Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1931-03-12
LEGISLATIVE Mill
AT A STANDSTILL
Conflict Causes Greatest Jam Of
Important Measures Seen
in 20 Years.

General Interest Measures Passed
Courage Questioned - Reapportion-
ment Fight complex-Budget Con-
troll Rules.
Olympia, Wash. A dog-eat-dog
fight between the senate and house
and with Governor Hartley standing
ready to display his veto powers, stall
ed the wheels of the Washington legis-
lature and created the biggest jam of
important measures in 20 years. In
addition, business and farming inter
ests seemingly are even up in fight
over plans to shift some taxes from
real property to business and earnings,
which also is tending to restrict the
legislative output.
Naturally, the rival organizations
are welding every club that comes to
hand-the senate rules committee
holding back or revising important
house bills and the house rules COM
mittee doing the same with important
senate bills.
House bill No. II remains the men
ace to any constructive legislation in
tax relief that this session of the leg
islature may offer.
The measure provides supervision of
the budgets, county and municipal, by
appointees Of the state tax commits
sion. The senate amended the bill 30
as to make the tax supervisors cleo
tive, with term of office of two years,
while the house wanted the tax COM
mission appointees to have a term of
four years.
This bill bids fair to remain, until
the close of the session, the stumbling
block and, should all beneficial sta
tutory relief be not given the property
owners of the state, there is no rea-
son to believe that it would not be
traceable to this bill.
Executive Program Halls
The rocks loom before the execu-
tive program of Governor Hartley, the
property relief plan of the Grange and
the Showalter program for reconstruc-
ton Of the financial structure of the
common school system. In fact, things
are SO piled up and scrambled that
the legislature will be lucky If it man
ages to pass the necessary supply bills
and $3O,0O0,0OO highway budget in
time to adjourn Thursday midnight,
which is the constitutional deadline
on time and pay.
The solons at Olympia have accom-
plished record just the opposite to
the lawmakers of Salem. The Oregon
legislature. ruled by organized farm
ers and voices" and mandates"
from the people, permitted more than
700 bills to reach the floor and Gov
ernor Meier had Just about everything
he wanted. But the Washington leg
islature, with 700 measures introduc-
ed, has tagged more than 500 bills
in committees, principally the rules
committee, and the senate has set the
brakes on Governor Hartley.
Petitions signed by 10000 Washing
ton automobile owners for a SO flat
license fee and an increase in gaso-
line taxes, rated about the value of SO
much waste paper.
Senate and house conferees appar-
emily had reach hopeless impasse.
No New Bills Now Accepted
Numerous bills already have been
killed singly, some by one house or
the other, some, like the boxing bill,
by the veto route.
Noon Monday sounded the death
knell for hundreds of bills. At that
hour, by mutual pledge. each branch
ended consideration Of its own bills,
the senate combining itself from then
on to house bills passed by the house,
and vice versa. Wednesday noon was
another fateful hour. At that time all
bills not already acted upon by both
houses were dead.
That hour saw twenty or more i'm
portant bills still in conference, after
being passed by the two houses In
different forms. Until Thursday mid
night, and as much longer as legisla.
tors have patience to remain, the
houses will try to accommodate their
growing differences.
After that the governor will have
ten days, exclusive of two Sundays,
to decide how many Of the measures
that get through will become laws
and how many will be vetoed.
Measures Already Passed
or the tax program, not single
major measure has yet been finally
The income tax bills and the
school bill, passed by the
senate, are pending in the house. But.
the senate action In killing constltu-
tfOnal amendmefit threatang the valid.