Should initiative sponsors abide by an ethical code? Should initiative signature gatherers be away from businesses?

Right now, the House State Government Committee is considering bills that would affect the initiative process in Washington.

One, sponsored by Rep. Jim Moeller, would require that initiative signature gatherers to stay 25 feet away from the doors of businesses. Here’s the bill report.

Another, sponsored by Rep. Geoff Simpson, is here. It would create an ethics code for initiative prime sponsors. “Under (Initiative 1033), the more real estate a person owned, the more they stood to gain.” He said one of the largest real estate owners in the state contributed $25,000 to the campaign — “And we don’t know how much he paid Tim Eyman personally.” Simpson said if lawmakers accepted cash from people they were writing legislation for, he’d call the police to begin an investigation. He said the same standards should apply to initiatives.

Now Eyman is testifying on the bill to require 25 feet distance between a signature gatherer and a business entrance. He said it’s the “stupidest thing” he’s ever seen because “the rulings say that if these stores allow any First Amendment activity” — like bell ringers — “they must allow them all.” Eyman said the bill is a copy of a bill to require smokers to keep their distance from building entrances.

Chris Bass, a concerned citizen, said he thinks the bill is chilling because if you follow the logic — that initiative sponsors should live by the same ethics as legislators — then it means eventually they may have to “open their financial kimono” to the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.
Update: Tim Eyman and the ACLU are in agreement. Shankar Narayan, the ACLU’s lobbyist, said the 25-foot rule is unconstitutional. Narayan said the apparent annoyance of signature gatherers doesn’t warrant stifling free speech.

Now, on to Simpson’s bill: “Every bill that you’ve introduced is trying to make the process tougher,” Eyman said. “This bill proposes that initiative sponsors solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution,” Eyman said, which “is so laughably unconstitutional that (the bills) don’t even pass the straight face test.”

Tags: initiatives