January 25, 2008: the House approved EHB 1551 by a vote of 56-38, and sent the bill to the Senate for action.

February 13, 2008: the Senate approved SSB 5278 by a vote of 29-20. This bill had identical language to House bill 1551, but because it had a different bill number and sponsor, it needed to return to the House for a concurring vote.

March 4, 2008: the House voted to approve the Senate version of the bill, in a final vote. The bill was delivered to Governor Gregoire on March 10th, and signed by her on March 17th. See photos

The Local Option law eliminates a previous state ban on using public funds for political campaigns at the local level. It is not a mandate, but it gives permission for cities, towns, counties and local districts to create their own programs offering public financing for campaigns for local office. It requires that any such program be submitted to local voters for approval or rejection, through a local referendum or advisory ballot.

The law specifically excludes local school districts from using public funds for school board campaigns - an amendment that was added during floor debate in the House, and kept in the law by the Senate. In the future, we may ask the Legislature to consider removing this restriction.

To see recorded roll call votes of legislators on these bills:

EHB 1551: Scroll down the page, History of the Bill, to 2008 Regular Session, January 25th, then click on "View Roll Calls" on the far right margin.

SSB 5278: Similarly, scroll down the page, History of the Bill, to 2008 Regular Session, February 13th, then click on "View Roll Calls" on the far right margin. You can also see the final recorded vote in the House, March 4th - although the February 13th vote in the House is a more accurate indication of where House members actually stand on this issue.