Initiatives tackle tough topics

OLYMPIA – Washington’s long love affair with “direct democracy” goes back nearly a century, with average voters using homemade legislation to produce bedrock laws that literally tackle everything from death to taxes.

Along the way, initiatives have grappled with issues that make Olympia flinch – income tax, gay rights, abortion, medical marijuana, busing, affirmative action and redistricting.

Initiatives gave us daylight-saving time, imposed Prohibition, ended Sunday blue laws and, yes, even authorized yellow margarine – a controversial idea in a dairy-producing state.

Crime-busting? Check. Thirty dollar car tabs and a new Seahawks Stadium? Check. Tax limits, spending limits, campaign limits and term limits? Been there, limited all that.

A dazzling array of ballot measures has been used by forces from across the political spectrum. They’ve been hawked by both the well-heeled special interests and mom-and-pop front-porch operations – although it’s getting harder to get on the ballot without an organization and several hundred thousand dollars to pay signature-gathering mercenaries.

And long before Tim Eyman, voters were second-guessing and handcuffing the Legislature with spending mandates, revenue reductions and overturning Olympia’s handiwork.

The initiative and referendum were enshrined in the state constitution in 1912. By submitting a constitutional amendment to the voters, lawmakers were in essence agreeing to share power with the electorate.

“At the time, there was real cynicism about concentrations of power and a feeling that voters needed a check and balance,” says Todd Donovan, a Western Washington University professor who has written books and papers on the initiative and generally defends the much-maligned but virtually untouchable process.

“People believed that if the Legislature became hopelessly corrupt, they needed a way to do a complete end-run. The political parties and the committee system have always been able to kill bills that have widespread popular support.”

With few exceptions, citizen sponsors can do just about anything the Legislature can. With enough signatures, an initiative can be sent to the statewide ballot or routed through the Legislature first. With a referendum, citizens or the Legislature can secure a public vote on just about any bill that passes in Olympia.

The courts can – and sometimes do – overturn initiatives. And lawmakers can amend or throw out a voter-approved measure. Recent examples: Two years ago, facing a $2.5 billion budget gap, Gov. Gary Locke and the Legislature froze two big education spending initiatives and tinkered with two more.

Critics say initiatives are random and occasionally contradictory – sometimes cutting taxes the same year they mandate more spending.

But defenders say it’s hard to argue that the voters shouldn’t be trusted with the decision.

“It’s a collective decision, not the will of the sponsor or even the people who sign the petitions,” Eyman says. “Whether or not it passes is up to the people. If all you can say is ‘the people are stupid,’ then it’s all over.”

Initiatives are subjected to more scrutiny and wider debate than anything in Olympia, he insists.

And so the debate continues. One thing beyond debate, though, is that the process is popular – and sacrosanct. When state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, said a few years ago that initiatives have made the state ungovernable and proposed abolishing the system, colleagues looked at him like he’d lost his marbles.

Since 1914, nearly 1,300 ballot measures have been filed. This includes 859 initiatives to the people, 308 initiatives to the Legislature and 104 referendums.

The signature requirement is a tall order, though, and only a small share make the ballot – 119 of the initiatives to the people, for instance. If a measure makes the ballot, it’s about even money whether it will pass.

Constitutional amendments can’t be initiated by the people, but there is virtually no limit to subject matter for initiatives.

In the 90-year history, voters:

“ Approved a state income tax once – in 1932, later thrown out by the courts – and rejected it at least three times since then.

“ Exempted groceries from the state sales tax in 1977.

“ Rolled back car tabs to $30 a year in 1999.

“ Limited property taxes on several occasions and capped growth in state government spending twice.

“ Imposed the death penalty in 1975 and adopted the country’s first voter-approved Three Strikes, You’re Out law in 1993.

“ Jumped aboard the term-limits bandwagon in 1992, only to have the plan thrown out in the courts.

“ Adopted public disclosure laws, lobbyist registration and reporting, and campaign finance reform.

“ Approved labor-backed plans to authorize automatic annual increases in the minimum wage and unionization of home-care workers, and backed business proposals to repeal ergonomics regulations and to fix the roads without new taxes.

“ Adopted abortion rights and public funding for poor women. Gay rights and physician-assisted suicide were rejected, but medical use of marijuana for some patients and expansion of subsidized health care was approved.

“ Approved some environmental laws, such as opposition to a high-level nuclear waste repository at Hanford, but twice defeated a bottle deposit bill.