The effort to permanently abolish Tim Eyman’s wasteful and deceptive push polls is officially halfway to the finish line. This morning, the Washington State Senate approved Senator Patty Kuderer’s Senate Bill 5224 on a twenty-seven to twenty bipartisan vote, sending it over to the House of Representatives.
Enactment of SB 5224, one of NPI’s priority bills for 2019, would mean Washingtonians would no longer see “advisory votes” on their ballots every November. We call the “advisory votes” Tim Eyman’s push polls because that is what they really are. At NPI’s Permanent Defense project, we have a page that explains their true function, which is to influence public opinion, not measure it.
Three Democrats — Reuven Carlyle, Guy Palumbo, and Emily Randall — sided with most of the Senate’s twenty-one Republicans in opposition to SB 5224.
Their votes were offset by three Republicans who crossed over to help Democrats pass the bill: Hans Zeiger, Barbara Bailey, and Brad Hawkins. Not coincidentally, these Senators all serve on the Senate’s State Government Committee and heard testimony one month ago from NPI, the League of Women Voters, and King County Elections Director Julie Wise in favor of abolishing Eyman’s push polls.
The full roll call vote on Senate Bill 5224 was as follows:
Roll Call
SB 5224
Advisory votes
3rd Reading & Final Passage
3/1/2019Yeas: 27; Nays: 20; Excused: 2
Voting Yea: Senators Bailey, Billig, Cleveland, Conway, Darneille, Das, Dhingra, Frockt, Hasegawa, Hawkins, Hunt, Keiser, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, McCoy, Mullet, Nguyen, Pedersen, Rolfes, Saldaña, Salomon, Takko, Van De Wege, Wellman, Wilson (Claire), Zeiger
Voting Nay: Senators Becker, Braun, Brown, Carlyle, Ericksen, Fortunato, Holy, Honeyford, King, O‘Ban, Padden, Palumbo, Randall, Rivers, Schoesler, Sheldon, Short, Wagoner, Warnick, Wilson (Lynda)
Excused: Senators Hobbs, Walsh
We’ve published a statement thanking the Senate over at Permanent Defense.
For us, Senate Bill 5224 is not just about undoing a harmful Tim Eyman scheme. It is about taking a stand in favor of elections that matter. It is about upholding the principles of gathering good data. Public resources should not be wasted to put messages on people’s ballots that are designed to influence how they think.
For SB 5224 to reach Governor Jay Inslee’s desk, it must pass the House of Representatives. We’re excited about the opportunity to work with our elected representatives in the people’s House to get this bill across the finish line.
One Comment
Great result for all involved.