In focus: Capitol rally attendees again call on lawmakers to act on six initiatives 

With a little more than two weeks left in the legislative session, rally attendees again called for lawmakers to act on the six initiatives filed to the Washington state Legislature.

The rally on the steps of the Capitol — the second organizers have held during the current session — drew both major Republican gubernatorial candidates, Republican Senatorial Candidate Raul Garcia, legislators, and Brian Heywood, a Republican donor who spent more than $6 million to gather signatures.

Next week, legislators will hold joint hearings on three proposals — the prohibition of a state income tax, a parental bill of rights and reforming police pursuit requirements.

“When I was in school, and probably when most of you were in school, if you only turned in three of your six assignments, that’s an F,” Heywood said during the rally. “We expect them to listen to all six of these. There’s 800,000 people who put their name and their signature and their birth date.”

The Finance and Ways and Means Joint Committee will hold a hearing on the initiative to ban an income tax in Washington on Tuesday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the O’Brien Building. The Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee will hold a hearing on parental rights on Wednesday from 8 to 9 a.m. in the O’Brien Building.

The Law & Justice and Community Safety, Justice & Reentry Joint Committees will hold a hearing on police pursuit policy on Wednesday from 9 to 10 a.m. in the Cherberg Building.

The measures not getting public hearings are Initiative 2109 to repeal the capital gains tax, Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, and Initiative 2124 to allow more people to opt out of the state’s long-term care program, The Center Square reported on Thursday. 

Read the full story from The Center Square here: https://www.chronline.com/stories/washington-democrats-signal-passage-for-three-initiatives-getting-hearings-next-week,335036? 

Look for a full story on Friday's rally in Tuesday’s edition of The Chronicle and at chronline.com.