OLYMPIA — Two bills sponsored by House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, to make it easier for retired doctors and nurses to volunteer their services died Friday when the state Senate abruptly adjourned.
But Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, vowed that the two bills will be resurrected one way or another.
Kessler and Buck represent the 24th Legislative District along with state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam.
The 24th District covers Clallam and Jefferson counties along with part of Grays Harbor County.
HB2787 and HB2788 were two of more than 100 bills killed Friday afternoon when the Republicans in the state Senate adjourned rather than vote on a bill that would have outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, legislation that gay-rights advocates have been trying for nearly 30 years to get through the Legislature.
Democrats said they had enough votes from members of the Republican majority to pass the bill. But instead of sticking around to find out, Republican leaders abruptly adjourned for the weekend.
When the Senate Republicans pulled the plug, their action killed Kessler’s bills that were among those in the pipeline between the House and Senate:
* HB2787 would have provided liability protection for licensed doctors and nurses who volunteer at community health clinics.
* HB2788 would have made liability insurance for retired doctors and nurses volunteering to serve a low-income patients a funding priority.
Friday was the last day for one chamber to consider bills from the other. So any House bills not passed by the Senate before it adjourned Friday are dead.
But some of those bills might be resurrected as part of the budget process, as amendments to other bills or “for the good of the order.”
