State Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, wants the Legislature to have a say on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Oemig told me he is working on a joint memorial that would, at least, call for an investigation of the financial aspects of the war and occupation.

"Right now the occupation in Iraq is costing us a lot of money and there's even some concern about where that money is going — maybe it's being misappropriated."

That, Oemig said, fits into his main priority in Olympia, which he said is to find more funding for education and health care. If money is being misspent on Iraq, he figures that could be re-directed to health care and education. I called Oemig to ask him about the war because of a press release we got today from the Eastside Fellowship For Reconciliation. It went a bit further than what Oemig told me, with the headline saying:

STATE SENATOR ERIC OEMIG WILL PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE HIS INTENTION TO INTRODUCTION A RESOLUTION FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT BUSH AND VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY TO THE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE.

Oemig said he'll be at an event organized by the group Saturday in Bellevue. He said he is still working on the wording of the joint memorial, but said it probably would not include talk of impeachment, "but certainly would request an investigation." He said a lot of his constituents have talked to him about impeachment, though. He said that while attorneys can't agree on what is an impeachable offense:

"From what I can tell from polls, most Americans and many of my constituents could tell you what is an impeachable offense."

He said he's been working with "quite a few" other senators on the measure.

The left is already excited about the prospect of an impeachment resolution, and Oemig may have to try to put the smoke back in the chimney. A post at the Democracy for Vancouver Web site says:

This is a wonderful milestone is our campaign to impeach through the Washington State Legislature.

And the press release from the Eastside fellowship quotes director Linda Boyd saying:

"Let's hope Washington State legislators will vote IMPEACHMENT. Concerned citizens of conscience have had it with war crimes and torture. A stand against impeachment would mean a legislator approves spying on Americans, destroying our treasured, hard-won freedoms, and an imperial President."

Stefan Sharkansky says he doesn't see how impeachment has anything to do with what Oemig campaigned on.

UPDATE: I'm a bit confused whether Oemig wants to back away from the press release that announced he will call for impeachment of Bush. It certainly seemed that way when I talked to him, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said this afternoon her understanding is the measure would call for an investigation.

But at The Slog, Josh Feit is writing about Oemig and was sent information from the senator's office explaining how parlimentary procedure in the U.S. House sets out "various methods of setting an impeachment in motion," including, "by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State."

Brown said the Bush measure will definitely be discussed in the Democratic caucus. But if it gets a hearing or a vote, her preference would be to wait until after the Legislature's cut off for action on bills.