The late Senator Doug Ericksen will be honored from the Washington State Senate floor tomorrow with a memorial resolution.  The resolution will no doubt evoke memories, fond from his friends, grudgingly respectful from his adversaries, of Senator Ericksen's skill as a communicator and his knowledge as a legislator. 

Senator Ericksen had a special knack for seeing context and tradeoffs relevant to legislation and policy debates.  While others might seek to "do something", Senator Ericksen would argue that actions must be weighed by consequences.  He saw the need to identify tradeoffs to determine if a policy's stated benefits outweighed its costs -- and whether there might be a better path to achieve the same benefits.

On one legendary occasion, Senator Ericksen proposed legislation to remove the Ballard Locks so that Seattle could return its lakeside waterfront to its natural state. While some scoffed at the preposterous idea, Ericksen laid out the plan with specificity, powerfully illustrating the arrogance of the approach so many urban legislators take toward governing rural areas. Senator Ericksen's intelligence is what made a stunt into an undeniable lesson -- and a headline generating one to boot.

During my years in talk radio, Senator Ericksen stood out for his ability to communicate directly, strip away jargon, and provide context to legislative proposals not seen elsewhere. And I know I was not alone in being impressed with the breadth of his knowlege. When I left full-time talk radio, colleagues continued to rely on his insights to proposals that claimed moral high ground, but upon closer examination of trade-offs and costs, provided few benefits at high costs. 

I grew up in north Snohomish County.  My dad's work often brought him to the oil refineries of Anacortes and Whatcom County. I worked in them as I took a year off of college and saw the family wage jobs they provided to skilled workers.  Senator Ericksen's passion for protecting those jobs and the families that relied on them always impressed me. There are those that talk about their desire for family-wage job preservation and creation, but then become dismissive when those jobs are at stake or callously suggest retraining as though that were a solve-all for those with specialized skills. Observers of Ericksen could see he had a genuine concern for the families in his district and a respect for their work.

Further, Ericksen's reasoning wasn't dominated by protect-at-any-cost emotion, but he argued with reason and pragmatism. He challenged opponents to look at the energy needs of the region as well as environmental protection.  Ericksen recognized what some of his opponents refused to see -- that the energy produced there is essential and those who want the refineries gone, were they to be successful, aren't actually elminating environmental challenges, but would be moving production elsewhere (and removing our ability to mitigate the environmental risks). 

Senator Ericksen was a good friend to Washington Policy Center.  The loss of his legislative skill, insight, and wit on behalf of free-market ideas is painful, not just to the constituents in his district, but to our state as a whole. His absence will be felt even by those who never subscribed to his views.  In the battle of ideas, if iron sharpens iron, Senator Ericksen's loss has surely dulled civic debate in our state. 

In life, Senator Ericksen often mentioned with affection and pride his wife and two daughters whom he has now left behind.  They have suffered the most terrible loss. We hope his memory remains ever vivid and comforts them and all his extended family throughout their lives. 

You can read the resolution honoring Sen. Ericksen here and follow it here.