Dust Hasn’t Settled Around Ballot Measures Gay Rights, Marijuana, Gun Safety, Tax Relief Will Continue To Fan Debate

The voters have spoken, but they haven’t seen the last of legislation dealing with gay rights, medical marijuana, gun safety and other issues.

And a popular property tax relief measure approved Tuesday may be headed for the courts.

Foes of gay rights quickly seized on the defeat of Initiative 677, which sought to protect homosexuals from employment discrimination.

Bob Larimer, chairman of the No Official Preferential Employment opposition campaign, said voters sent a signal to both the Legislature and Congress that nothing smacking of “special rights” should be approved.

He predicted the vote could result in another try by Republican lawmakers to ban same-sex marriages and that - given the initiative’s 60-40 drubbing this week - Gov. Gary Locke should think twice about vetoing the ban again, as he did earlier this year.

Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the Legislature’s only openly gay lawmaker, said the defeat means there may be no serious effort to get a gay-employment measure or broader “gay civil rights bill” through the Legislature for some time.

Voters also soundly rejected Initiative 685, which sought to allow medical use of such illegal drugs as marijuana, heroin and LSD for the ill and to change criminal policies by requiring treatment instead of prison for nonviolent drug users.

The measure’s sponsor, Dr. Rob Killian, said he will ask the Legislature in January to pass a bill that authorizes medical use of marijuana only.

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who led the campaign against the initiative, said Wednesday he’s keeping an open mind on the issue but is suspicious of the intentions of Killian’s backers.

Owen said he could support a marijuana bill if it followed strict criteria: It must be strictly worded so that only the seriously ill could use marijuana; the pot must be grown in a restricted environment, such as at a university; and users would have to participate in studies to settle questions about its medical usefulness.

Meanwhile, the Green Cross Patient Coop continues to run a health clinic of sorts in West Seattle that distributes the weed to the sick for free or at low cost.

Gun-control advocates said they’ll be back despite overwhelming defeat of Initiative 676, which sought to require safety training and trigger locks for handguns.

Opposition by the 6,000-member Washington State Council of Police Officers was crucial in defeating the initiative. The National Rifle Association, a major contributor to the anti-I-676 campaign, successfully blocked the bill earlier this year.

Dental hygienists were still reeling from voter rejection of their bid to work independent of dentists, especially since polls a few weeks ago indicated it would pass.

“We are disappointed, but we are not through with this,” said Anita Munson, a Bellingham hygienist who led the campaign.

Future action could range from another initiative to lawsuits alleging restraint of trade, she said.

And one ballot measure that voters approved could face a difficult road.

That proposal, which grants a small property-tax cut and revises some taxing procedures, could be challenged in court.

Scott Noble, the King County assessor and a leading foe of Referendum 47, said the new law will make the system unfair - especially a provision that requires phasing-in of sudden property-valuation spikes.

He said the tax burden will simply be shifted elsewhere, which could violate the state constitutional requirement that property taxes be levied equitably.