Police pursuit finally restored in Washington

Last year, millions of signatures were collected on six, citizen-led initiatives, forcing lawmakers to consider these issues during their legislative session earlier this year. 

Despite being required to make them a top priority, they wanted nothing more than to pretend they didn’t exist. They went weeks without giving any of them so much as a hearing.

But then they heard from you. And starting on June 6, initiatives on parental notification, banning a state income tax, and restoring police pursuit are law of the land in Washington.

Earlier this week, King 5 released an alarming report detailing the scope of the impact the 2021 law change had, citing data from Washington State Patrol of 7,941 instances in which they were unable to pursue suspected criminals due to state law. That’s nearly 8,000 suspected criminals that were able to drive away, only to be free to repeat the same thing over and over.

“People were just ignoring the lights. They were just ignoring the sirens,” said Chris Loftis, communications director at the Washington State Patrol.

And keep in mind this is just Washington State Patrol’s voluntary reporting. Law enforcement agencies are not required to track or report on abandoned pursuits, meaning this data is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about this any longer, thanks to you. Enough of you called, emailed, and attended events—forcing lawmakers to act on three initiatives.

This was a major turning point in the path toward restoring common sense policymaking in our state. 

The three initiatives lawmakers did not take any action on – repealing the capital gains tax, repealing the carbon tax, and allowing opt-out of the long-term care tax – will all be on the ballot for voters to decide in November.