Olympia attorney Shawn Newman, who successfully challenged a 1993 Washington law like SB 5297, has submitted to the House and Senate committees a
letter which hightlights a major legal flaw in the latest version of anti-initiative bill SB 5297. Here's an excerpt from his letter:
I represented the prevailing party before the 9th Circuit in WIN v. Warheit (2000). This is the case referenced by the Secretary of State’s Office [Katie Blinn] when it raises concerns about the constitutionality of treating
paid petitioners differently than volunteers. In that case, the Court noted the lack of evidence of fraud by paid petitioners and,
In any event, the Supreme Court has expressly rejected the notion that "occasional fraud . . . involving paid circulators" justifies targeting
paid petitioners for special enforcement. Buckley, 525 U.S. at 204 n.23 (internal quotation marks omitted). As the Court
reasoned, volunteer petition circulators, who are not subject to the disclosure
requirement, may be just as likely as paid petition circulators
to commit fraud.
Consequently, any effort to treat paid petitioners differently than volunteers would be totally contrary to the court’s unambiguous ruling. Your latest version of Senate Bill 5297 (2nd substitute) should not proceed because it
contradicts what the court said.
-- END --
Mr. Newman is correct, of course, but it's even worse than that: the latest version of SB 5297 not only treats volunteers and paid petitioners differently,
but it treats individual paid petitioners differently depending on who is paying them! Under the definitions in section 2 of the bill,
paid signature gatherers who are paid by a Political Action Committee, a Public Relations Firm (Moxie Media), a Union (SEIU), or even a major corporation (Costco) ARE CLASSIFIED AS 'VOLUNTEERS', but paid
signature gatherers who are paid by a signature gathering business are classified as a paid signature gatherer and would be subjected to the bill's requirements.
Shawn Newman was successful at challenging a 1993 Washington state law that treated paid petitioners and volunteers differently. The latest version
of SB 5297 violates that court ruling even more egregiously.
Please send ALL legislators another email (one for the Senate and one for the House) and tell them
"Stop trying to hurt the initiative process with burdensome requirements that the courts have already rejected. Vote no on anti-initiative bills HB 1668 / SB 5297."
Here's the email list of state senators:
Michael.baumgartner@leg.wa.gov; randi.becker@leg.wa.gov;
jeff.baxter@leg.wa.gov; don.benton@leg.wa.gov; jean.berkey@leg.wa.gov; lisa.brown@leg.wa.gov; michael.carrell@leg.wa.gov; jerome.delvin@leg.wa.gov; maralyn.chase@leg.wa.gov; steve.conway@leg.wa.gov; tracey.eide@leg.wa.gov;
doug.ericksen@leg.wa.gov; joe.fain@leg.wa.gov; karen.fraser@leg.wa.gov; jim.hargrove@leg.wa.gov; nick.harper@leg.wa.gov; brian.hatfield@leg.wa.gov; marymargaret.haugen@leg.wa.gov; mike.hewitt@leg.wa.gov; andy.hill@leg.wa.gov; steve.hobbs@leg.wa.gov; janea.holmquist@leg.wa.gov;
jim.honeyford@leg.wa.gov; jim.kastama@leg.wa.gov; karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov; derek.kilmer@leg.wa.gov; curtis.king@leg.wa.gov; adam.kline@leg.wa.gov; jeanne.kohl-welles@leg.wa.gov; steve.litzow@leg.wa.gov; rosemary.mcauliffe@leg.wa.gov; bob.mccaslin@leg.wa.gov;
bob.morton@leg.wa.gov; edward.murray@leg.wa.gov; sharon.nelson@leg.wa.gov; linda.parlette@leg.wa.gov; cheryl.pflug@leg.wa.gov; margarita.prentice@leg.wa.gov; craig.pridemore@leg.wa.gov; kevin.ranker@leg.wa.gov; debbie.regala@leg.wa.gov; pam.roach@leg.wa.gov;
phil.rockefeller@leg.wa.gov; mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov; timothy.sheldon@leg.wa.gov; paull.shin@leg.wa.gov; val.stevens@leg.wa.gov; dan.swecker@leg.wa.gov; rodney.tom@leg.wa.gov; scott.white@leg.wa.gov; joseph.zarelli@leg.wa.gov;
marty.brown@gov.wa.gov; jim.justin@gov.wa.gov; tim_eyman@comcast.net
Here's the email list of state representatives:
john.ahern@leg.wa.gov;
gary.alexander@leg.wa.gov; glenn.anderson@leg.wa.gov; jan.angel@leg.wa.gov;
sherry.appleton@leg.wa.gov;
mike.armstrong@leg.wa.gov; katrina.asay@leg.wa.gov; barbara.bailey@leg.wa.gov; andy.billig@leg.wa.gov; brian.blake@leg.wa.gov; vincent.buys@leg.wa.gov; reuven.Carlyle@leg.wa.gov;
bruce.chandler@leg.wa.gov; frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov; judy.clibborn@leg.wa.gov; eileen.cody@leg.wa.gov; cary.condotta@leg.wa.gov; larry.crouse@leg.wa.gov;
cathy.dahlquist@leg.wa.gov;
bruce.dammeier@leg.wa.gov; j.darneille@leg.wa.gov; richard.debolt@leg.wa.gov; marylou.dickerson@leg.wa.gov; hans.dunshee@leg.wa.gov;
deborah.eddy@leg.wa.gov; susan.fagan@leg.wa.gov; fred.finn@leg.wa.gov; david.frockt@leg.wa.gov; roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov; tami.green@leg.wa.gov; kathy.haigh@leg.wa.gov; larry.haler@leg.wa.gov; mark.hargrove@leg.wa.gov; paul.harris@leg.wa.gov; bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov;
