Bill > HB2262

This bill aims to enhance civics education for public school students by incorporating instruction on the production and use of official signatures, recognizing that the decline in cursive handwriting instruction has left many students unprepared for essential civic and financial tasks that still rely on a clear, distinctive, and consistent handwritten signature. Specifically, it mandates that by the 2027-28 school year, civics courses must include instruction on creating a legible, repeatable official cursive signature, how signatures are used in elections, initiatives, referenda, and recall processes, and a historical overview of signatures in civics, including how past signature practices have excluded marginalized communities, with the curriculum development potentially coordinated with the secretary of state and county auditors, though students are not required to produce a legible cursive signature to pass the course. Additionally, the bill requires the secretary of state to include data on ballot rejections due to signature mismatches, broken down by voter age groups, in their statewide survey of voted ballot rejection rates and annual election reports, and to provide this information to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for inclusion in their civic education website content.

Education

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2262&Year=2025&Initiative=false