Tri-City Herald Logo

State Republicans expect more friends in Legislature | Tri-City Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Archives
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services

    • News
    • Local News
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Hanford
    • Northwest
    • Nation & World
    • Obituary Listings
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Health
    • Weird
    • Photos
    • Weather
    • Videos
    • Sports
    • Local Sports
    • Preps
    • Prep Countdown
    • Seattle Seahawks
    • Seattle Mariners
    • Tri-City Americans
    • Tri-City Dust Devils
    • Tri-Cities Fever
    • Hydros
    • Photos
    • Outdoors
    • Blogs
    • College
    • NFL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NHL
    • MLS
    • Golf
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Public Records
    • National Business
    • Technology
    • Entertainment
    • Local Arts
    • Celebrity
    • Mr. Movie
    • Movie Times
    • Movie News
    • Music News
    • Calendar
    • Submit Event
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Contests
    • Living
    • Food & Wine
    • Wine Press NW
    • Antique Appraisals
    • Health & Science
    • Home & Garden
    • Light Notes
    • Religion
    • Spiritual Life
    • Births
    • Engagements
    • Weddings
    • Anniversaries
    • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Editorials
    • National
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Submit Letter
    • Guest Columnists
  • Obituaries

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad

  • About Us
  • Mobile & Apps

Local

State Republicans expect more friends in Legislature

By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer

    ORDER REPRINT →

July 20, 2010 12:00 AM

Local Republican lawmakers expect to wrestle with another $3 billion to $5 billion budget deficit when they return to Olympia in January.

But they're hopeful their numbers will have swelled enough in the upcoming November election that they will have more say in how the budget is written.

"We are anticipating having another horrible budget year," Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, told the Pasco Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon on Monday.

"There is a lot of policy on the books that has to be turned around -- paid family leave and things of that nature," Hewitt said. "It's not going to be a pretty session."

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Tri-City Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Republicans have played little to no role in writing budgets in Olympia for the past few years as Democrats have held not only the Governor's Mansion, but a near-supermajority in both houses of the state Legislature.

"We have literally been kept out of the conversation," Hewitt said.

Hewitt and 16th District seatmates Reps. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, and Terry Nealey, R-Dayton, said the political tide may be turning enough to give Republicans a stronger voice in the Legislature.

The balance in the House right now is 61 Democrats to 37 Republicans, although Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, typically behaves more as an independent, Walsh said. Republicans would need to pick up 13 seats, or 14 to compensate for Campbell, to have a 50-vote majority.

Walsh said she doesn't see the party earning enough seats to swing the House, but does think they'll win enough new members to make Democrats sit up and listen.

"We will be working on a more even keel," Walsh said.

Hewitt was more optimistic about his chances of winning a majority in the 49-member Senate, where Republicans would need to add seven seats to the 18 they hold now to have a 25-vote majority.

As minority leader, it's Hewitt's job to recruit Republican candidates to run for the Senate, and he thinks he has a crop of winners this year.

"I have seven candidates I think are outstanding," he said. "I have two Harvard grads, a Stanford grad, one who went to Yale, a couple of (huskies) and a couple of cougs. A couple are self-made millionaires. They're retired, and they're running for the Legislature. I predict our chances at least in the Senate are very, very good if not to take the majority at least to even up the numbers."

And if the Republicans get a shot at the next biennial budget, Hewitt said he'd start by eliminating policies the state can't afford, like its "retire/rehire" program that allows state retirees to return to the state workforce and earn a paycheck while also drawing a pension.

Hewitt said the plan originally was intended to entice teachers back into the workforce to fill a shortage, but was expanded to other state employees on the floor of the Legislature.

"We should wipe that off the books," he said. "Then we would have slots for people who are unemployed today to move up into the system."

One thing the three 16th District lawmakers would protect is funding for education, including early learning programs.

Walsh said science has shown that early learning programs help prepare kids for school and prevent problems later, but it can be one of the first items put on the chopping block when cuts are discussed.

"Prevention is the hardest thing to sell in the Legislature because you can't prove you've prevented anything," she said.

Tri-Citians living in the 16th District can contact Hewitt, Walsh and Nealey through their Pasco office at 2815 St. Andrews Loop or call 543-3325.

  Comments  

Videos

These two spots could be the future location for the Tri-Cities Public Market

Police investigate shooting in Richland and surround another home in connection

View More Video

Trending Stories

Kennewick teen’s unsolved murder among 1,200 youth deaths nationwide

February 16, 2019 04:49 PM

From ‘climbing the walls’ to doing ‘a happy dance,’ Tri-Citians rate snow response

February 16, 2019 02:51 PM

Free streaming movie system comes to Tri-Cities libraries

February 16, 2019 01:39 PM

Pasco’s ousted needle exchange program needs a new home so it can save lives

February 16, 2019 02:04 PM

Increased avalanche danger in Cascades

February 16, 2019 12:51 PM

Read Next

Learn about materials being designed in Richland that will make your life better

Local

Learn about materials being designed in Richland that will make your life better

By Tri-City Herald staff

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 17, 2019 01:26 PM

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) scientist talk in Richland to cover designing materials at the nanoscale atom by atom for better electronics, energy systems and batteries.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Tri-City Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LOCAL

Free streaming movie system comes to Tri-Cities libraries

Local

Free streaming movie system comes to Tri-Cities libraries

February 16, 2019 01:39 PM
From ‘climbing the walls’ to doing ‘a happy dance,’ Tri-Citians rate snow response

Local

From ‘climbing the walls’ to doing ‘a happy dance,’ Tri-Citians rate snow response

February 16, 2019 02:51 PM
Kennewick teen’s unsolved murder among 1,200 youth deaths nationwide

Crime

Kennewick teen’s unsolved murder among 1,200 youth deaths nationwide

February 16, 2019 04:49 PM

Latest News

Increased avalanche danger in Cascades

February 16, 2019 12:51 PM
Cattle losses from Eastern Washington blizzard top $2 million

Local

Cattle losses from Eastern Washington blizzard top $2 million

February 15, 2019 05:04 PM
Behavioral health bills would restrict placements of violent offenders

Politics & Government

Behavioral health bills would restrict placements of violent offenders

February 15, 2019 05:35 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Tri-City Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
Advertising
  • Digital Solutions
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Contact Us
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story