By Bob Katzen
The House 152-2, approved an IT bill consolidated amendment that would add $7.5 million, mostly to fund local projects, to the price tag of the measure.
Amendment supporters said these additional local projects are important to many cities and towns across the state. They argued the amendment would make the bill even better.
Not included in the consolidated amendment was a proposal by Rep. Mike Soter (R-Bellingham), that would ban the use or download of TikTok by public employees on state-owned electronic devices. Since it was not included, the proposal simply died and no further action was taken. Soter could have requested a separate roll call vote on his proposal, but he chose not to do so.
Soter did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on why he filed the proposal and why he didn’t ask for debate and a separate roll call on it.
Most of the decisions on which representatives’ proposals are included or not included in the IT bill are made behind closed doors. Of the 59 proposals, many of them were bundled into the single consolidated amendment.
The system works this way: Individual representatives file proposals. All members then pitch their proposals to Democratic leaders who draft a single consolidated amendment that includes some of the individual representatives’ proposals while excluding others.
Supporters of the system say that any representative who sponsored an excluded proposal can bring it to the floor and ask for debate and an up or down vote on the proposal itself. They say this system has worked well for many years.
Opponents say that rarely, if ever, does a member bring his or her proposal to the floor for an up-or-down vote because that is not the way the game is played. It is an “expected tradition” that you accept the fate of your amendment as determined by Democratic leaders.
(A “Yes” vote is for the $7.5 million. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Mike Connolly Yes Rep. Paul Donato Yes Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Yes