Roll call votes on HB 1589: Natural Gas Ban
On Tuesday, March 5, Washington lawmakers passed HB 1589, a bill that will have notable impact for Washingtonians, particularly low-income families. It effectively bans natural gas, causing families to pay tens of thousands of dollars to adjust their homes, and could lead to energy bill increases upwards of $206 each month.
The bill allows Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to shut off natural gas service for its 800,000 customers, making them convert their homes to all-electric. It does not include any support for families to make that transition, which can cost between $30,000 and $74,000. BIAW estimates the average cost is $40,000. It also allows PSE to raise rates.
Here is how lawmakers voted on this bill:
Washington Senate
Yeas: 27 Nays: 22 Absent: 0 Excused: 0
Voting Yea: Senators Billig, Cleveland, Conway, Dhingra, Frame, Hansen, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kauffman, Keiser, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Lovick, Nguyen, Nobles, Pedersen, Randall, Robinson, Saldaña, Salomon, Shewmake, Stanford, Trudeau, Valdez, Wellman, Wilson, C.
Voting Nay: Senators Boehnke, Braun, Dozier, Fortunato, Gildon, Hawkins, Holy, King, MacEwen, McCune, Mullet, Muzzall, Padden, Rivers, Schoesler, Short, Torres, Van De Wege, Wagoner, Warnick, Wilson, J., Wilson, L.
Washington House
Yeas: 50 Nays: 45 Absent: 0 Excused: 2
Voting Yea: Representatives Alvarado, Bateman, Berg, Bergquist, Berry, Bronoske, Callan, Chopp, Cortes, Davis, Doglio, Donaghy, Duerr, Entenman, Farivar, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Fosse, Goodman, Gregerson, Hackney, Kloba, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Macri, Mena, Nance, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Paul, Peterson, Pollet, Ramel, Ramos, Reed, Reeves, Riccelli, Ryu, Santos, Senn, Simmons, Slatter, Stearns, Stonier, Street, Taylor, Thai, Wylie, Jinkins
Voting Nay: Representatives Abbarno, Barkis, Barnard, Caldier, Chambers, Chapman, Cheney, Christian, Connors, Corry, Couture, Dent, Dye, Eslick, Goehner, Graham, Griffey, Harris, Hutchins, Jacobsen, Klicker, Kretz, Low, Maycumber, McClintock, Morgan, Mosbrucker, Orcutt, Robertson, Rude, Rule, Sandlin, Schmick, Schmidt, Shavers, Springer, Steele, Stokesbary, Tharinger, Timmons, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Waters, Ybarra