This first came to my attention because Larry Stickney of the Washington Values Alliance sent me (and may other reporters) an e-mail that accused Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, of "mocking Holy Scripture."

I decided to get to the bottom of it. One reason I'm putting this exchange of e-mails in the blog is to give readers an idea of what kinds of exchanges occur during a legislative session in which, on average, 3,000 bills are introduced. Some are more hotly contested than others.

Dear Joe,
Below is a transcription of a deeply disturbing e-mail message from Washington State Representative Geoff Simpson responding to a constituent's correspondence regarding the homosexual marriage bill, SB5688.

While Simpson's personal hostility toward traditional Christian theology is obvious, his letter appears to be a cut and paste variation of a similar one that has been going around the Internet since May of 2000.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp

It gives me no pleasure to jump all over Rep. Simpson, but if this is his attitude toward Christians, should he be trusted with defending the rights of conscience, dissent, and freedom of religion for tens of thousands of Washington State citizens?

Is Simpson alone in his hostility toward Christian orthodoxy or is he representative of the new "progressive" wing of the Democratic Party?

How would Washington State media react to a state legislator demeaning Islam or the teachings of another minority religion in Washington? Would there not be immediate calls for an apology or even resignation?

Will media react to Simpson's letter or is it simply okay now to denigrate the faith of hundreds of thousands of Christians?

Larry Stickney, President
Washington Values Alliance

Stickney didn't send me the letter that provoked Simpson's response, so I asked Simpson for a copy. It appears below, so you can read what Barbara wrote to Simpson and what Simpson wrote back. You be the judge.

Joe –

Most of the information in my response to Barbara was cut/pasted from the public domain. I am no theologian but sometimes when a “Christian” writes me a message seeking to deny certain rights to certain people, after never having contacted me to advocate for housing for the homeless, food for the hungry, education for the children, healthcare for the destitute, peace, justice and whatever else Christ stood for I like to send them a reminder of their hypocrisy. Thanks for asking.

Geoff

And here is the original exchange between Barbara Benson and Simpson. As you can see, the orginal was sent to many lawmakers. I suspect most of them didn't take the time to give much of a response.

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There were so many different budgets coming out last week -- operating (House and Senate), capital (House and Senate) and transportation (House) -- that I never got a chance to read the House Transportation budget.

According to freshman Rep. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, it's not as good to Pierce County as the Senate version. See his remarks below:

"Frankly, I think the Senate’s transportation budget is better than our House version, and you’ll recall from my previous comments that I am not particularly fond of the Senate version either.

"Even more than in the Senate budget, the $4.6 billion House Transportation budget demands Pierce County shoulder far more than its fair share of cuts. Relative to the 2008 enacted budget, Pierce County suffers from cuts of 45% while King County is forced to only reduce spending by 7%. In dollar terms, Pierce County gets $375 million and King County gets $1.6 billion.

"While I am not on the Transportation Committee, I will continue to work closely with my fellow Pierce County legislators to represent our interests."

Here's the rest of Dammeier's e-letter to constituents:

Dear friends and neighbors,

We are now coming down the homestretch of the 2009 legislative session.

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