The Journal's View: Monitor worrisome bills in state Legislature

A handful of bills under consideration in Olympia are worrisome for Spokane-area businesses and, in some cases, perplexing. Legislators representing Eastern Washington should be mindful of the headwinds such actions would cause for employers and the community at-large if such bills became law.

Topping the list of concerning legislation is House Bill 1380, which is summarized as "allowing objectively reasonable regulation of the utilization of public property." But the bill, as written, is essentially an end-around on communities, like Spokane, that have sit-and-lie ordinances in place as recourse for those who camp on public property. As written, the bill would enable legal recourse against municipalities for enforcing such laws.

We share compassion for unhoused people in our community and don't want to see our vulnerable populations fined or incarcerated, but we're in the midst of an arguably unprecedented drug epidemic and mental health crisis. Law enforcement and elected municipal leaders need every tool and resource at their disposal to combat the societal woes that endanger lives and threaten public safety. It's a reality that some at the state level seem unwilling to accept. 

In Spokane, 75% of voters explicitly backed the city's sit-and-lie ordinance. Why lawmakers elected to represent us would sponsor a bill that goes so caustically against the desires of those who put them in office is especially perplexing. 

In the state Senate, Bill 5041 looks to provide unemployment benefits for striking or locked-out workers. Similar bills have been introduced in the past and have been unsuccessful. This bill deserves a similar fate. 

Workers who strike deserve a seat at the negotiating table and an opportunity to collectively bargain with an employer in good faith. They have that. Strikes should be an action of last resort, however, and they work because both sides get financially uncomfortable. Granting unemployment benefits to those who have chosen proactively not to work incentivizes striking and tips the negotiating scales toward labor, while putting a greater burden on all employers who pay unemployment insurance. That's not the purpose of that insurance. This bill defies logic. 

Finally, legislators should proceed with caution when considering Senate Bill 5382, which concerns the initiative process in Washington state. Some detractors are calling the bill the "initiative killer," and while we wouldn't go that far, we are concerned with the notion that legislators are working to make it harder to get initiatives on ballots. 

The initiative process is an instrumental part of the democratic process, and it gives citizens the opportunity to affect change that elected officials might not otherwise compel. 

SB 5382 would require those who sign petitions for initiatives to provide more information, including residential address verification. While not unprecedented, it does feel like a solution in search of a problem, as there isn't any apparent evidence of invalid signatures making it through the current verification process conducted by the state Secretary of State. 

The Legislature has a big task ahead of it, as it looks to freshman Gov. Bob Ferguson's request to align expenses with state revenue. Ideally, elected officials will move on from the bills mentioned above and focus on the important tasks at hand.