Olympic Times

Washington Rep. Greg Gilday recently made his floor speech on his proposed amendment to Senate Concurrent Resolution 8402 (SCR 8402).

The amendment, according to Gilday, would limit the amount of extension time to a specific schedule rather than indefinitely.

SCR 8402 states that the "state of emergency is hereby extended until the termination of the state of emergency pursuant to RCW 43.06.210, or until rescinded by gubernatorial or legislative action, whichever occurs first."

Gilday proposed to revise the date to which the specified proclamations are extended to 11:59 PM on January 31, 2021, or until rescinded by the governor or legislature, rather than until the termination of the state of emergency declared by the governor or until rescinded by the governor or legislature.

He further said that if the amendment would be rejected, it would mean that they would “cede legislative authority to the executive branch.”

Gilday also cited Article II Section 1 of the Constitution of the State of Washington which says: “The legislative authority of the state of Washington shall be vested in the legislature.” 

“There’s no exceptions made for those times when there is a declared state of emergency,” he argued.  

“We as legislators are the voice of the people of the state of Washington,” Gilday said. 

“We are the lawmaking branch of the government,” he continued.

The representative for the 10th District said that there is an appropriate way to revise laws and it’s not by issuing proclamations.

Simply put, we should not be ruled by proclamations, Gilday remarked.