Sixth District legislators lead missed votes list

Family matters, illnesses led to Holy, Volz missing Senate and House

roll calls

By JOHN McCALLUM

Managing Editor

CHENEY — Our world is made up of lists, and of all those lists, probably one of the ones you would prefer not to be on is one compiled by WashigntonVotes.com — especially if you’re an elected official.

Nevertheless, two 6th District state legislators are atop the website’s annual “Missed Votes Report” for the recently concluded 105-day legislative session. Sixth District Sen. Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) leads the way in the Senate with 63 missed votes out of 490 total roll calls while Rep. Mike Volz finds himself at the head of the House list with 40 missed votes out of 484 total.

In fact, Holy’s tally is the most misses overall among the two chambers, with Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) second with 53 missed votes. Volz is third while Sen. Tim Sheldon (D-Mason County) and Rep. Dan Griffey (R-Allyn) tied for fourth at 33 missed votes.

Overall, eight state senators missed at least 10 votes, with seven missing 20 or more. In the House, 20 representatives missed at least 10 votes with five missing 20 or more.

On the flip side, 82 legislators — 56 House members and 26 Senators — missed no votes at all. The 6th District’s Rep. Jenny Graham (R-Spokane), missed one vote, a House procedural vote on Jan. 11 adopting temporary rules for the chamber.

Like anyone else, lawmakers often have good reasons for missing votes, and WashingtonVotes contacts them to get their explanations. Those are published verbatim in the report.

Holy explained he had three excused absences out of those 105 days. The first was April 3 when the Senate scheduled an unplanned session for that Saturday not on the original calendar — a session that coincided with the day his son and fiancé had set aside for their wedding over a year in advance.

The other two days were April 14 – 15 when Holy said he was excused to attend an “unexpected, out-of-state funeral for a family member.” Many of his 63 missed votes came during this period.

“Being after the ‘Opposite House Cutoff,’ most of these (40) were concurrence votes where the Senate was agreeing to amending language from the opposite house,” Holy wrote. “I note that I had already had the opportunity to vote on each policy proposal in their initial passage out of the Senate. I’m sure anyone can appreciate being with family under these circumstances.”

Volz, who serves as Spokane County Deputy Treasurer, was more succinct with his response as to why he missed votes.

“Not contesting the count but just to say Rep. Volz was ill and out for three days,” legislative assistant Phil Janzen wrote in an email.

Other listed reasons for missing votes ranged from medical issues to attempting to get Covid-19 vaccinations to serving on National Guard duty.

According to the website there were 1,108 bills/measures introduced this past session, a number that includes joint resolutions and memorials. Of those, 341 were passed by the Legislature.

“State lawmakers worked at a steady pace this 105-day session, including late evening and weekend floor sessions, despite pandemic-related constraints that limited in-person contacts among members and the public,” WashingtonVotes Director Franz W. Gregory said.

Compared to the last 105-day biennial budget session in 2019, legislators in 2021 took 454 fewer roll call votes this year and passed 144 fewer bills. The 10-year average for bills passed, according to statistical reports by the Legislative Information Center, is 405 bills in odd, budget- writing years and 288 bills in even years.

WashingtonVotes.org is a free public service of Washington Policy Center, a conservative, non-profit public policy research organization with offices in Seattle, Olympia and Eastern Washington.  

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].