From the Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005 issue

News

Capitol Offense

Apparently, Republicans aren't much enjoying their minority-party impotence in Olympia. Tempers flared in the state house on Wednesday, February 16, when Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43) cut off debate and called for a vote on a prescription-drugs-from-Canada bill. Chopp's move prompted a yelling Minority Leader Bruce Chandler (R-Granger) to bum rush the rostrum. End result? Chopp backpedaled, allowing another Republican to speak in opposition, followed by a revote on the bill (which passed anyway).… Strange bedfellows: State Sen. Adam Kline of Seattle, one of the legislature's most ardent liberals, has signed on with 10 Republicans, mostly from east of the mountains, as a cosponsor of a senate resolution calling for the feds to allow Eastern Washington to split off as a separate state. The proposal received a hearing Tuesday morning. "Why should the western half continue to subsidize the east?" Kline asked in a statement. Why indeed?--SK