A committee in the Washington state Senate is considering a proposal to increase the amount of time that initiative campaigns have to collect signatures.

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman testified Thursday that the larger window of time would aid grassroots campaigns that may not have the financial resources to fund an army of signature collectors.

Signature drives currently have about six months to get enough support to qualify for the ballot. The secretary of state's office recommends that the campaigns turn in about 325,000 signatures in order to safely get certified.

Opponents of the bill say the timeframe isn't necessarily a constraint and that the extended period may cause voter confusion if election cycles overlap.

Eyman already has an initiative qualified for this year's ballot that would expand signature collection time.