OLYMPIA -- As badly outnumbered as they are, Republicans in the state Legislature can barely influence the margins of the state budget this year, much less halt the health-care bill being debated by Congress.

COURTESY OF HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS

Rep. Matt Shea, R-Greenacres, addresses a "state sovereignty" rally at the state Capitol Thursday.

But that hasn't stopped a large contingent of GOP lawmakers from pushing a series of state "sovereignty" bills that aspire to beat back the power of the federal government.

The bills -- an outgrowth of the Tea Party movement -- seek to nullify the federal health-care bill, gun-control laws, greenhouse-gas limits, and even prohibit federal law-enforcement agents from making arrests in Washington state without permission from county sheriffs.

On Wednesday, House Republicans tried a procedural move to bring some of the bills forward for a vote. Their motion was rejected on a party-line vote.

Wednesday's vote was really meant for the crowd of a couple hundred Tea Party activists who showed up for a rainy rally today on the steps of the Capitol.

They carried signs declaring "No Tax Increases" and "Fox News for the Truth." One man waved a Confederate flag. The crowd cheered speeches by Republican legislators and candidates who vowed to crimp the power of the federal government by defending the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which is supposed to limit federal authority.

Rep. Matt Shea, a Republican from the Spokane Valley area, told the crowd "the federal government doesn't have any jurisdiction" over many of the issues it works on.

"Today and together then let us resolve that we will move forward with a common vision and a common purpose to see our God-honoring constitutional government restored," he said.

Shea is the prime sponsor of several of the bills. But they've got support from many members of the Republican caucus in the House.

Democrats attacked the bills in a news release Thursday, noting they are pretty much verbatim copies of Tea Party bills introduced in other states.

"We want to lead the state out of recession. They want to lead the state out of the country," House Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, said in a written statement.

Morris said the Republican proposals would allow cop-killer bullets and dangerous weapons to be put in the hands of criminals by nullifying background checks. And the proposal to prevent federal agents from operating here without permission of a local sheriff would "prohibit the FBI, DEA or Homeland Security officers from thwarting a terrorist attack on Washington citizens," he argued.

Asked about the proposals at a news conference earlier this week, Republican leaders distanced themselves somewhat, saying the bill on federal law enforcement, for example, was "not a party position or a caucus position."

But some House Republican leaders have signed on as cosponsors of several of the bills, including Shea's "Sheriff First Act" that would limit the activities of federal agents.

Among the bill's co-sponsors are House Minority Caucus Chairman Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, Assistant Minority Floor Leader Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, and Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, the deputy minority leader.

In addition to requiring permission slips from county sheriffs, the bill would allow federal agents to make arrests only on "a federal enclave for which jurisdiction has been lawfully ceded to the United States by Washington State."

Asked about that proposal and similar ones earlier this week, Kristiansen said, "There are a lot of folks that are passionate about that within the state Legislature, and we do believe that when you start looking at the sovereignty issue, which is a 10th Amendment issue... the question has been over the years is, has the federal government overstepped its boundaries when it comes to passing on mandates to the states."

Several of the proposals were also filed as initiatives on Thursday with Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed's office.