Issaquah-based husband-and-wife consultant team to more than $600,000.

"It is a lot of money," Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg said at the Feb. 24 council meeting.

Council members said they wanted Anderson to come before the committee and provide more information.

Anderson told the committee that he expects to use the consultants for at least two more years, possibly three. After that, he hopes to no longer need their services.

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This report is half truth and half rumor.

First, state Rep. Deb Eddy, D-Kirkland, is the one with the idea to set up a network of outlets for electric cars in Washington. That's the thrust of House Bill 1481.

The rest of mere conjecture and rumor.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's big environmental bill this session, featuring greenhouse gas reductions as its centerpiece, reportedly is unraveling.

And to salvage a "win" on that front, she may have to shift gears -- literally and figuratively.

Maybe she and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger and whoever is Oregon's governor will buy a bunch of electric cars for their respective state fleets and then set up a network of plug-ins all along I-5 to so they can recharge their batteries -- again, literally and figuratively.

That is, take Eddy's bill and multiply it by California and Washington, the three West Coast states with those rigid pollution emission standards for cars and trucks.

I got a call into the guv's enviro adviser, but no call back yet. Just as well. I'd rather not kill this rumor just yet. Sounded pretty good.

Here is the bill report for House Bill 1819. It's still stuck in the House. And chances are the details of the bill will undergo some big changes before it gets out.

Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, says he is trying to rein in unrelated spending by the state Department of Transportation, which is using toll monies to pay for out-of-state conferences by DOT personnel and cell phone usage.

Hence, Senate Bill 5795. It was just passed on a 45-0 vote and now goes to the House for consideration. The Citizen Advisory Committee and some regular bridge commuters also had complained about DOT personnel spending toll money on stuff not directly related to the bridge. From the bill:

The Tacoma Narrows Toll Bridge Account may only be used to pay required costs that contribute directly to the financing, operation, maintenance, management, and repair of the facility. The account may not be used for expenditures that do not contribute directly to the financing, operation, maintenance, management, and emergency repairs of the facility. The Transportation Commission
determines by rule what is an authorized expense and what is an unauthorized expense. The Washington State Department of Transportation provides quarterly expenditure reports
to the public on the department's website, using current resources.

The bill leaves it to the Washington Transporation Commission to decide what's allowed and what is forbidden when it comes to expenses.

Here is the bill report.

Kilmer told me he also got some language into the supplemental transportation budget to close the books on bridge constructions and loans. As I recall, the final cost for the bridge was $735 million, but there are a few more things to wrap up.

Here's the new release from his office:

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I started asking around about this when I heard the rumor, and finally I tracked down a senator who said, "On the advice of my lawyer, I'm telling you to go read her blog."

Sure 'nuff. State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, talks about the Legislative Ethics Committee investigation herself.

Here. Read what the good senator has to say in her own words.

Roach says she's being investigated because the person who lodged the complaint was "put up to it." The senator also says she was just trying to help out a constitutent who asked for help, as so many do.

I'm just guessing here, but I think writing about that attempt in so much detail on her blog might be what ultimately gets Roach in trouble.

You might as well bookmark Roach's blog. She'll probably keep you posted on every twist and turn of the investigation. If it gets around to sanctions or exoneration, I'll write about it.

Oh, yeah. I said "again." Here's link to a story I wrote about Roach in 2003. She got scolded for some stuff and dismissal of complaints for other stuff back then.

You heard that collective sigh of relief at about 11:30 a.m. today, didn't you?

Think about it. If the Supreme Court had ruled that it takes only a simple majority vote in the House and Senate to raise taxes, the unions, poverty lobby and every other group that is getting its lunch eaten by the $8 billion budget shortfall would be all over the Democratic majorities.

Democrats outnumber Republicans 62-36 in the House and 31-18 in the Senate, so their allies would press them to raise taxes by $1 billion to $1.5 billion BECAUSE THEY COULD to avoid making those deep budget cuts. And Democratic leaders would have to say "No!"

Or, they could raise the taxes. Yeah, right. And in November 2010, Democrats would get their collective butts kicked and might lose their majorities in both chambers.

Whew! I heard it.

UPDATE: (I should have added this viewpoint to my post yesterday, but I got distracted). Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said the ruling had no bearing on the direction Democrats are heading.

"That decision doesn't change the outcome of where we're heading..." Brown told reporters right after the ruling came out. "Any major revenue option would have been presented to the voters anyway, regardless of the ruling."

She did, however, say that some smaller tax increases, such as the liquor tax surcharge that was the subject of the I-960 test case, are things the Legislature might have done on its own.

