Washington voters sent right wing multimillionaire Brian Heywood a powerful message last November when they rejected most of his slate of destructive initiatives that sought to roll back major laws the Legislature had passed by historic margins. But Heywood, who been a witness to the Washington State Republican Party’s mounting electoral losses, has said several times since then that he’s not ready to give up on trying to get deceptive and divisive initiatives past the voters.

After mostly laying low this summer, Heywood has now disclosed plans to try to qualify two measures to the 2026 Washington State Legislature. One attempts to overturn the landmark student rights and parental involvement law that the Legislature passed back in the spring, which superseded one of the three Heywood-backed initiatives that did not go to the ballot in 2024. The other cruelly targets transgender youth, seeking to bar transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.

Each measure faces a signature collection deadline of January 2, 2026. Heywood will need to amass 386,000 signatures for each to secure a random sample check.

Given Heywood’s wealth, we expect each measure to qualify.

Neither measure will appear on this year’s odd-year ballot; Heywood has chosen the initiative to the Legislature route. That means each of the two measures will be sent to the House and Senate first.

It would be a huge mistake for legislators to adopt either to keep them off the ballot — we need to defeat them to demonstrate to Heywood that voters don’t like his awful ideas and won’t vote for them, regardless of subject. We’ve proven that voters won’t go for Heywood’s plots to defund our common wealth; now, we must unite Washingtonians in defense of our cherished values of diversity, equity, and inclusion and show Heywood that his culture war schemes aren’t wanted either.

If you see signature gatherers hawking petitions for IL26-001 and IL26-638, decline to sign.

The petitions look like this:

The statements of subject, concise descriptions, and summaries for these measures are as follows:

IL26-001

Ballot Title
Initiative Measure No. IL26-001 concerns parental rights relating to their children in public school.

This measure would repeal amendments to a statute listing certain rights of parents and guardians of public-school children and re-enact the law as it was originally enacted by Initiative to the Legislature 2081.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This measure would re-enact RCW 28A.605.005 as it was originally enacted in Initiative to the Legislature 2081. The re-enacted law would list certain rights of parents and guardians of public-school children, including rights to review materials and student records, receive certain notifications and opt students out of certain activities. It would repeal amendments to the statute, which modified school obligations and access to certain student records and added certain parental rights.

IL26-638

Ballot Title
Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 concerns participation in athletics at K-12 schools.

This measure would prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” from competing in certain school athletic activities intended for female students only. It would require verification of biological sex by students’ healthcare providers.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This measure would require policies prohibiting students it defines as “biologically male” from competing with or against female students in certain interschool athletic activities that are intended for female students only. Students who choose to participate in such activities must provide a statement from the student’s healthcare provider verifying the student’s biological sex, based on reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels. These requirements would apply to individual or team athletic competitions.

NPI’s Permanent Defense is working with Washington Families For Freedom — a coalition of parents, teachers, students and community members working to stand up for every student’s right to fair, safe, and equal schools — to defeat these two measures.

To learn more about WFF, please visit the coalition’s website.