Legislative process/bills

AN ACT Relating to protecting the integrity of the state 1
legislative process by requiring a demonstration of support before a 2
legislative bill is filed; adding new sections to chapter 44.20 RCW; 3
and prescribing penalties. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that the 6
"legislative authority of the State of Washington shall be vested in 7
the legislature," that "no laws shall be enacted except by bill" and 8
that the legislature "may determine the rules of its own 9
proceedings." The legislature determines that these duties must be 10
guarded against fraud and mistake and that reasonable procedural 11
safeguards are necessary to promote the integrity and proper 12
functioning of the legislative process.13
(2) The legislature finds that: 14
(a) As stated in RCW 9A.68.050, "A person is guilty of trading in 15
special influence if: . . . He or she offers, confers, or agrees to 16
confer any pecuniary benefit upon another person pursuant to an 17
agreement or understanding that such other person will offer or 18
confer a benefit upon a public servant or procure another to do so 19
with intent thereby to secure or attempt to secure a particular 20
result in a particular matter." Nevertheless, paying another person 21
H-2961.1
HOUSE BILL 2591
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Walsh and Marshall
Read first time 01/20/26. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HB 2591
to offer a benefit upon a public servant to secure a particular 1
result has proliferated in Washington state and is routinely used by 2
special interest groups to affect or influence legislative bills;3
(b) Currently, the law does not effectively deter special 4
interest groups from affecting or influencing legislative bills by 5
trading in special influence. The legislature finds that such trading 6
in special influence results in misrepresentation or concealment of 7
the content of many legislative bills; 8
(c) Washington's record shows a recurring pattern of bad public 9
policy results following from trading in special influence. In 2015, 10
the center for public integrity, which is an independent, 11
nonpartisan, and nonprofit news organization that investigates 12
systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in our 13
country, graded states based on the laws and systems states have in 14
place to deter corruption. Washington received an "F" for access to 15
public information and executive accountability and an overall grade 16
of D+ in its state integrity investigation. In 2025, the Washington 17
coalition for open government sued the state legislature for 18
withholding critical documents from public review under the 19
controversial theory of "legislative privilege;" 20
(d) In November 2025, a state court in Thurston county upheld the 21
legislature's claims of "legislative privilege." But the issue 22
remains a divisive controversy and various government transparency 23
advocacy entities have pledged to continue the court challenges, in 24
order to restore public trust in the state's legislative processes;25
(e) More recently, the state auditor's ordinary review of state 26
government activities has failed to detect instances of fraud. 27
However, multistate advocacy entities that operate in Washington have 28
been implicated in fraudulent or criminal activities occurring in 29
other states; 30
(f) Washington's increasingly active legislative environment also 31
compounds this concern. In recent years, the number of legislative 32
bills filed in the state house and state senate has proliferated. 33
These growing numbers of bills create intense pressure on advocacy 34
entities to prioritize speed and volume. This environment rewards 35
high-output tactics and raises the risk of fraud, error, and 36
misrepresentation of the contents of legislative bills;37
(g) To adequately guard the people's inherent political power 38
against fraud and mistake, the legislature determines that limiting 39
the number of legislative bills filed every year is necessary; and40
p. 2 HB 2591
(h) Other states, including California, Nevada, Colorado, 1
Indiana, Florida, and Louisiana, have adopted restrictions on how 2
many bills may be introduced or the manner in which legislators may 3
introduce bills. Restricting the number of bills filed during any 4
given legislative session has not reduced access to the ballot or the 5
people's inherent political power. 6
(3) Additionally, the legislature finds that: 7
(a) In recent years, numerous legislative bills with minimal or 8
no public support have been repeatedly filed with the office of the 9
code reviser, including some near-identical versions of the same 10
legislation; 11
(b) These duplicative and low-support pieces of legislation are 12
often filed in an attempt to test titles or create confusion among 13
legislators or certain advocacy entities. These tactics undermine the 14
integrity and fairness of the legislative process by encouraging 15
strategic manipulation of filing procedures, increasing the risk of 16
inconsistent bill titles for substantively identical pieces of 17
legislation; and 18
(c) The filing of multiple bills with minimal public support 19
imposes a substantial burden and cost on the office of the code 20
reviser. In recent filing cycles, that office has expended 21
significant staff resources reviewing and processing duplicative 22
proposed pieces of legislation. 23
(4) Based on these findings, the legislature determines that 24
requiring a legislator sponsoring a bill to gather at least 1,000 25
signatures from registered voters in support of the proposed bill 26
before filing the proposed legislation with the office of the code 27
reviser will alleviate these burdens by ensuring that only proposals 28
