Senate Unanimously Passes SB 5824

After agreeing to a Republican-suggested amendment, Senate Bill 5824, which involves lowering the number of signatures required on a petition to dissolve a library district, was passed yesterday with a 49-0 vote. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

The amendment modifies the initial requirement in the bill from needing 35 percent of registered voters to 25 percent to put an initiative on the ballot. Current law requires only 10 percent.

This morning, the Seattle Times published an insightful article titled “As book battles rage, WA Senate votes to make it harder to shut down a library.” The article describes the bill’s legislative progress and ongoing efforts to close the library in Dayton. It highlights that opponents of the library have requested the City of Dayton to withdraw from the Columbia County Rural Library District, an action that would remove the majority of the Library District’s funding.