OLYMPIA, Wash. – A bill to put legislative oversight on the governor’s emergency powers is slated for a vote out of a Senate committee on Friday, and the man who the bill aims to limit recently stepped up to give it a boost.
Under current law, the governor is the only person who can declare and terminate a state of emergency. An emergency declaration enables the governor to prohibit activities like gatherings and the sale of alcohol in order to preserve public safety.
The governor can also waive statutory obligations or limitations like inspection fees for the Department of Labor and Industries, and penalties around tax collection. Those waivers end after 30 days unless the legislature extends them.
Senate Bill 5434 would allow the legislature to terminate a governor’s declared state of emergency by a majority vote of the House and Senate. If the legislature is not in session, the Senate majority and minority leaders plus the House speaker and minority leader can end an emergency if it has gone on for over 90 days.
The bipartisan bill would also put a 30-day limit on emergency prohibitions of activities unless the legislature extends them.
Prime sponsor state Senator Keith Wagoner (R-Sedro-Woolley) said the governor should have strong authority to immediately handle an emergency, but the legislature should be able to check that power. He said emergency powers were last changed in 2019, with crucial legislative oversight left out.
“The piece we missed was, how does the legislature during a declared emergency get on-ramped back into the process and exercise our dutiful role for the people of Washington state,” Wagoner said.
Numerous proposals to change the governor’s emergency powers were introduced during former Governor Jay Inslee’s time in office. The Democratic governor’s declared state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic lasted over two years and drew a lot of criticism from Republican lawmakers. Attempts to limit the governor’s powers in response, including one proposal pushed by Democrats, never made it into law.
“Looking back on COVID, you can either agree that the governor did everything right or maybe he could’ve done better. Those kinds of things are what’s sort of firing this,” Wagoner said. “But I want to emphasize, this bill doesn’t change any of the powers available to the governor. It kind of just sets a time limit for when the legislature gets to come back into play.”
The senator said things this time around are different, as the state is not actively in the middle of an emergency, and there is a governor “who’s willing to work” on the subject.
For his part, Governor Bob Ferguson highlighted emergency powers reform as a priority during his inaugural address last month.
As first reported by the Washington State Standard, Ferguson even made a call to the chair of the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections to hold a hearing on the bill.
“We weren’t sure the bill was gonna get a hearing,” Wagoner said. “I don’t know that, but it was important enough to me to reach out after hearing the governor’s willingness to work with us. It was also kind of a test – is this real? Because it was unexpected.”
The governor’s office, business groups and others testified in support of the legislation at the February 14 committee hearing. But some individuals argued the bill does not go far enough to let the legislature limit the governor’s powers.
“It’s like when I get a big box for my birthday, I open it and inside is a really small toy,” testified Jeff Pack with Washington Citizens Against Unfair Taxes. “That’s what this bill is. It’s a small tidbit that we actually get out of it.”
Wagoner said he has gotten feedback from the governor’s office and other legislators and is working to refine some details, but he is overall optimistic about the bill’s odds.
“Make sure that we get the best policy, regardless of which governor is in power, which party has a majority,” he said. “We want a solution that’s good for every situation, the best we can make it.”
The bill is slated for a committee vote on Friday. All legislation not necessary to implement the budget has to pass out of committee by that day.
Albert James is a television reporter covering state government as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program – a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide and Washington State University.
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