Washington Senate Tries to Ban Election Pledges—After Being 'Buncoed' by the Anti-Saloon League
Lawmakers voted 27 to 11 for a 'freak bill' disqualifying legislators who promise support for bills before election, then added a rider against corporation lawyers. Legal scholars called it unconstitutional.
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OLYMPIA, Feb. 10. — Washington's state senate yesterday went on record, 27 to 11, for a freak bill to disqualify any man elected to the legislature hereafter who signs any pledge before election to support any bill. Lawyers say the bill is unconstitutional and not worth the paper it is written on. Huxtable grew red in the face declaring members had been 'buncoed' and 'flim-flammed by the Anti-Saloon League,' getting them to agree to support their bill before election by calling it a local option bill and then they brought in a drastic affair to be passed beyond what the members wanted to stand for. A rider was put on the bill to disqualify corporation lawyers also. The whole thing is looked upon as a joke by outsiders, as the constitution provides that each house shall be sole judge of the qualifications of its own members.
“Members had been 'buncoed' and 'flim-flammed by the Anti-Saloon League.'”
A century later, Washington still argues over how far campaign pledges and outside groups should bind legislators—and whether one house can police its own members' qualifications. The Anti-Saloon League's bait-and-switch is a familiar story of single-issue lobbying and legislative blowback.
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