The 2006 Legislature: Overall Grade: B+

Generally, it was an excellent legislative session, but there is still some room to improve. The Legislature passed three out of four of the environmental community priorities (Renewable Fuels, Puget Sound Sewage, and E-Waste Recycling). Though it didn’t pass, we made significant progress on the fourth, phasing out toxic flame retardants. What’s more, the environmental community managed to either kill all the bills we opposed or amend them to the point of neutrality. We did not have any significant veto requests this session, and the Legislature preserved our state’s growth management laws.

When you look at the individual legislators’ grades, you’ll notice there are many "A’s." This past session, most of the environmental bills passed with large margins. A combination of factors produced this result.

First, we didn’t have many tough votes this session compared to previous years. The one bill that would have been the closest vote (toxic flame retardants) was essentially gutted before it came up for a vote in the House, and the Senate never even voted on it.

Second, suburban voters around the state are increasingly electing pro-environment candidates. This trend has created modest environmental majorities in both the House and Senate on most issues, but not all. Occasionally, though, the vote totals are a little inflated. Sometimes, when it’s a clear the bill has enough votes to pass, legislators will vote for it even though they have previously opposed the policy behind the scenes.

Finally, the environmental community is becoming more effective. We’re working well as a coalition and our grassroots influence has increased in recent years. We can increase our influence by building on recent successes and engaging even more of our members into the legislative process.