Last night the House passed 5791. That means it is through the House and the Senate so the next step is for the Governor’s signature. Since the bill passed both the Senate and House with no nay votes we do not anticipate any problems–of course this is still the government so it is not done until it is done.
We need to thank a number of people who provided valuable assistance in getting this done. Senator John Lovick has worked very hard to get this bill through both houses. Of course we need to thanks Senators Mark Schoesler and Shelly Short for sponsoring this bill and for a lot of work in seeing it through the process. Senator Steve Conway also worked very hard to push this bill. Al O’Brien, a long time Representative and a retired Seattle Police Office worked for the bill as well.
We also want to recognize Dick Warbrouck of the Retired Fire Fighters of Washington and Dennis Lawson of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and their lobbyist Bud Sizemore. They were in constant contact with the legislators as was Jerry Taylor of the Seattle Police Retired Officers’ Association and Ken Crowder, a Director of the Washington State Retired Officers Association.
I know there were a lot of others either as individuals or representing some organization that worked equally as hard. Please excuse us if we have not mentioned you by name and know that we do appreciate the efforts.
Finally, and very importantly, we want to thank every LEOFF member, family and friends that reached out to encourage the legislature to support this bill. That type of intense support is always a key factor in getting any legislation through.
LEOFF 2 also got their bill passed. So we can all rest a bit.
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