Initiative campaigns still in the red

OLYMPIA – A successful campaign against medical malpractice changes and a losing bid to repeal a gasoline tax increase are still in debt from this year’s election, state records show.

The largest debt was piled up by the No on Initiative 330 campaign, which lobbied against a malpractice measure favored by doctors, hospitals and insurers.

Voters heeded that message, handily defeating I-330. But they also rejected the competing malpractice measure, I-336.

The No on I-330 campaign, financed mostly by trial lawyers, still owes more than $900,000, recent Public Disclosure Commission reports show.

Sharon Wallace, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, said the debt figure was incorrect because of a filing mistake.

But the campaign does owe a large share of a $750,000 loan from the trial lawyers group, she said.

The campaign can continue raising money to retire the debt, but officials have not decided what they’ll do next, Wallace told The Olympian newspaper in Wednesday’s editions.

“It’s not a decision that will be made soon. It’ll be made after the first of the year,” she said.

The combined campaigns for and against I-330 set a record for initiative spending in the state.

Supporters spent nearly $8.5 million to promote I-330, which would have set caps on jury awards in malpractice cases. Most of that money was contributed by doctors, hospitals, insurers and drug companies.

The trial lawyers’ opposition campaign spent more than $6.1 million.

Disclosure reports filed this week showed Initiative 912, the unsuccessful effort to repeal a state gas tax increase of 9.5 cents per gallon, is the only other campaign still in arrears.

Supporters collected $631,885, but ended up with a debt of about $23,000.

Their opponents, called Keep Washington Rolling, raised more than $3 million, mostly from business leaders and organized labor.

The I-912 campaign plans to solicit donations from its supporters and retire the debt soon, spokesman Brett Bader said.

Financial reports also showed initiative king Tim Eyman, who sponsored I-900’s winning plan for expanded government audits, with $17,400 left in the campaign treasury after spending $625,875.