Browsed by
Category: Legislature

Legislature

Wyman certifies I-594; I-591 check starting soon

Wyman certifies I-594; I-591 check starting soon

Secretary of State Wyman certifies the results of Initiative 594 in her office. (Photo courtesy of Laura Mott) One down, one to go. Soon after our Elections Division’s signature checkers finished reviewing a small sample of Initiative 594 signatures, Secretary of State Kim Wyman officially certified the results of the check Wednesday. I-594 would require universal background checks on gun purchases. Our Elections Division reported that 346,834 signatures were submitted, far over the minimum requirement of 246,372 valid voter signatures….

Read More Read More

I-594 signature check begins

I-594 signature check begins

A checker counts some of the signatures submitted for I-594. (Photo courtesy Lindsay Pryor) Initiative I-594, one of two rival initiatives to the 2014 Legislature dealing with gun control, is now undergoing a signature check. Our Elections Division has a team of signature checkers who began working on Initiative 594 on Thursday. I-594 would require universal background checks on gun purchases in Washington. The initiative would expand on current federal gun laws that apply to licensed dealers but not private…

Read More Read More

Calls for bipartisanship, Seahawks as 2014 session opens

Calls for bipartisanship, Seahawks as 2014 session opens

Members stand as a State Patrol Color Guard brings in the U.S. and Washington flags at the start of the opening-day floor session in the House of Representatives. (Photos  courtesy of Legislative Support Services Photo Department) The 63rd Washington State Legislature opened its 60-day 2014 session Monday with remarks of bipartisanship and hard work by members on both sides of the aisle. The Senate and House met in their respective chambers, with both Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who presides over…

Read More Read More

Initiative season opens with an Eyman blockbuster

Initiative season opens with an Eyman blockbuster

Washington’s initiative season is open, and much of the early attention is on an attempt by initiative activist Tim Eyman to use a heavy hammer to persuade lawmakers to submit a constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds supermajority for all taxes passed in Olympia. The hammer? If his Initiative 1325 qualifies for the ballot and passes this fall, it would impose an annual $1 billion cut in the state sales tax if legislators refuse to put the constitutional amendment on…

Read More Read More

Final signatures delivered for pro-gun initiative

Final signatures delivered for pro-gun initiative

One day after sponsors of a gun-control initiative turned in their second and final batch of signatures to our Elections Division, supporters of a competing gun measure submitted one more box of signatures Friday afternoon. Sponsors of Initiative 591 delivered what they said were 5,000 signatures Friday after submitting about 340,000 signatures in late November. The measure, filed last May, would prohibit government agencies from confiscating guns or other firearms from citizens without due process, or from requiring background checks…

Read More Read More

Washington 2013 votes are tallied

Washington 2013 votes are tallied

Washington voters were rejecting both statewide initiatives on the 2013 ballot, the nationally-watched I-522 dealing with GMO labeling on some food products and I-517 dealing with additional rights for initiative signature-gatherers.  Seattle voters also chose their first openly gay mayor, Senate Democratic Leader Ed Murray, and voters in SeaTac adopted the country’s first $15-an-hour mandatory minimum wage. Three special state Senate races were on the ballot. In the 26th, Republican Jan Angel had a small lead over appointed Democratic Sen….

Read More Read More

FAQs about those tax advisory votes

FAQs about those tax advisory votes

We’re getting lots of questions about a relatively new form of ballot measure in Washington state — the statewide tax advisory vote.   Here are some FAQs to help shed some light: Q. What are these Advisory Votes 3 through 7 that I see in my Voters’ Pamphlet? A.  These are nonbinding measures that let voters say whether they think the Legislature should “repeal” or “maintain” revenue-generating bills that lawmakers passed this year.  The Legislature used the $200 million from these…

Read More Read More

WA voters pick their Primary favorites

WA voters pick their Primary favorites

Washington voters have narrowed the field for the General Election, including the hotly contested race for Seattle Mayor, three special state Senate races and literally hundreds of important local offices. By Wednesday midday, counties had tallied over 660,000 ballots after carefully verifying the voter signatures. That amounted to 20.5 percent of those who received ballots, a number sure to increase as Tuesday evening’s drop-box ballots and those still in the mail are added in. Washington’s election law allows any ballot…

Read More Read More

Budget breakthrough means no shutdown

Budget breakthrough means no shutdown

Gov. Jay Inslee and legislative leaders from both parties and both houses on Thursday announced the good news that had eluded them for weeks — a budget deal that will avert a partial government shutdown. The state is closer to the budget deadline than ever before — and the phrase “government shutdown” had moved into the state lexicon as anxious state employees, their managers and the public wondered if it could happen here. With just three days before the June…

Read More Read More

Budget leaders: 320 million reasons to avert shutdown

Budget leaders: 320 million reasons to avert shutdown

Relieved budget writers say Washington should be able to avoid a government shutdown, after getting the year’s best revenue news, new, more robust revenue projections and a $90 million reduction in expected caseload costs. State budget Director David Schumacher and budget writers from both houses and both parties said the $320 million one-day windfall should break the Olympia logjam that had threatened to trigger a partial government shutdown if no budget were produced by June 30.  Senate budget Chairman Andy…

Read More Read More