White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1935-02-28
Washington
State Analyst
BY LEW sELvIDGE

CLOSE IWdTCll 4t-G1lc SCA41uC aA40 AAONSS
this week got down to the serious bust
ness of passing legislation necessary to
the administration of state affairs.
Critics of both houses point to the
scarcity of laws passed as indicative
that the left-wingers are holding up
legislative machinery with the idea OF
forcing special session Immediately
after the close of the regular session,
which would give them an opportunity
to continue in session until they got
ready to go home.
Some 46 members of the house, a
majority of them so-called left
wingers", have drawn resolution call
ing for adjournment "sine die" at mid
night on the Goth day of the session.
Usually revenue, appropriations and
highway bills are in conference COM
mittees at that hour. If this should
be true this year. under the resolution,
the session would end. The answer
would be a special session called by the
governor of necessity.
But the senate would have to agree
to the resolution before the legislature
could adjourn. The house can't quit
alone.
The legislature seldom does pass any
large number of bills before the final
two weeks The time before that is
largely spent in working over measures
In the various committees, preparing
them for action in the house and SEN
ate
That part of the work of the legis-
lature goes on behind the scenes and
is not spectacular.
However, the question of a special
session cannot be laughed away. Both
houses must act on a flock of import
ant bills before March IA, and send
them to the governor for his action
before they can go home.
Among other measures upon which
| action is essential are: Appropriation
bills, new revenue producing measures,
flood control old age pensions favored
by the. governor, relief problems the
highway code, the state AAA law modi-
| fications, liquor law notifications,
chain store tax measures and gasoline
bill, not to mention either forgetting
or acting on several hundred minor
measures.
Starting last Monday the senate
worked both day and night. The lead
ers believed more speed could be had
by holding morning and evening ses-
sions with committees working after
Moons In the house committees work
evenings, with morning and afternoon
sessions in popular favor. And all for
$500 per day.
A bill has been filed in the senate
appropriating 100000 from the liquor
board revolving fund to aid in the
construction of another building on
the capitol grounds, to be used by the
liquor board. At present the board is
CHARTERED in the top floor of the In
surance building, where the highway
forces we're before the highway build
ing was built and occupied year ago
The top floor of the Insurance build
ing is only a made-over attic; there
are no windows anywhere and light is
obtained from sky lights. During sum-
mer months the sun beats down on
these wide expanses of glass with con-
: siderable enthusiasm, as any member
of the highway staff can tell you.
In past summers the highway crews
tried running water over the glass tt
!, cool off the rooms, but the boy:
! sweated away in their shirt sleeves de-
spite all attempts to reduce the tenn.
perature.
No one knows what the liquor boart
will do in their sweatbox next summer
: but jokesters don't believe they'll u.s.
r water with which to cool off
! For several sessions, legislators from
2 over Yakima way have tried to get
tariff duty memorial through the leg
islature to ask the federal government
e to levy assessments on importations o
e bananas, to help the apple industry
: The memorial has been presented one
: more, but may suffer the same fat
: as in previous years: get lost in tn
n shuttle.
Governor Martin sent the Cana
= commissions report to the legislator
last week, coupled with it his procla
} nation finding the project both feasibl
0 and desirable. The project calls for tn
a digging of lock canal between Olym
8 pia and Grays Harbor, between Aber
o deem and Willapa Harbor and on int
/ the Columbia river, thus making a
2 inside passage for ships from the Col
l1mbia to Alaska.
9 Later in the week the State Plannin
Council accepted the report of tn
} commission and turned it over to i
8 engineering staff for presentation
proper authorities. Southwest Wash
3 ington is pushing the plans as a wor
making project. Engineers estimate 20
2 600 men could be employed on the jc
for some two years, with the FEEDER;
government putting up around 40 bi
! lion dollars for the project.