An historic day in Olympia: After 30 years, gay rights bill passes!

The week started with gay rights and ended with gay rights.

On Monday, Jan. 23, I addressed an “Equality Day” rally that attracted more than 1,000 people from all around the state. I told the crowd, “The people of my city upheld the ordinance to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Equality is the law in Spokane.”

And now it looks as if equality will be the law in the entire state: On Jan. 27, the Senate passed a bill that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. It may have been my proudest legislative moment since I was first elected to the Legislature in 1992.

The bill, which has existed in some fashion for three decades, came to its first full vote in the Senate last session, but failed by one vote. This year, it passed by one vote. The governor signed it into law Jan. 31.

To view my remarks on the bill just before it passed the Senate, please go here.

Giving a big boost to small business

Microenterprises are businesses with five or fewer employees that require $35,000 or less in start-up costs, and that do not have access to the traditional commercial banking sector. They account for close to 17 percent of all employment in Washington.

A group of Senate Democrats has sponsored a package of legislation that would give a big boost to these smallest of small business.

Microenterprises are not only a great economic development tool, they also fulfill personal, family and community needs by creating income, building assets and contributing to local employment creation.

Studies of the effects of microenterprise on poor and low- to moderate-income individuals have shown that not only does microenterprise increase incomes, it also helps move people out of poverty. They also enjoy high survival rates – rates higher than the national averages for traditional small businesses.

I’ve seen the successes in our district.

Take Michael Heppler: After declaring bankruptcy, his wife divorced him. Wanting to help support his 2 children, he went through a training offered by a local microenterprise program. The result? He went from earning $10 an hour to gross sales of $10,000 for the month of November alone.

My bills would:

• Establish a new state Microenterprise Development Program to improve low-income entrepreneurs’ access to capital, training and technical assistance (SB 6714).
• Broaden the mission of local Work Force Training Boards across the state to include entrepreneurial training opportunities (SB 6715).

Motion picture industry
In the 1990s it seemed that every other movie with a red carpet premiere was filmed, at least in part, in Washington – “Say Anything,” “Singles,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Disclosure,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” to name a few. But expenditures on motion picture and video productions in Washington have declined to $13 million currently from $50 million in 2001, economic studies indicate.

A bill (SB 6558) I’m sponsoring, which was heard in committee Jan. 26, would create a Motion Picture Competitiveness Program (MPCP), a nonprofit entity administered by a governor-appointed board of directors. MPCP could provide up to 20 percent of the in-state cost of, or investment in, certain film production projects. A contributor of cash of up to $1 million to MPCP would qualify, dollar for dollar, for a business and occupation tax credit.

Spokane’s North by Northwest Productions is just one of the companies that could benefit from this legislation. You may recall they produced “The Basket,” winner of three family film awards, starring Peter Coyote and Karen Allen. They’re currently in post-production on “Mozart and the Whale” starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell. North by Northwest has also done a number of commercials for WSU, Regence Blue Cross, the Idaho Lottery and vote.wa.gov.

We live in the most beautiful state in the country, but we aren’t doing everything we can to attract the film industry to come here. We need to retain and grow this industry in the face of growing competition from Vancouver, B.C., Idaho and Oregon. By doing so, we can keep creative, young people here and working in Washington state.

Economic development bill
Another bill (SB 6689) I’m sponsoring, which was heard in committee Jan. 25, would add a grant writing position at the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. The grant writer would locate and apply for federal and private economic development grant opportunities for the state and help local communities attract business, tourism and sporting events.

WEEK 4 (Jan. 30-Feb. 3)

Washington State Council of Fire Fighters
On Monday, Jan. 30, I addressed the Washington State Council of Firefighters, who were in town for their annual legislative day.

I was impressed by the number of professional firefighters and paramedics specialty license plates that were on cars in the parking lot where the event was held.

I reminded the crowd that all of the pension bills that were priorities of the organization last session were signed into law. I hope the same is true for their priority bills this year as well.

Reproductive health rally
I spoke at another rally Monday on the Capitol steps in support of reproductive health and rights. I let the crowd of 300 or so know that Senate Democrats are working for reproductive justice, the basics of education and the ability for youth to take charge of their own lives.

Changing the primary election date
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, we passed a bill in the Senate to move the state’s mid-September primary, one of the nation’s latest, up by a month, starting in 2007.

Election and military officials say the seven weeks between the current primary and the general election don’t leave enough turnaround time to determine the finalists and get the November ballots out. The earlier date also accommodates the increasingly heavy vote-by-mail.

The bill passed 37-11 and now moves to the House, where it passed last session. The governor is expected to sign it into law.

Cutoff
Friday, Feb. 3, marked an important cutoff for the session: All bills that started in the Senate had to be passed out of their respective policy committees to be considered “alive.” The 60-day session is not almost half over.

Stay tuned for next week’s edition.

Return to Sen. Brown's home page