[TheMathProf]

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HB 2127 would solve our opponents' political problem.

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Probably, although I don't know if they really face severe problems in the first place. While I would also rather see it remain a felony for exactly the reasons you state, I do foresee the possibility that HB2320 completely backfires.

When the Washington State Legislature passed their bill last fall, many legislators could claim that they didn't recognize the scope of the bill that they had passed. Keep in mind that the bill they passed last year is the same one that got Negreanu's column removed from the Seattle Times.

So in response to this, in response to the idea that they went too far, they give... just the tiniest little bit back? This is almost worse than the original bill, in that now they're acknowledging that recreational play shouldn't be considered under the previous statutes, but still punishable by gross misdemeanor penalties?

With this bill, and if there were a politically active pushback in the state of Washington, this bill could actually prove to be even more of a catalyst for further action.

Since that likely isn't the case, it probably really doesn't matter one way or the other.