A good indicator of a coming legislative session can be the bills lawmakers are so eager to file they can’t even wait until everybody is back in Olympia.
Known as pre-filed bills, these proposed laws and resolutions can be near the front of the line when committee hearings start in early January. That’s apparently what Senate Democrats, newly returned to control of that chamber, seem to be signaling with proposals tossed into the hopper last week.
There’s a new version of the Voting Rights Act, which would make it easier for communities that currently elect people at-large to be split into districts that could allow greater representation by racial or ethnic minorities.
There’s a bipartisan proposal to ban trigger modification devices, like the bump stocks used in the Las Vegas shooting.