This bill adds new sections to chapter 44.20 RCW that create procedural requirements a legislator must follow before filing proposed legislation. A sponsor must submit to the secretary of state a legible copy of the proposed bill or resolution, a signed affidavit or electronic attestation that the sponsor is a member of the legislature, and a petition with at least 1,000 signatures of registered voters showing name, address, city, and county of registration. Signature collection must meet RCW 29A.72.100 requirements, the secretary of state must verify and canvass signatures (including by authorized statistical sampling under RCW 29A.72.230), and the secretary may refuse filings with missing documents or clearly insufficient signatures. After verification the secretary transmits the proposal to the office of the code reviser and notifies the sponsor and the appropriate chamber clerk; the signature requirement does not apply to amendments or substitutes to bills that already met the requirement when proposed during a regular or special session. The bill also addresses unlawful trading in special influence by reaffirming that it is unlawful, consistent with RCW 9A.68.050, to offer, give, or receive money or other consideration to secure a particular legislative result, while permitting ordinary payment to advocacy entities for lobbying so long as those payments do not constitute the crime. It creates a civil private right of action in the name of the state for persons with reason to believe such unlawful trading has occurred, authorizing civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and other appropriate remedies; if the plaintiff prevails the judgment escheats to the state and the plaintiff may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, but if a suit is dismissed as frivolous or in bad faith the court may order the plaintiff to pay the defendant’s fees. Venue is the superior court in the sponsor’s or advocacy entity’s county of residence or where the violation occurred, and actions must be commenced within two years of the alleged violation. The bill includes definitions for “advocacy entity,” “bill/legislation/memorial/resolution,” “entity,” and “person,” and a severability clause. The text creates new statutory procedures and a new civil enforcement mechanism and penalties; it does not itself create a new criminal offense but references and relies on the existing criminal prohibition in RCW 9A.68.050. The bill references affected agencies (secretary of state, office of the code reviser, legislative clerks, courts) but does not specify an effective date, detailed implementing rules beyond directing the secretary of state to adopt verification procedures, or the procedural mechanics for petition submission and timing; the interaction with criminal enforcement beyond the citation to RCW 9A.68.050 is not detailed.

If enacted, members of the Washington legislature would have to gather at least 1,000 registered-voter signatures, submit a legible copy of the proposed bill, and file a signed affidavit that they are a legislator before the secretary of state will accept a bill for processing; amendments or substitutes to bills that already met the requirement during a session are exempt. That change shifts time and likely out-of-pocket effort to sponsors, and creates a new verification and rulemaking workload for the secretary of state (including authority to use statistical sampling and to refuse clearly deficient petitions), while the office of the code reviser would only receive bills after that verification step—how much these steps will cost or slow filing is not specified. The bill also gives private citizens the ability to sue over unlawful trading in special influence involving advocacy entities, with civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation, recovery of attorneys’ fees for a prevailing plaintiff, and potential fee awards against frivolous plaintiffs; suits must be brought within two years and filed in specified superior courts. Important implementation details are missing from the text provided: there is no effective date, no procedural rules for how petitions must be submitted or timed relative to legislative deadlines, and the interaction with existing criminal enforcement is not fully described.