3 of 6 Let’s Go WA Initiatives to Get Legislative Hearings

Senate and House Democrats in WA State have finally issued new information about which of the six Let's Go WA citizen initiatives will receive (mandated) hearings.

WA State Constitution (law) requires the legislature to take all of them under consideration

When a citizen-driven initiative is certified as having enough signatures to quality for the appropriate ballot, WA state law actually requires the legislature to hold hearings on them.  The legislative can A) choose to not respond and let it go to the voters, B) pass the Initiative as is into law, of C) create their own version of the bill which would then be placed on the ballot alongside the Initiative.

In the case of the six Let's Go WA initiatives, 3 of them are getting hearings. According to The Center Square:

"The three measures getting public hearings are Initiative 2081 to establish a parental bill of rights relating to their children’s public school education, Initiative 2111 to prohibit state and local governments from enacting a personal income tax, and Initiative 2113 to remove certain restrictions on when police officers may engage in vehicular pursuits."

The three that will not include:

" The three measures not getting public hearings are Initiative 2109 to repeal the capital gains tax, Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, and Initiative 2124 to allow more people to opt out of the state’s long-term care program."

The three that are not are considered to be the most 'threatening' to the state's revenue stream, according to language released by State Democrats.

Get our free mobile app

Several Democratic leaders have claimed if the capital gains, CCA, and opt-outs for Long Term Care are passed by voters in November, it will threaten the state's budget. So far, no official response has been given as to why only 3 of the six were chosen, despite the legal mandates to consider all of them by the legislature.