HB 3037 - Companion Bill to SB 6448 - Introduced in the House

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but SB 6448, the senate bill that would require us to pay a fee of $100 every five years for the priviledge of panning for gold or other minerals (not to mention higher fees for applying for permission to engage in other small-scale mining operations as presented in a previous post), now has a "companion" bill in the state house of representatives: HB 3037.

This latest effort in support of plundering the small-scale miners of Washington state was undertaken by Representatives Jeannie Darneille, (D - Tacoma and Majority Caucus Vice Chair); Dave Upthegrove (D - Kent); Hans Dunshee (D - Lake Stevens); and Zachary Hudgins (D - Seattle and Majority Floor Leader).

I have not read the entire text of this bill (doing so makes me ill) but looking it over it appears to be a near carbon copy of SB 6448. For those who are interested, the document can be accessed at the link in the first paragraph above as well as in .pdf form at the link here and in the "Legislative Alerts" section of the right-hand sidebar of this blog.

Both of these companion bills seem to be getting the big push while HB 2597, which would abolish the whole HPA process, seems to have gotten the shove. Government has to rob somebody to pay for all the wonderful "servicing" we enjoy and it looks like this time our mis-representatives intend for it to be the miners. Unless we can make enough noise to scare the jackels off.

More as it becomes available.