In our view Jan. 14: The Source of Clout

You know what they say about assumptions. That won’t stop us from making two of them to support a couple of conclusions about this year’s Legislature:

Assumption No. 1: Power, money, education and transportation matter most in Olympia.

Conclusion: Clark County — despite losing clout with the retirement of highly effective Democratic state Rep. Bill Fromhold — can expect strong representation from its legislative delegation, especially when it comes to presence on committees.

State Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, remains a majority-party member of the influential, budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. He no longer serves as vice chairman, but with the budget-writing experience he gained last year in that role, Pridemore has significant experience and connections.

State Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, continues as perhaps the most powerful Republican when it comes to fiscal issues. He’s the ranking Republican on Ways and Means, and he’s got a solid record of bipartisan collaboration.

Two other local (sort of) Republicans, Sen. Jim Honeyford of Sunnyside and Rep. Bruce Chandler of Granger, also boast power, the former as ranking Republican on the Environment, Water and Energy Committee and the latter as ranking Republican on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Honeyford’s and Chandler’s 15th Legislative District includes a few thousand people in the southeast corner of Clark County.

Even two local rookies have acquired commendable clout due to their majority-party membership and current or previous job experience. Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, is vice chairman of Education and serves on Education Appropriations. Also, his job as director of the Washington Workforce Association will serve him well on the Community and Economic Development and Trade Committee.

And newcomer Rep. Jim Jacks, D-Vancouver, formerly Gov. Christine Gregoire’s representative to this area, is vice chairman of Agriculture and Natural Resources and serves on the Capital Budget Committee.

When money matters (a 24/7 reality in Olympia), our area also will benefit from having Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, as ranking Republican on Finance.

Regarding education, with both a four-year university and a vibrant Clark College facing funding challenges, our interests will be well served with Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver, as chairwoman of Higher Education and Probst as vice chairman of Education.

On the Transportation Committee, Wallace is joined by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, and Reps. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, and Jaime Herrera, R-Ridgefield.

Of course, many other issues and committees also matter a lot. We’re glad Moeller is on Health Care and Wellness. And economic development clout is evident with Pridemore chairing the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council and Orcutt and Probst serving on Community and Economic Development and Trade.

Assumption No. 2; It’s good to have dual party representation.

Conclusion: The 17th District has an edge over other local districts because it is served by Republican Benton and Democrats Wallace and Probst. In the 49th, it’s three Democrats, and in the 15th and 18th, its three Republicans each. But the 17th has connections in both caucuses and, theoretically, will be recruited by both parties for key swing votes.

That makes Probst a major factor, because until he replaced Republican Jim Dunn, the 17th also was served only by one party.

Remember, though, this editorial is based on two assumptions, either of which or both can quickly collapse if local legislators don’t pursue their full potential.