A state lawmaker from Burien is apologizing after acknowledging he consumed alcohol before a legislative committee hearing this week.
House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, a Democrat who represents the 34th Legislative District, said in a written statement that he was under the influence during an Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon.
“I deeply regret and apologize for the fact that I consumed alcohol before the work of the Appropriations Committee was completed on Wednesday. And the result was obvious. This was a serious mistake for many reasons,” Fitzgibbon said.
At the end of Wednesday’s hearing, Fitzgibbon commented on the state budget, saying, “We’re in a particularly hard time right now, for many reasons, but more than anything because of the expenses that we have been sent our way from Washington DC.”
Fitzgibbon described the incident as “a painful and embarrassing lesson.”
It was not immediately clear whether Fitzgibbon will face any fines or formal disciplinary action as a result of the incident, and no potential penalties were outlined in his public statement.
Washington’s 34th Legislative District covers the cities of Burien and White Center, along with West Seattle and Vashon/Maury Island.
Fitzgibbon grew up in Burien and later served on the city’s planning commission before being elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2010, representing the 34th Legislative District. He has lived in the area since about age 12 when his family moved here, and his early work as a legislative staffer and local planning commissioner helped launch his political career in Olympia.
Fitzgibbon now lives in West Seattle with his family.
Here’s Fitzgibbon’s full testimony, courtesy KOMO News:
How do we petition for his resignation? Is being drunk at work a non-firing offense now? Id like to see how many other voters can show up to work drunk and still keep their jobs.
I’d like to propose a new term in the PNW lexicon, similar to “Couging it.”
Getting drunk by 4:00 in the afternoon, especially if you get sloppy and make a fool.of yourself, should now be known as “pulling a Fitzgibbon.”
Fitzgibbon is horrible. When he was on the Shoreline Committee, we attended several meetings, as we lived at Three Tree Point on the beach at the time. My wife asked in a question segment, how many on the committee lived in Burien and how many have been to the beach of Three Tree Point, so that they know what they were talking about. He told my wife to “shut-up and sit down”. Since then, we have no respect for this shyster and would never vote for him. His true colors are now coming out.