2008
January
25, 2008: The WA State House approved EHB
1551 by a vote of 56-38, and sent the bill to the Senate
for action.
February 13, 2008: The WA State 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.
Download
a two-page article (PDF), describing the new opportunity
for cities, counties and ports.
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.
