Silencing voices and taxing burgers

A foundational element in our Democratic Republic is the idea that everyone has a voice. The voters of a particular area or legislative district elect a person to represent their collective values, principles and priorities.

Do voters agree with every decision or vote their elected officials make? Impossible. But through our election process voters choose someone to propose bills and amendments, vote for and against legislation, and advocate for or against other proposals with sound reasoning birthed from the character and expectations of the people they represent.

Simply put, the voice of a legislator is the voice of the people, THEIR people. When that voice is taken away from the legislator, it is akin to taking away the public’s voice.

This year, House Democrats have changed the rules governing our House floor debates, potentially silencing the voices of millions of voters who elected Republicans as their representatives.

One rule in place for over a century, required a two-thirds vote of the representatives present on the House floor to “call for the question.” This motion effectively ends debate immediately and a vote on the bill is taken.

House Democrats changed this rule so that only a simple majority vote is required to end debate and immediately vote on a bill.

Why does this matter?

Instead of several of our members being able to talk on the House floor and debate an issue and express their concerns and the concerns of their constituents, debate will be shut down and any contrary opinion silenced. Constituents back home will be left to wonder why their representative voted the way they did because the opportunity to explain their vote was stripped from them!

Democrats say this is a “time management” issue, complaining that Republicans talk too much and slow down the process.

However, we already have rules in place to limit floor speeches to 10 or three minutes depending on where we are in the legislative process. We can’t read from the phone book and filibuster. If time management is an issue, that’s on them. They have the gavel and can do what they want, when they want. Democrats shouldn’t be silencing legislators to cover for their time mismanagement.

This rule change puts the convenience of the majority above the rights of the minority.

Regulating bovine flatulence coming to a farm near you

You read that right. And by now, many of you have heard already that Democrats in Olympia have introduced legislation that could increase costs for beef and dairy products like milk and cheese.

House Bill 1630 would require dairy farms and feed lots to report annually to the Washington State Department of Ecology their total metric tons of methane emitted in the preceding calendar year. Bovine burps and flatulence make up the majority of these methane emissions.

If DOE finds sufficient methane equivalent to 25,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, these facilities will likely need to come under the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) as officially covered entities. This would require them to compete with other businesses to purchase carbon allowances, including several multinational companies. The expense of buying these allowances will most likely drive up the price of beef and dairy products.

I’m calling this the “Tax Your Burger and Shake Act” of 2025.

It just goes to show you, the ruling party in Olympia will get very creative in finding new ways to tax us all!

— Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, serves on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. He is a former second-generation farmer and small business owner.