Washington State Senator Brian Weinstein (D-Mercer Island) is not running for re-election this year, but his ego could not resist one last stab at his own party and the building industry. Yesterday's Seattle P-I ran an op-ed authored by Sen. Weinstein about a piece of legislation he failed to get passed (twice):

For the past two years, I've offered a bill in the state Senate that attempts to level the playing field between home buyers and builders.

My bill, widely known as the Homebuyer Bill of Rights, would give rights to Washingtonians that most presumed they already had -- the right to bring a builder to court to recover damages for shoddy work.

There are several reasons why this bill never passed: (1) it punishes a huge industry that provides boo-koos of jobs in this state, (2) it is one more bill that would let rich lawyers, like Weinstein, get even richer by providing an additional cause of action against defendants with deep pockets, and (3) a remedy already exists and Mr. Weinstein should know that better than anyone.

In 2001, Sen. Weinstein prevailed in a lawsuit in King County against a home builder on breach of contract, negligence, Consumer Protection Act violations, and breach of warranty of habitability - all laws already in place to protect homebuyers. Sen. Weinstein won $200,000 plus court costs and attorney's fees. 

Do we really need another law to spawn even more litigation, or is Sen. Weinstein having separation anxiety about surrendering the spotlight?