Help needed to pass the bill to make Tim Eyman and others accountable on initiative signature gathering

The Federation-supported bill to make the practice of paid signature gathering to put initiatives on the ballot needs your help to pass the Legislature.


ESSB 6449 has already passed the Senate and is scheduled for a Feb. 23 vote in the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee.


ESSB 6449 is fairly simple. It requires that signature gatherers sign the back of each petition to attest all signatures were collected in accordance with state law. In addition, all paid signature-gathering firms would have to register with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The provisions in ESSB 6449 are similar to those in 19 of the 24 states with an initiative process.
As you can imagine, Tim Eyman and others whose bread and butter is gathering petition signatures, oppose ESSB 6449. So if Tim Eyman doesn’t like it, it must be good.


So call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators to support ESSB 6449, the signature gatherer accountability bill. It’s needed to keep our initiative process free of fraud and forgery.