Anyway, Democrats get to put their bigger tax package on the ballot, which puts it at arm's length when it comes to blame for raising taxes. "Will of the voters," and all that.

The Associated Press' Rachel La Corte wrote the story for our main page, but I'm providing that story and additional links here, for those of you who go to Political Buzz first. (I'm really late, too. Sorry. Got busy.)

Here is a link to the 9-0 Supreme Court Ruling.

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Pierce County Auditor Jan Shabro has selected four equine facilities to temporarily house abused and neglected horses and other large animals.

Winning the contracts are E & K Stables, Pegasus Program, Rusty Bar Ranch and Tacoma Equine Hospital.

You can read the press release announcing the selections below:

News Release: From Pierce County Auditor, Jan Shabro

Subject: Request for Proposal Equine Care Finalists

Contact: Jan Shabro, w -253.798.3188; c – 253.318.3209

Date: 3/03/09

Jan Shabro, Pierce County Auditor, announced the selection of four owners of equine facilities to contract with the county as temporary housing for rescued, abused and neglected horses and other large animals. They include: E & K Stables; Pegasus Program; Rusty Bar Ranch; and Tacoma Equine Hospital. These are five year, annual renewable contracts, and the county will pay only for services used.

The decision followed months of research and two “horse summits” in Graham and on the Key Peninsula to discuss how to handle this growing problem.

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Latest celebrity sighting from D.C. correspondent Les Blumenthal:

WASHINGTON - It wasn't just another day at the office for Sen. Patty Murray.

Brad Pitt dropped by.

Pitt was in town talking about a sustainable housing project he's working on in New Orleans. Murray chairs the Senate appropriations housing subcommittee. According to aides, the meeting lasted about 20 minutes. They also said he smiled and shook a few hands as he passed by staffers on the way to Murray's office. The hallway outside was lined with interns.

Pitt also met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Harry Reid to talk about the "Make It Right" project that involves affordable and environmentally sustainable housing for low income people living in New Orleans' lower 9th Ward.

No word on the other half Brangelina, though Angelina Jolie is in D.C. filming a movie.

AP story on the "Pitt stop" and bonus Brad photo below:

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If you keep throwing balled up proposals against a wall, one day one of them might stick. But probably not today.

State Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources, Oceans and Recreation Committee, is the only sponsor of a bill that would authorize Keno games every 4 minutes to raise some money for the Wildlife Account, which like everything else is hurting for money.

Here is a link to Senate Bill 6107.

"Keno for Kritters, I like that," Jacobsen said in a voice mail he just let. "Yeah, we have a bill that would raise about $40 million to $45 million and fill that (budget) hole quite nicely."

This is similar to another proposed floated by Democrats in 2003 (the Rossi Budget Year!) to raise money for children's programs. Back then, we in the Press Corps called it "Keno for Kids." It died. This bill will die, too. (Sorry, Jake.)

The state Parks and Recreation Commission is meeting right now to go over criteria for deciding which other parks should be mothballed because of the state budget crisis. That would be in addition to the 15 parks that Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed turning over to other entities or shutting down.

Word is, Parks Director Rex Derr will announce next week that 25 more parks could be mothballed -- for a total of 40 parks.

Right now, the commission has developed a list of 32 parks that are candidate for being mothballed. Seven will be spared. Recreational boaters might come to rescue of some by volunteering their tax stream to the parks, or so I heard.

Of course, the final decision is up to the Legislature, but you can see what's about to happen.

Among those on the list (with the amount of annual savings in parentheses) are:

Dash Point near Northeast Tacoma-Federal Way ($268,365)
Jarrell Cove down here in the South Sound ($152,987)
Rainbow Falls in Lewis County, near Debolt's home ($205,035)
Potlatch in Mason County Commissioner Tim Sheldon's area ($164,328)
Flaming Geyser in South King County, Black Diamond ($381,688)
Peach Arch in Blaine by Canadian border ($230,720)
Saltwater in South King County ($187,253)
Millersylvania in Thurston (not sure on this one; amount of savings is blank)

Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, said I owed him a vote of thanks for the attack ad that appeared in today's News Tribune (and in the Olympian, too) because a full-page ad put something like $10,000 into the newspaper's coffers.

Kastama didn't pay for the ads. He, um, inspired them.

The Seattle law firm of Bergman, Draper and Frockt, on behalf of a client, also paid for ads attacking Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, that accuses them of blocking a bill (SB 5964) that would benefit their client, whose husband died after exposure to asbestos while working in the Bremerton shipyards.

