Just one week after two Let’s Go Washington initiatives were formally submitted to the Secretary of State, top Democratic leaders in the Washington Legislature announced they will not hold hearings on either measure, drawing sharp criticism from initiative backers and reigniting concerns about how Olympia treats voter-driven legislation. Now, Democrats may face legal action.
During a legislative preview on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins said there are no plans to schedule hearings on the initiatives, despite both receiving far more signatures than required. Initiative IL26-001, which aims to strengthen communication and transparency between parents and schools, was submitted with 416,201 signatures. Initiative IL26-638, focused on protecting fairness in girls’ sports, received 445,187 signatures. Combined, the two measures were supported by 861,388 Washington voters.
One person who doesn't tolerate lies about the initiatives? @BrandiKruse. #waleg #savegirlssports pic.twitter.com/xuolVBblXg
— Let's Go Washington (@letsgowa) January 9, 2026
The announcement immediately prompted a response from Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood, who accused legislative leadership of dismissing the will of voters across party lines.
“Senator ‘Pie Crust’ Pedersen and Speaker Jinkins reported today that they won’t be giving hearings to the two initiatives supported by 861,388 voters,” Heywood said in a statement. “While we’ve seen this song and dance before, we want to strongly urge them to reconsider.”
During an interview with KUOW at the end of last year, Senator Jamie Pedersen commented that he didn’t care that he and his Democratic colleagues had voted in support of I-2111 to affirm that the legislature wouldn’t impose an income tax, calling it a “pie crust promise: easily made, easily broken,” and said that if they wanted to change the law, they would and could, earning the nickname from Heywood “Pie Crust” Pedersen.
During Friday’s legislative preview, when asked if there are biological differences between boys and girls, Pedersen said he doesn’t have the “scientific expertise to be able to weigh in.”
I asked State Senator Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) if there are biological differences between boys and girls. He said he doesn't have the "scientific expertise to be able to weigh in." pic.twitter.com/mjhzcT8oGy
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) January 10, 2026
Heywood argued that refusing to hold hearings would amount to more than a procedural decision. “Not only would this be a blatant slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of Democrat, Independent, and Republican voters who support the measures, it would be a clear sign that they don’t care about the abuses to children, families, and female athletes taking place in the state,” he said.
I asked Washington @GovBobFerguson about boys in girls' sports. He accused me of being "obsessed with trans kids" and refused to answer the question. I'm not obsessed with trans kids. I'm obsessed with truth. pic.twitter.com/X1pxhRxsjf
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) January 10, 2026
The initiatives touch on two of the most contentious education issues in Washington politics. IL26-001 focuses on parental notification and involvement in school-related decisions, while IL26-638 addresses competitive fairness in girls’ sports. Heywood framed the lack of hearings as avoidance rather than logistics. “Our initiatives seek to protect students and female athletes; why are Democrat leaders afraid to take a stand for them?” he asked.
Heywood also called on supporters to directly contact legislative leadership, urging them to push for hearings. He specifically encouraged outreach to Pedersen and Jinkins, saying lawmakers should “do the right thing by giving the initiatives the hearings they deserve.”
The move has drawn comparisons to the 2024 legislative session, when lawmakers initially claimed there was not enough time to hold hearings on any people’s initiatives. Despite that claim, the legislature later held hearings on several initiatives and ultimately passed three of them into state law.
Under Washington’s initiative process, lawmakers can pass the initiatives as written, propose alternatives, or allow them to go directly to voters in November. On Monday, the Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) sent a formal demand letter to Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, asserting that the Washington State Legislature is violating the state constitution by refusing to hold hearings or votes on the initiatives.
According to CADF, Article II, Section 1(a) of the Washington Constitution requires initiative measures to “take precedence over all other measures in the legislature except appropriation bills” and to be either enacted or rejected without change, and despite this clear constitutional directive, legislative leadership recently indicated they have no plans to schedule hearings on the initiatives.
“For more than a century, Washington’s constitution has treated the people’s initiative power as a fundamental check on government,” Jackson Maynard, CADF Executive Director, told The Ari Hoffman Show. “The Legislature does not get to ignore laws proposed by hundreds of thousands of voters simply because they are politically inconvenient. The Constitution requires that these initiatives be given priority and be acted upon.”
“The people are not a suggestion box for lawmakers,” Maynard added. “They are sovereign under our Constitution, where it states that ‘all power is inherent in the people.’ The legislature should be helping to protect the right to initiative, not obstruct it.”
CADF has formally requested that legislative leadership either schedule hearings on the initiatives or bring them to a floor vote – as required by law. The organization also warned that it is prepared to pursue all available legal options should the Legislature continue to disregard its constitutional obligations.
