For all the talk about big changes for Washington’s much-used, much-maligned initiative process, not a single initiative crackdown is passing this legislative session.

There were a large number of bills introduced and considered by committees in Olympia, and some passed one house or the other.  But after crossover between House and Senate occurred and committee and floor deadlines passed, all of the proposals have died.

These included plans to boost the initiative and referendum filing fee from the current $5 to $250 (with a $200 rebate for sponsors who qualify for the ballot); a ban on gathering signatures within 15 feet of a store entrance; a requirement for paid solicitors or sponsors to sign each petition sheet or have the voter signatures disqualified; a requirement for solicitors to register with the state and not be a sex predator or have a criminal record; limiting the salary for sponsors; and so forth.

Legislative sponsors said their ideas were reforms and regulation needed to make the process and the paid signature-gathering operations more accountable. Initiative activist Tim Eyman and other critics said the measures were aimed at hobbling the use of initiatives through a “death by a thousand cuts.”  After the deadline passed and none of the bills passed, Eyman credited it to the vigilance of himself and other sponsors and to the support of the state’s newspaper editorial pages for the unfettered use of the initiative process.