Support for Initiative 2081 (I-2081)
July 21, 2023
WSCC Support for Initiative 2081 (I-2081)
The Washington State Catholic Conference (WSCC), the public policy voice of the five bishops of Washington state, supports Initiative 2081 (I-2081), which would establish a parents’ bill of rights for parents of children in public schools. In the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching, families are a central social institution that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. I-2081 strengthens family rights.
At the discretion of pastors, signatures for this initiative may be collected at parishes. Parishioners must obtain approval from pastors prior to collecting petition signatures on church grounds. Because this is an initiative to the Legislature, petitions are not due to the Secretary of State until December 29, 2023. To qualify for legislative action, 324,516 valid signatures must be collected.
Explanation of Initiative 2081: The text of I-2081 may be viewed here. I-2081 names parents as the primary stakeholders in their children’s upbringing. It also reiterates or establishes numerous parents’ rights within the public school system. Among those listed are the right to review medical records and health records, the right to receive prior notification when medical services are being offered to their child (except when emergency medical treatment is required), the right to receive notification of a medical service or medications provided to their child that could result in financial impact, the right to receive reassurance that a child’s public school will not discriminate against a child based upon sincerely held religious beliefs, and the right to receive notification if a child is taken or removed from a public school campus without parental permission, including to stay at a youth shelter or host home. I-2081 also calls for parents to receive notification and the ability to opt their children out of activities that include questions about a child’s sexual experiences or are on the topic of sexual activity.
The Initiative Process: The state’s constitution reserves the right of people to propose bills and laws via an initiative to the people or an initiative to the Legislature. They also have the right to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any bill, act, or law passed by the legislature. I-2081 is an initiative to the Legislature. If the initiative qualifies by the December 29 deadline, it will take precedence over all other measures in the 2024 session, except for budget bills. The Legislature may adopt the initiative, reject it, refuse to act on it, or provide an alternative on the same subject. If the Legislature rejects it or refuses to act, the initiative will then be on the general election ballot in 2024. If the Legislature provides an alternative, both versions of the initiative will be on the 2024 ballot.
Obtaining and Returning Petitions: Contact the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) at info@fpiw.org or (425) 608-0242 to request petitions. Only official petitions forms will be accepted by the Secretary of State. Please do not print your own copies. The FPIW is not a Catholic organization nor affiliated with the Catholic Church. They are working on I-2081 efforts and have graciously offered to serve as a distributor and collector of petitions.
We recommend returning petitions around December 15 so that they may be properly counted. Signed petitions should be returned to campaign organizers, who will process and count petitions and officially submit them to the Secretary of State. Please return signed petitions to FPIW, who is assisting with processing petitions:
Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW)
PO Box 975
Lynnwood, WA 98046
To Find a Petition to Sign: Click here to find a location to sign a petition as an individual. Please note that the website host, Let’s Go Washington, is not affiliated with the Catholic Church nor the WSCC. The inclusion of their petition location map in this bulletin should not be viewed as an endorsement of the organization.
We invite you to contact us at wscc@wacatholics.org with any questions.