Centralia Christian School 9th and 10th grade students visit Capitol during historic public hearings on initiatives
CONTACT: Jennifer Hansen, Senior Public Information Officer | 360-786-7720
Centralia Christian School 9th and 10th grade students visit Capitol during historic public hearings on initiatives
Ninth and tenth-grade students from Centralia Christian School visited the state Capitol last week during the historic public hearings on two of the six voter-backed initiatives.
Members of the public on Wednesday had the opportunity to weigh in on Initiative 2113 (restoring police pursuit) and Initiative 2081 (parental bill of rights) in joint House and Senate committee hearings.
Initiative 2111 (income tax ban) received a public hearing on Tuesday.
The three initiatives that were allowed to move forward by legislative Democrats received overwhelming public support and are now awaiting floor action.
Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, joined the students and teachers on their tour and discussed current events.
“I am grateful that students from our district were able to be here for this historic event,” said Abbarno. “These public hearings were a great opportunity to see the power that ordinary citizens have under the Washington State Constitution. If you can persuade enough of your friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens, you can make real change in our political system – and that’s exactly what’s happening.”
Article I Section I of the Washington State Constitution states that “all political power is inherent in the people.” Article II Section 1(a) outlines the initiative as the “first power reserved by the people.” The section goes on to state that “initiative measures… shall take precedence over all other measures in the legislature except appropriation bills.”
“It’s unfortunate that, despite the hundreds of thousands of signatures these six initiatives received, legislative Democrats only held public hearings for half of them,” added Abbarno. “I appreciate the efforts of Centralia Christian School staff and administrators for their continued effort to encourage public engagement for their students.”
Legislative Democrats did not holding public hearings on three initiatives.
- Initiative 2124 would allow people to opt out of the new state-run, long-term-care program.
- Initiative 2117 would repeal the Climate Commitment Act, the state’s new carbon tax program.
- Initiative 2109 would repeal the state’s new capital gains tax.
If the Legislature does not pass an initiative, it will be put to a vote of the people in November.
To schedule a Capitol tour, call 360-902-8880 or email tours@des.wa.gov.
For more information about tours of state buildings, visit the DES website: des.wa.gov/services/facilities-and-leasing-management/capitol-campus/tours
