This bill amends RCW 29A.84.250 to define and prohibit specific acts that interfere with the initiative and referendum process. Prohibited conduct listed includes paying or receiving consideration for signatures, offering inducements to sign or not sign, threats/harassment/intimidation or defacing petitions, protesting within 25 feet of signature collection, and handling out-of-state contributions used to aid signature gathering or measure advocacy unless reported under Title 29B RCW. It also adds a new section to chapter 29A.84 RCW that makes it a crime to receive possession of a signed initiative or referendum petition with intent to destroy or alter it, prevent its delivery to a proper official, or deliver it to someone other than a proper official. The bill creates new criminal offenses and changes penalties. Most violations are made a gross misdemeanor, and the offense is elevated to a class C felony if the person has a prior conviction in Washington for the same offense. The added section specifically makes the receipt of a signed petition with prohibited intent a class C felony. Prosecutors would apply RCW 9A.20.021 for punishment equivalencies. The changes affect petition circulators and signers and persons, firms, associations, and corporations that provide out-of-state money or things of value for petition-related services. The text provided does not include an effective date or the specific new section number added to chapter 29A.84 RCW. Key terms used in the amendment—such as "consideration," "gratuity," "proper official," "person," and definitions related to firms or corporations—are referenced but not defined in the extracted text. The cited reporting exception in Title 29B RCW is noted but Title 29B is not defined here, and the amendment’s citation to 2024 c 164 s 508 is included without the prior enactment’s full context.

If enacted, the bill would make a range of common practices around initiative and referendum petitions criminal: paying or receiving payment for signatures, offering gifts or other inducements to influence signing, intimidating or defacing petitions, protesting within 25 feet of someone collecting signatures, and accepting out-of-state money or things of value to help gather signatures or advocate for measures without the reporting exception in Title 29B. It also makes it a felony for someone to take possession of a signed petition intending to destroy, alter, delay delivery, or deliver it to the wrong official, and elevates repeat violations to a more serious felony level. Prosecutors would be able to bring gross misdemeanor or felony charges under the state’s criminal statutes. The people most affected are petition circulators, volunteer signers, advocacy groups, and any out-of-state donors or firms that pay for signature gathering or measure advocacy; they would face higher legal risk, likely need to change payment and training practices, and may incur compliance or legal costs to ensure reporting under Title 29B. The bill could reduce certain on-the-ground activities like paid signature drives or protests near collection sites and create uncertainty for organizers because key terms (for example “proper official,” “consideration,” and the bill’s effective date) are not defined in the provided text.