with a minimal threshold of public support proceed through the 29
legislative process, and facilitate the legislative process by 30
limiting title-testing and political strategies that cause confusion. 31
The legislature notes that other states impose various bill drafting 32
requirements before a piece of legislation may be filed, 33
demonstrating that such requirements facilitate the legislative 34
process. 35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) In accordance with RCW 9A.68.050, it 36
is unlawful to provide or receive money or other consideration to 37
offer or confer a benefit upon a public servant or procure another to 38
do so with intent to thereby secure or attempt to secure a particular 39
p. 3 HB 2591
legislative result in a particular legislative matter. Nothing herein 1
prohibits providing or receiving money or other consideration to an 2
advocacy entity for the purpose of lobbying the legislature so long 3
as such activities do not constitute the crime of trading in special 4
influence. 5
(2)(a) A person who has reason to believe that this section has 6
been violated may bring a citizen's action in the name of the state 7
for an appropriate civil remedy including, but not limited to, civil 8
penalties, against any bill sponsor or advocacy entity that violates 9
this section. 10
(b) If the person who brings the citizen's action prevails, the 11
judgment awarded shall escheat to the state, but he or she shall be 12
entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs from the 13
defendant as fixed by the court. 14
(c) In the case of a citizen's action that is dismissed and that 15
the court also finds was brought frivolously or in bad faith, the 16
court may order the person commencing the action to pay all 17
reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the defendant.18
(d) Civil penalties may not exceed $10,000 for each violation of 19
this section. 20
(e) Any action provided for in this section may be brought in the 21
superior court of the county of residence of the bill sponsor or 22
advocacy entity or the superior court of the county in which a 23
violation occurred. 24
(f) Any action brought under the provisions of this section must 25
be commenced within two years after the date when the violation 26
occurred. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) If any member of the legislature 28
desires to file a bill, resolution, memorial, or any other piece of 29
legislation, he or she shall file with the secretary of state:30
(a) A legible copy of the proposed legislation;31
(b) A signed affidavit, or electronic submission, that the 32
sponsor is a member of the legislature; and 33
(c) A petition, bearing the signatures of at least 1,000 34
registered voters, in support of the proposed legislation, including 35
the legal voter's name and the address, city, and county in which he 36
or she is registered to vote. The signature sheets used to collect 37
signatures as required by this subsection must meet the requirements 38
of RCW 29A.72.100. These requirements do not apply to amendments or 39
p. 4 HB 2591
proposed substitutes to bills meeting the requirements of this 1
section that are proposed during the regular or special legislative 2
session. 3
(2)(a) The secretary of state shall, before submitting a copy of 4
the proposed legislation to the office of the code reviser for 5
introduction, verify and canvass the signatures and names of the 6
legal voters submitted under subsection (1) of this section. The 7
secretary of state shall, by rule, establish procedures to implement 8
this subsection. 9
(b) The secretary of state may use statistical sampling 10
techniques authorized under RCW 29A.72.230 to verify whether a 11
petition contains the required number of signatures of legal voters.12
(3) The secretary of state may not accept for processing any 13
proposed legislation submitted under this section if:14
(a) The sponsor fails to submit the documents required under 15
subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section; 16
(b) The sponsor fails to submit the petition required under 17
subsection (1)(c) of this section; or 18
(c) The petition required under subsection (1)(c) of this section 19
clearly bears insufficient signatures. 20
(4) Upon verifying that the petition in support of the proposed 21
legislative bill contains the number of signatures required, the 22
secretary of state shall submit a copy thereof to the office of the 23
code reviser and give notice to the sponsor and the clerk of the 24
appropriate legislative chamber of such verification and transmittal. 25
After that notice has been sent, the legislative bill will proceed 26
under the rules and practices of each legislative chamber.27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The definitions in this section apply 28
throughout sections 1 through 3 of this act unless the context 29
clearly requires otherwise.30
(1) "Advocacy entity" means a person or entity that advocates, 31
promotes, or lobbies for a particular legislative result in a 32
particular legislative matter. 33
(2) "Bill," "legislation," "memorial," and "resolution" mean a 34
proposed law presented to the legislature for consideration.35
(3) "Entity" has the same meaning as in RCW 23B.01.400.36
(4) "Person" has the same meaning as in RCW 29B.10.400.37
p. 5 HB 2591
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If any provision of this act or its 1
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 2
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 3
persons or circumstances is not affected.4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Sections 1 through 4 of this act are each 5
added to chapter 44.20 RCW.6
--- END ---
p. 6 HB 2591