GOP: Inslee threatened to torpedo legislation if Dems didn't pass controversial gas bill

Natural gas bill passes Washington legislature

Republican lawmakers say Gov. Jay Inslee made intimidating calls to get the controversial natural gas bill passed.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - After weeks of in-party disagreement, Democrat lawmakers in Olympia rallied together in the early hours of the morning to pass a controversial piece of legislation intended to curb the use natural gas.

Republican legislators like Rep. Jim Walsh are calling foul, accusing Governor Jay Inslee of making calls in the dead of night, threatening members of his own party to pass House Bill 1589.

"I understand he was calling members — Democrat members — his own allies in the House, and saying, ‘If you don’t get on board and vote yes to this monster bill, I’m going to veto whatever bill you’ve got in the system right now,’" claimed Rep. Walsh. "You can admire that if you want, but I consider that pretty seedy politics."

Confronted with these rumors, Governor Inslee’s press secretary, Mike Faulk, says the complaints are nothing more than sour grapes.

"This is Republicans looking for excuses for why something didn’t go their way," retorted Faulk. "Negotiations and compromises take place every day during [the] session."

Walsh contends that the bill imposes restrictions and increases costs, particularly for an estimated 800,000 Puget Sound Energy customers across six counties. While the legislation currently does not affect his constituents living near the Washington coast in Aberdeen and Longview, Walsh expressed concern that it sets a precedent, opening the door to an outright ban on natural gas usage in the future.

"Now it doesn't ban natural gas, but it makes it more restricted, more difficult to implement and more expensive, ultimately more expensive," said Walsh.

Republicans caution that the measure bears resemblance to the Governor’s criticized cap-and-trade program, they refer to as a "carbon tax."

"It inflicts a tax hardship on working people and to no demonstrative good, and it doesn’t reduce carbon outputs," argued Walsh.

Democrats contend that cracking down on natural gas usage will help limit methane emissions from pipelines, arguing that natural gas is a fossil fuel.