Washington Public Employer Collective Bargaining Sessions Open to Public Initiative (2018)

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Washington Public Employer Collective Bargaining Sessions Open to Public
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Election date
November 6, 2018
Topic
Labor and unions
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
State statute
Origin
Citizens


The Washington Public Employer Collective Bargaining Sessions Open to Public Initiative (#1608) was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 6, 2018.

This initiative would have required that collective bargaining sessions held by public employers be open to the public by applying open meeting act and public records act provisions to them. Under the initiative, government employers would have been required to permit public attendance of collective bargaining sessions and a library of recordings of collective bargaining sessions would be created and made available to residents. Public employers would not have been required to allow public commentary during collective bargaining sessions under the initiative.[1][2]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for this initiative is below:[2]

Initiative Measure No. 1608 concerns collective bargaining by state and local public employers.

This measure would make collective bargaining sessions between public employers and employee organizations open for public observation and recording, make bargaining proposals public, and establish an online library of public collective bargaining agreements.

Should this measure be enacted into law? [3]

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this initiative is below:[2]

This measure would require that all collective bargaining sessions for contract negotiations between state and local public employers and employee organizations be open for public observation and recording. It would require all public employers to make all collective bargaining proposals available to the public within two business days by posting them online or providing them on request. It would require the public employment relations commission to publish an online library of collective bargaining agreements. [3]

Full text

  • The full text of the initiative is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify a directly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the People in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for direct initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the general election at which their proposal would be presented to voters. Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the general election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the People certified for the 2018 ballot:

The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified for the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.

Details about this initiative

  • Craig Williamson submitted this initiative on February 7, 2018.[2]
  • A ballot title and summary were issued for this initiative on February 23, 2018.[2]
  • Proponents of the initiative did not submit signatures to the secretary of state's office by the July 6, 2018, deadline and the measure was not put on the ballot.[4][2]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Washington secretary of state, "Initiative #1608 Text," accessed January 24, 2018
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Washington secretary of state, "Proposed Initiatives to the People - 2018," accessed January 24, 2018
  3. 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Ballotpedia Staff Writer, Email communication with Lydia Plukchi of the Washington Secretary of State's office, July 9, 2018.