bill.hinkle@leg.wa.gov; mike.hope@leg.wa.gov; zack.hudgins@leg.wa.gov; sam.hunt@leg.wa.gov; ross.hunter@leg.wa.gov; christopher.hurst@leg.wa.gov; jim.jacks@leg.wa.gov; laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov; norm.johnson@leg.wa.gov; ruth.kagi@leg.wa.gov; troy.kelley@leg.wa.gov;
phyllis.kenney@leg.wa.gov; steve.kirby@leg.wa.gov; brad.klippert@leg.wa.gov; joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov; dan.kristiansen@leg.wa.gov; connie.ladenburg@leg.wa.gov; marko.liias@leg.wa.gov; kristine.lytton@leg.wa.gov; marcie.maxwell@leg.wa.gov; john.mccoy@leg.wa.gov;
jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov; mark.miloscia@leg.wa.gov; jim.moeller@leg.wa.gov; jeff.morris@leg.wa.gov; luis.moscoso@leg.wa.gov; terry.nealey@leg.wa.gov; ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov; timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov; tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov; jason.overstreet@leg.wa.gov; kevin.parker@leg.wa.gov;
kirk.pearson@leg.wa.gov; jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov; eric.pettigrew@leg.wa.gov; tim.probst@leg.wa.gov; chris.reykdal@leg.wa.gov; ann.rivers@leg.wa.gov; maryhelen.roberts@leg.wa.gov; jay.rodne@leg.wa.gov; christine.rolfes@leg.wa.gov; charles.ross@leg.wa.gov;
cindy.ryu@leg.wa.gov; sharontomiko.santos@leg.wa.gov; joe.schmick@leg.wa.gov; larry.seaquist@leg.wa.gov; mike.sells@leg.wa.gov; matt.shea@leg.wa.gov;
shelly.short@leg.wa.gov; norma.smith@leg.wa.gov; larry.springer@leg.wa.gov; derek.stanford@leg.wa.gov; pat.sullivan@leg.wa.gov; dean.takko@leg.wa.gov; david.taylor@leg.wa.gov; steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov; dave.upthegrove@leg.wa.gov; kevin.vandewege@leg.wa.gov;
maureen.walsh@leg.wa.gov;
judy.warnick@leg.wa.gov; hans.zeiger@leg.wa.gov; tim_eyman@comcast.net
If top Democrats want to make it their top legislative priority to pass anti-initiative laws that the courts have already ruled are unconstitutional, then let's make sure it doesn't happen without a fight.
In addition to this,
help us fight back with our new 2/3's initiative and help us pay back Tim's loan to I-1053.
Please ... seriously,
please ... send us a donation for $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000, $2500, $5000 or more (there are no limits on how much can be given). We urge you to strongly consider a monthly contribution. You can make a secure PayPal or VISA or MasterCard
contribution by going to our website -- www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com --
sometimes this web link doesn't work so please cut and paste it if you have to, sorry for the extra step
-- OR, you can print out the form below, fill it out, and return it with a check or credit card information.
We're counting on you -- I'm counting on you. Please help.
Best Regards, Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, & Mike Fagan, co-sponsors of "Voters Want More Choices -- Save the 2/3's", Fighting for Taxpayers for 14 Years, ph: 425-493-9127, email: tim_eyman@comcast.net,
www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com --
sometimes this web link doesn't work so please cut and paste it if you have to, sorry for the extra step (go to our website to do a secure donation by VISA/Mastercard/PayPal or print out the form below, fill it out, and return it with a check or money
order or credit card information)
P.S. There are thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, and special interest groups working each and every day to raise your taxes. Shouldn't there be at least one person, one team, one organization that
fights to lower your taxes? Please help us so we can continue our successful efforts on behalf of taxpayers.
"VOTERS WANT MORE CHOICES -- SAVE THE 2/3'S" . PO Box 18250 . Spokane . WA . 99228 . PH: 425-493-8707 . FAX: 425-493-1027 .
https://www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com .
jakatak@comcast.net
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Thanks for protecting us from higher taxes and unsustainable government spending. Here's my contribution for $ ___________
Please supply the information below so we can send you a thank you letter (it's really important to fill this out).
Your Name _______________________________________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip, Phone # _____________________________________________________________________
Enclosed is my check for $ ______________________ Made payable to "Voters Want More Choices - Save the 2/3's"
Occupation __________________ Employer & Employer zip code ________________________________
VISA or M/C number ___________________________ Exp. date (MM/YY) _____/_____ Amt. $ _________
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Voluntary donations to ""Voters Want More Choices - Save the 2/3's" are not tax-deductible. Voluntary donations to "Voters Want More Choices - Save the 2/3's" will be used for our new initiative and to pay off outstanding loans for the I-1053 initiative drive.
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