OLYMPIA -- Paid signature-gatherers for statewide ballot measures would need to register with the Secretary of State and their employers would need to conduct background checks before hiring them under a bill approved Thursday by a House panel. They would have to sign a statement…
WASHINGTON -- Idaho Republican Jim Risch is the Senate's most conservative member and Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell is tied for its fifth most liberal. So says the National Journal in its annual ranking of the chamber's most conservative and liberal. Risch is making his third…