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Law

Lawmakers Proposed The Darndest Things

File photo of Washington Capitol Building.
Wikimedia
File photo of Washington Capitol Building.

It’s the end of week two of Washington’s legislative session. Already more than 1,200 bills have been introduced.

Many of them will make your eyes glaze over. But a few popped out.

Remember Art Linkletter’s “Kids say the darndest things?” In some cases you might even say “lawmakers introduce the darndest bills.”

Here’s a sampling. There’s a proposal to recognize the national day of the cowboy. A requirement that yellow traffic lights last four seconds at intersections with red light cameras.

There’s the bill that would make it illegal for flower shops to misrepresent their location. And from a group of eastern Washington lawmakers who have to trek back and forth across the state: a proposal to boost the speed limit on Interstate 90 to 75mph in rural counties.

Finally remember those signs advertising free coffee at rest stops? There’s a bill to require the Washington Department of Transportation to restore those signs -- something the department says it’s already doing even without a law telling it to do so.

So what are the odds of actually getting a bill passed into law? In recent years, just 15 to 17 percent make it through the sausage-making process.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Law
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Austin Jenkins
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."