(The Center Square) – Washington Democrats on Tuesday passed a bill out of the Senate Government, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee, dubbed by critics to be the “initiative killer.”
SB 5382, sponsored by Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, who chairs the Government, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee, would require signature gatherers circulating initiative and referendum petitions to sign declarations attesting to the validity of the voter who has signed. It would also require the secretary of state to verify residential addresses when certifying petition signatures.
Under Washington’s constitution, the people have the right of initiative and referendum, and any registered voter of the state can individually or in conjunction with an organization propose legislation to amend existing law or create a new state law. That process, also spelled out in the state constitution, amounts to filing the initiative with the Secretary of State’s Office, gathering signatures to qualify the measure, and then sending it either to lawmakers or directly to the people.
“It is a really sad day,” said Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, during Tuesday’s hearing ahead of the bill being passed out of committee. “It’s absolutely chilling what this bill will do to the process.”
Majority Democrats who backed the bill argue using paid signature gatherers opens the process to fraud and those gatherers should be accountable for what is on the petition.
“What could possibly go wrong when you’re paying people to gather signatures?” posed Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, during a Tuesday gathering with reporters in Olympia ahead of the hearing.
Pederson suggested the basic reform of the bill is about voter integrity.
“You would actually match up the signature with the address of a registered vote. Wow, that does not seem like a big leap,” said Pedersen.
Republican leaders have a much different opinion of the bill and also discussed the legislation during the GOP media availability Tuesday morning.
“We refer to this one as the initiative killer, as it will most certainly make it more difficult for the people putting signatures together and make the process less democratic,” said Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia. “This is pushing aside the voter because they weren’t happy with the initiatives that were put before them last year.”
Six initiatives qualified to the legislature for the 2024 session, and three of those were adopted by lawmakers. The other three went to the November ballot but were rejected by voters. One additional initiative, I-2066 to retain natural gas as an energy choice, was approved by voters.
Consideration and debate over the measures absorbed a great deal of time and effort in Olympia with many dubbing 2024 “the initiatives session.”
One of the measures approved by lawmakers was I-2081, the Parental Bill of Rights, which majority Democrats have come back this year with plans to dramatically amend.
As reported by The Center Square, hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol last weekend in protest of the bill to gut the initiative (SB 5181), which has already cleared the full Senate.
“It is frustrating that Democrats in the legislature won’t be content until they have all the power to control everything and stifle any dissent,” said Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, during the Tuesday press event. “For as much as they criticize Trump and accuse him of having authoritarian tendencies, what they’re doing sure looks like stifling dissent to me.”
Republicans in the Senate Government, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee offered several amendments, all of which were rejected ahead of final passage.
Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Federal Way, asked staff to the committee to read from the section of the state constitution that protects the people’s right to the initiative process.
As staff scrambled to pull that up, Fortunato said he could help.
“It simply says you have to be a registered voter. It doesn’t give any kind of qualifications of the gatherer; it doesn’t say you have to sign with your left hand or right hand or blue ink or whatever. It simply says they have to be registered voters,” said Fortunato.
The bill includes the threat of jail time and fines for signature gatherers who commit “false reporting” if it ends up that there is false information from voters who signed the petition.
Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, voiced support for an amendment to remove the “false reporting” language from the bill.
“I believe this will induce fear and people will think twice about going out to do the grassroots work of gathering signatures,” said Short. “A state government that in inducing fear into the citizens of Washington state is just not good on any level.”
Just ahead of the vote, Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Eatonville, spoke with The Center Square about SB 5382.
“Democrats like whatever works for them. They don’t like it when it works against them,” said Marshall. “No, this is wrong. This is how the people respond when the government is not doing its job; it’s how people hold government accountable. This is a slap in the face to every voter.”
Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, the group behind last year’s initiatives, emailed a statement to The Center Square upon the bill’s committee passage today.
“By effectively killing the initiative process, the legislature is showing what they really think about 3 million voters engaging in citizen advocacy. This bill is a solution in search of a problem. SB 5382 would create stricter regulations for the initiative process than our voter ID laws. Why are we making a double standard? This bill is politically motivated to solidify the power of the majority and silence anyone who questions their authority,” wrote Heywood.