Let’s Go Washington, a committee sponsoring six citizen-initiated ballot measures for 2024, submitted signatures for a third initiative—Initiative 2113—on Dec. 14. State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-19) sponsors the six initiatives, along with Let’s Go Washington. Let’s Go Washington was founded by Brian Heywood, a Republican donor and the CEO of Taiyo Pacific Partners.
Initiative 2113 would remove certain restrictions on police officers’ vehicular pursuits.
Currently, a police officer can engage in a vehicular pursuit if:
- there is reasonable suspicion to believe that a person in the vehicle is committing or has committed a violent offense, a sex offense, a vehicular assault offense, a domestic violence offense, an escape, or driving under the influence;
- the pursuit is necessary to identify and apprehend the person; and
- the person poses a serious risk of harm to others and the safety risks of failing to apprehend the person are greater than the safety risks of the pursuit.
The initiative would change the law to allow vehicular pursuits if:
- there is a reasonable suspicion that a person has violated the law;
- the pursuit is necessary to identify and apprehend the person; and
- the person poses a threat to the safety of others and the safety risks of failing to apprehend the person are greater than the safety risks of the pursuit.
Sponsors reported submitting over 400,000 signatures on Dec. 14. At least 324,516 signatures need to be valid.
The initiative is an indirect initiated state statute, known as an Initiative to the Legislature in Washington. If enough signatures are verified, the initiative will be presented to the state legislature at the 2024 legislative session, which begins in January. The legislature has three options:
(1) The legislature can adopt an Initiative to the Legislature, in which case the initiative is enacted into law without a vote of electors;
(2) The legislature can reject or not act on the initiative, in which case the initiative is placed on the ballot at the next state general election; or
(3) The legislature can approve an alternative to the proposed initiative, in which case both the original proposal and the legislative alternative are placed on the ballot at the next state general election.
On Nov. 21, Let’s Go Washington submitted signatures for Initiative 2117, which was designed to prohibit carbon tax credit trading and repeal provisions of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act (CCA), a state law that provided for a cap-and-invest program designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 95% by 2050.
On Dec. 12, the committee submitted signatures for Initiative 2081, which would allow parents to review educational materials, receive certain notifications, and opt their children out of sexual health education.
Each of the three other initiatives that the committee is circulating also require 324,516 valid signatures by Dec. 29.
Since 1914, Washington citizens have filed 1,728 Initiatives to the Legislature, of which, six were enacted by the state legislature and 32 were certified for the ballot. Of the 32 measures on the ballot, 17 (53%) were approved and 15 (47%) were rejected.
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