Public letter regarding Senate's lack of action on funeral protest bill

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for expressing your concerns about House Bill 3293, which the full Legislature did not have the chance to pass this session. As you know, the bill’s intent was a good one. It would have banned protestors from being within 500 feet of a funeral.

While I personally had no objections to passing the bill out of the Senate, I would like to set the record straight about why that failed to happen.

First, the bill did not reach the Senate in a timely way. It is true that not every bill follows the legislative process as it should. But for a bill to pass under these circumstances, it is rare, and requires extraordinary measures. Even though we took these measures this session to revive a bill that makes getting a DUI a felony, the Senate does not generally go through this process for most bills.

In a certain sense, bills are essentially in competition with each other to pass within a deadline. In this case, although I had agreed to resurrect the funeral protest bill, in the last couple hours of session, I could not easily spot key legislators who requested that the bill move forward. After consultation with the majority floor leader, I decided, admittedly somewhat hastily, to skip the bill and adjourn.

Last, because bringing the bill up for a vote would have required a procedural motion, it was entirely possible that action on a flurry of other bills could have been requested, and political mayhem would have ensued. With the exception of this one bill, our work was done for the session, and I felt it appropriate to adjourn and address this bill next session instead.

My sincere apologies to those who supported the bill and looked forward to its passage this session.

House Speaker Frank Chopp and I have committed to making it one of the first bills we pass during the next legislative session, which begins in January.

I would also like to apologize to Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt for causing any confusion in his caucus about why this bill did not receive a full vote of the Senate. I look forward to working with him on the legislation’s assured passage next year.

It will be another well-deserved victory for our state’s veterans.

Sincerely,

Lisa Brown
Senate Majority Leader

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