Democratic State Sens. Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon announced they would create a majority power-sharing coalition with Senate Republicans, throwing control of the chamber into question.
While the new coalition pledged to start preparing for next month’s session, Democratic leaders who now hold a slim majority signaled they will fight the proposal.
One wonders how, given that the existing plan has been signed off on by the entire incoming GOP state Senate Caucus. The way the deal goes: Tom and Sheldon get to be in charge. The Republicans get to control crucial committees like Ways and Means, Commerce and Labor, Health Care* – and, here’s the fun one: they get to pick the majority floor leader. That’s the person who decides which bill goes to which committee, which is another way of saying “the person who can kill or save bills.” The Democrats get… to play with the parks and beaches, of which I understand Washington state has some very nice examples.
So, basically, nobody you care about is getting hammered on this one. Continue reading BTW: The GOP just took control of Washington’s state Senate.