"Why is Senator Kastama blocking this important legislation designed to help those working men and women sick and dying from asbestos exposure?" the ad asks.

By the way, former state Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, is a member of that firm. He has been seen on campus. We think he has been lobbying passage of the bill, but he told the Associated Press he is not lobbying at all. He left the Senate at the end of his term in 2008 to go back to the practice of law, which he did in Texas. Suing companies over asbestos.

Kastama said the law firm is going after him because he has sponsored an amendment to SB 5964 that would remove a couple provisions, provisions that Weinstein's colleagues want to keep in the bill. Kastama said he would get rid of a provision that would make the bill retroactive.

(I tried to reach Weinstein at his new law office, but was told by the receptionist that, even though Weinstein is a member of the Bergman firm, all calls for Weinstein are being referred to a public relations firm, Mark Firmani at 206-443-9357. You can call him if you want. I just wanted to confirm that Weinstein worked with Bergman.)

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I don't usually cover Eastern Washington legislative races, but when I saw the name "Fagan" I thought it might be someone related to Jack Fagan or Mike Fagan, the father-son team who are the Eastern Washington partners of professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman of Mukilteo.

Susan Fagan, from Pullman, said she is NOT related to those other Fagans.

She is, however, one of the Republican precinct committee officers who selected former state Rep. Don Cox to replace the late Rep. Steve Hailey in the Legislature after Hailey's death. Now, she is running in the special election to select a permanent replacement. Primary will be in August; runoff in November this fall.

FAGAN REPORTS $20K RAISED IN FEBRUARY

9th District legislative candidate Susan Fagan is off to a strong start in her campaign for the state House of Representatives. Fagan raised $20,150 in February, garnering strong support from voters excited about her candidacy. Announced candidates’ first financial reports are due to the Public Disclosure Commission by March 10.

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Forgive me. I don't know what the case says. Reading the Supreme Court cases can be pretty heavy sledding. So, I'm just gonna post it so you can read it along with me.

More later. It was a 6-3 decision. The case looks to be a fight between the Mariners, the public facilities district and the contractor who built the ballpark in Seattle.

Here is the majority opinion.

Yes. Ryan Mello, who used to try to keep state Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, on the straight and narrow for a few years as his legislative aide, has gotten a "Shrammie" from KOMO commentator Ken Schram.

(I just heard it on the drive down to Olympia this morning.)

It's because Mello so heartily endorses a smoking ban in Tacoma parks, as reported by The News Tribune's Jason Hagey. Mello is a commissioner for the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma.

I always knew he'd amount to something. Getting a Schrammie is just a milestone on the way to even bigger things.

Just like Tim Farrell, former aide to Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup. Farrell has gone on to become executive director of the Port of Tacoma. Ooops! I mean, he's a Pierce County councilman. (Sorry, different Tim Farrell.)

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Lynnwood, said she's ready to legalize small amounts of dope for grown-ups, and she noted that California taxes marijuana that is used for medical purposes and brings in $100 million a year.

"The state is just as goofy as ever," Roberts said, "but there hasn’t been any upsurge in crime."

Read the rest of what she had to say back on Jan. 13, the second day of the legislative session. Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, was looking for co-sponsors for HB 1177, which would lower the penalties for possession just a liddo bit o' dope to a $100 fine.

Roberts, 61, (that makes her a child of the '60s) said it didn't go far enough. She and 10 others did, in fact, sign onto the bill. But it's dead now.

On the other hand, the Senate version, SB 5615, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, still has legs. It would do pretty much the same thing as Upthegrove's bill and it's awaiting a vote by the full Senate.

UPDATE: Another child of the '60s just e-mailed to say the House DID vote to decriminalize marijuana in 1975-76-77 and among the 53 "yes" votes was Pullman farmer Rep. Otto Amen, a Republican. My source said, "His floor speech included this quote: 'anything that grows wild on my ranch cannot be illegal'...."

(I've asked the Bill Room to try to find the rollcall for that vote.)

(By the way, "HDC" and "HRC" in the e-mail addresses are shorthand for the entire 98 members in the House, Democratic Caucus and Republican Caucus.)

From: Upthegrove, Rep. Dave
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 5:25 PM
To: @HDC Members; @HRC Members
Subject: please consider signing onto...

Dear colleagues;

I would like to invite you to co-sponsor (via pink slip) House Bill 1177 on Wednesday’s introduction sheet.

This legislation would make possession of a small amount of marijuana by an adult a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor criminal offense.

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