OLYMPIA – Some animals fared well this week as the Legislature rushed to pass bills before a critical deadline. Folks hoping to sip local liquor at the farmers market, buy pot at a state liquor store or require proof of citizenship before the state gives out a driver’s license, didn’t do as well.

As is the case in most legislative sessions, many bills are all but dead after failing to pass at least one chamber before Monday’s cut off. There are a few parliamentary maneuvers that can shock a bill back to life, but they are far less frequent than a patient recovering when someone grabs defibrillator paddles and yells “Clear” in a TV doctor drama.
  

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OLYMPIA — Proposed changes to the state's initiative laws were blasted as unconstitutional, arrogant and un-American by a Republican senator who tried to block them Thursday.

No, they're an attempt to bring modernize the system and protect it, said the Democrat who sponsored the changes.

In a series of 4-3 votes, the Senate Government Operations Committee rejected most attempts by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to change the proposal and sent it to the next step of the legislative process. Senate Bill 5297 would raise the fee for filing an initiative from the current $5 to $500, require businesses that pay people to gather signatures to register with the state and require paid signature gatherers to present photo identification whenever asked.

“Last time I checked, we live in America,” said Benton in explaining an amendment to strip out provisions for paid-signature collectors to have identification. “We don't have to carry papers. You shouldn't have to provide a photo ID to anybody other than law enforcement.”

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