Bellingham Herald
James Madison to Washington lawmakers: Please keep your mitts off the state’s petition process.
Some legislators are making yet another attempt to throttle the signature-gathering that lies at the core of Washingtonians’ right to mount initiatives and referendums. House Bill 2552, which cleared the House of Representatives last week, would entangle petitioners in a slew of new restrictions. The clear purpose is to make it harder for citizens to get a measure on the ballot.
Any effort to burden or complicate signature-gathering has constitutional implications. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and the right “to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
California Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday he plans to place on the November 2012 ballot a funding guarantee for prison realignment, the state’s shift of responsibility for certain offenders to local government. The framing of the measure, however - and of any tax increase initiative that might accompany it - remains unclear.
That’s the word from the Office of the Secretary of State and the Building Industry Association of Washington. Builders expect to turn in the signatures for their measure to allow the private-sector sale of workers compensation insurance on July 2. Amy Brackenbury of BIAW confirmed that the group plans to turn in the signatures for Initiative 1082. Update: Brackenbury says they don’t have all the signatures yet and are still collecting, using a combination of volunteers and paid gatherers.