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Janea.jpg
Democrats are accused of making a power play and rushing a key vote when Republican Senator Janea Holmquist Newbry left the floor this week to nurse her four-month-old child. (Photo courtesy Holmquist Newbry's election website)

State Democrats rush a vote as GOP Senator steps away to nurse her baby

March 13, 2013 @ 5:30 pm (Updated: 9:22 am - 3/14/13 )

When a Republican state senator left the floor to nurse her newborn son, Democrats seized the opportunity for a quick vote without her.

Washington State Wire reporter Erik Smith, who is covering his 14th legislative session in Olympia, has an interesting account of what happened on the State Senate floor Tuesday when Janea Holmquist Newbry, from Moses Lake, stepped away to feed her baby.

Listen to an interview with the reporter above. Smith says the bill they were rushing a vote on wasn't particularly important but Democrats wanted to push it through because the person behind it hadn't had any legislative success so far this session.

Smith writes:

During a mid-afternoon session, as the Senate was debating a routine series of bills, Holmquist Newbry left the floor to care for her four-month-old son Makaio, who had been brought to the women's lounge off the Senate floor. Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, moved to excuse Holmquist Newbry from voting. That meant the majority coalition had 24 votes, not 25, and they were tied at least temporarily with the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, took advantage of the moment. He rose to demand an immediate vote on a bill sponsored by a Democrat that did not appear on the afternoon schedule.

The unusual motion quieted the chamber. Members rushed to their seats. Frockt demanded a roll-call vote. The assumption was that Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a Democrat, would cast a tiebreaking vote to advance the bill to the floor.

Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted yes as their names were called. Members of the Majority Coalition Caucus voted no. And just in time, Holmquist Newbry emerged from the lounge to cast her vote. The motion failed 25-24.

State Senator Ann Rivers, also a Republican, is quoted as saying, "I think it is shameful for them to make her choose between being on the floor and voting and nursing her child. This caucus, which presents itself as being the caucus of families, would willingly drive a wedge between a mother and her infant? I think that is shameful. Just shameful. And deeply disappointing."

I've asked Senator Holmquist Newbry for a comment on the floor vote that happened as she left to nurse her child.

She was first elected to the Senate in 2006, after serving 3 terms as the 13th District's state representative. At 31, she became the youngest female state senator elected in the state's history. Holmquist Newbry chairs the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee

This drama, mild or major depending on who's recounting what happened, is not the first sign of political squabbling during the current legislative session.

The head of the Washington State Democrats said last month Top Democrat state senators are 'not invited to our party.'

Which led to this email from the wife of one of the senators who told the head of the Democratic party to Put on your big boy panties.

Senator Rodney Tom - one of the two Democrats who joined the Republicans this year - says, "It's all ‘Kum ba yah' here in the Senate. At the beginning of the session, we formed the Majority Coalition Caucus because we wanted to move away from partisan bickering and gridlock and work together, regardless of party affiliation, in a constructive collaborative manner that moves our great state forward."

At the halfway point in the session, the Senate passed 276 bills by the deadline, and Tom says most of the bills passed with broad bipartisan support.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (120)


  • Add A Comment

  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    its time to fix this
    December 31, 2001 3:02 pm
    We as Americans must say enough and RE-ELECT NOBODY. R or D or I. Just say NO MORE for you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    December 31 , 2001
    December 31, 2001 6:33 pm
    Why does my posts say December 31 , 2001?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • The Dude Abides wrote...
    Nobody cares about Moses Lake anyway...
    December 31, 2001 3:30 pm
    just sayin.

    I don't like what the Democrats tried to pull here, and I think the Republicans would have tried to do the same thing if they were in a similar position. It's crappy political games, regardless of the party.

    However, this woman is kind of an idiot. There are plenty of ways that she could have handled this situation better. She didn't have to excuse herself while on the clock, thereby leaving herself and her party open to this. If you can't manage to get through a session without waiting for everyone to go on a break, then maybe you should either stay home or find someone else who can care for the child.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cigarillo wrote...
    @Dude
    March 14, 2013 9:11 pm
    What the H-E-Double Toothpicks are you talking about? She should've been feeding the kid right there on the floor!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RAH wrote...
    What was the FRIGGING BILL they were trying to push through?
    December 31, 2001 4:16 pm
    Wouldn't it have been a novel piece of journalism to have included WHAT IT WAS THEY WERE TRYING TO PUSH THROUGH?!?!?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • harper24 wrote...
    Right?!
    March 14, 2013 1:55 pm
    That's exactly my question!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    Where is the shame in breastfeeding a baby?
    December 31, 2001 6:28 pm
    Next time just do it in front of all the "adults" in the room.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    thought it was only Republicans who did mean things to women.
    December 31, 2001 7:46 pm
    Name one "mean" thing we do to women? Like making them wear burguas? Or allowing them to kill babies? I'd say the baby is getting the "mean thing" done to it. But I'll be waiting. Show me how "mean" conservative men are. I dare you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Hooter nursing on the floor
    January 1, 2002 4:04 am
    could you give me the link? This will be a must see! Just think if that one day of the month fell on the same day for everyone? That would be a wild day at the Capital!! Pam has her moments every day. Yes she is a republican.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • PScott wrote...
    Its Janéa, by the way...
    March 13, 2013 6:03 pm
    Janéa is a great person, she didn't deserve this kind of treatment by anyone. Shame on you, Democrats!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    Pscott
    March 13, 2013 6:19 pm
    Yes, her name has a Diacritic mark over the e. As you see that accent mark doesn't translate on our site.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Linda
    March 14, 2013 5:42 am
    You need a new I.T. Department too.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cash wrote...
    My godness
    March 13, 2013 7:47 pm
    How disgusting is this? Not because he is a democrat but anyone who would of done this from either party. This time the bad behavior is a democrat and there is no excuse. He should be suspended or receive some kind of punishment for his decision to do this...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }