Crosscut by Joseph O’Sullivan
In response to the 2021 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated an old drug possession law, state lawmakers have until July 2019 to pass a brand new statute. A special session will likely be called because the Legislature failed Sunday night to pass a compromise before the regular 2023 session ended.
Senate Bill 5536, one of the last bills debated in the 105-day legislative session, failed 43-55 in the Democratic-controlled House. The bill was defeated by several Democratic legislators, while not one Republican voted in favor of the compromise reached between House and Senate Democrats.
After two years of hard negotiations, the failure of legislation was a bitter blow for Democrats who had been looking forward to celebrating a number of recent victories: a package of measures to ease housing crises, an increase in education funding, additional dollars for climate projects, and new firearm restrictions.
“I am flummoxed. I am flummoxed,” declared House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) shortly after the voting. Jinkins attributed the failure to House Republicans who failed to support a deal prior the temporary law was passed. This temporary law expires in July.
Jinkins stated that “their failure to provide votes for this legislation will result in the legalization of methamphetamines and heroin, as well as the possession of these drugs throughout the state of Washington.”
The House Republicans have been warning for weeks about their disapproval of the House Democrats approach. They supported a version of the bill passed by the Senate earlier this year, which had higher penalties for drug possession. Having not been satisfied with their objections, several GOP House members said that they would prefer to see the bill die, which would let local governments in districts pass their own laws.
Washington Associations of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs echoed this sentiment. The association stated in a Sunday evening statement that it supported the Senate’s earlier version of the bill which included a penalty for gross misdemeanors, which was considered “a balanced way to encourage those who are found to be in possession of drugs, to successfully complete their treatment.”
The statement stated that “local governments will be able to implement policies and ordinances in their communities to help break the drug abuse cycle, to provide assistance to those who are in need and to take back public spaces.”
At his session-ending news conference on Sunday night, Gov. Jay Inslee stated that lawmakers must fix the problem before July. This will require calling a special session of the legislature in a few weeks time to pass any compromise.
Watch Live: Gov. Jay Inslee holds a press conference following the conclusion 2023 Legislative Session. https://t.co/ZOmRYZ6S9S
— Governor Jay Inslee 24 April 2023 HTML0
Inslee stood alone, not flanked by Democratic legislators who were announcing their victories at the end the year. “We expect that the Washington State Legislature will produce a bill which will not decriminalize drug use, but will instead provide measures for treatment as well as some sanctions for those who refuse to accept treatment.”
In 2021, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in Blake that decades-old criminal convictions were invalid. Since then, lawmakers have tried to reach a compromise.
Conservative Republicans want to return to a felony law, while progressive Democrats are in favor of decriminalization. The vast majority of Americans favor a criminal punishment less severe than that of a felony. The debate is further complicated by the need to increase substance abuse treatment programs.
The story was originally published by Crosscut.
Visit Crosscut.com/donate for local journalism that is nonprofit and freely distributed.
The post Washington lawmakers fail to pass drug possession bill by deadline, with Governor likely to call special session in order prevent decrim first appeared on Marijuana moment.
