The ethics move is just one of several bills introduced by Democratic Reps. Sam Hunt of Olympia, Zack Hudgins of Tukwila, and others to realign state government services, and Hudgins said they don’t expect them all to stick.
Among them: --House Bill 2398 – transfers the state library from the Office of the Secretary of State to the University of Washington. --HB 2399 – transfers the Washington state Law Library from the state Supreme Court to the UW. -- HB 2396 - Hudgins and Hunt are bringing back a bill to fix flaws in last year’s merger of five agencies into three – including creation of two new agencies, the Department of Enterprise Services and Consolidated Technology Services. The legislation that passed opened the door to taking away collective bargaining rights from some 200 workers who had them under the now-defunct Department of Information Services. --HB 2222 – which is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Mary Helen Roberts of Lynnwood and Republican Rep. Maureen Walsh of Walla Walla, raises the fees for out-of-state users of the state Library. The library is meant to be a government-research library but about 70 percent of its genealogy requests come from out of state and 42 percent of governmental and historical requests are from out of state.
I wrote a a story and a blog post last year on the issue, which died after the AG protested and it wasn’t clear it would save money.
“Our goal was to have about 30 people” exempt, said Hunt, who blamed last year’s broader wording on a misinterpretation and “mess-up” at the session’s close when the merger bill was being pushed through as one piece of a larger budget agreement. Does HB 2396 stand a chance? “It stands a chance in the House. I’m not sure in the Senate,’’ Hunt said.
HB 2222 got a hearing Monday, and acting state librarian Rand Simmons testified in favor of helping the state recoup its research costs – by an estimated $44,535 in the biennium. A fiscal note says that a $10 fee for out-of-state genealogy requests could reduce requests and let the state recoup $30,790 a year. A $15 fee for historical requests could save another $4,838 per year.
Hudgins, who is also a candidate for secretary of state, said more ideas are expected from other lawmakers, and he doesn't know which ones are going to get the most traction. But he is looking for new ways to align government more efficiently.
