Mixed success for state initiatives
| Activists hoping to get a proposed law on the November ballot will be kicking their efforts into high gear this month as the July 7 deadline for submitting signatures approaches. They’ll need a quarter-million valid signatures, which is twice the number Referendum 65 tried – and failed – to reach earlier this week. Here’s a look at the various initiative proposals that supporters say are still actively gathering signatures. | |||||
| Topic/Initiative | What it does | Who’s behind it | How to reach them | How they’re doing | Chances of making the ballot |
Taxes | |||||
I-917 Save Our $30 Tabs | Re-enforces the $30 fee for motor vehicle license tabs, which voters approved in 1999 and 2002. | Tim Eyman/ Permanent Offense | Phone: (425) 493-8707 Mail: P.O. Box 18250; Spokane, WA 99228 Web site: www.saveour30tabs.com | Eyman, who has been active in initiative campaigns for nearly a decade, does not reveal numbers or signatures. | Less than even. A $30 fee for license tabs seems to be part of the political zeitgeist of Washington, and Eyman has a large network of signers from past efforts, plus paid signature gatherers. But a separate referendum effort failed earlier this week despite significant help from church groups; I-917 needs twice as many signatures as the referendum. |
| I-920 Abolish Washington State Death Tax | Repeals a current state tax on all estates over $2 million, which goes into an education trust fund. The tax affects fewer than 300 estates per year, the state estimates. | Sponsor Dennis Falk has the support of National Federation of Independent Businesses and other business groups. | Phone: (253) 565-1776 Mail: P.O. Box 0557; Fox Island, WA 98333-0557 Web site: www.noestatetax.org | Falk would not estimate numbers but said “we’re gathering signatures like crazy. We do plan to be on the ballot.” | Extremely good. Along with their strong business support, they have inserted petitions in newspapers around the state and plan to have volunteers at events throughout June. |
Sexual predators | |||||
| I-921 Dylan’s Law | Requires life sentences for certain sex offenders. Name comes from Dylan Groene, a North Idaho boy who was the victim of sexual assault and eventually murdered last summer. | Sponsor Tracy Oetting has the support of Steve Groene, Dylan’s father, and other victims’ rights groups. | Phone: (877) 745-9592 Mail: P.O. Box 192; Skykomish, WA 98288 Web site: www.citizens foraonestrikelaw.org/ | Oetting says the effort is going “very, very well,” with more than 100,000 signatures back in late May. | Possible, if they are successful with the big push planned for June. But the confusion over this and the Jessica’s Law initiative, and other efforts to increase punishment for sex offenders could create problems. |
| I-936 Jessica’s Law Plus | Requires 25-year sentences for certain sex offenders. | Sponsor Jim Hines is president of Preserve Childhood Innocence. | Phone: (253) 858-4928 Mail: 5114 Pt. Fosdick Dr. NW #E; Gig Harbor, WA 98335-1733 Web site: www.preserve childhoodinnocence.com/ | Hines says there are many petitions out, but getting them back in a volunteer effort is a challenge. “I don’t know that we’re going to make a quarter-million (signatures). But we’re not giving up. Weirder things have happened.” | Slight. |
| I-938 and I-939 Sex offender monitoring and registration | A pair of initiatives by the same sponsor. The first requires electronic monitoring with GPS for level 3 sex offenders or those who list themselves as transient. The second sets mandatory prison terms for any sex offender who fails to register with law enforcement. | Anne Hogenson, of Puyallup | Phone: (253) 845-3043 Mail: 410 5th Ave SW; Puyallup, WA 98371 Web site: None. Receives e-mail at citizens4 afercommunities@comcast.net | Hogenson has hopes that an endorsement of both initiatives by the state PTA will provide a big push, but estimated she had less than 1,000 petitions in hand as of last week. | Not good, although she may wind up with an impressive effort for a self-described wife and mom who got upset at the number of registered sex offenders living nearby. |
Government | |||||
| I-922 Prohibiting dangerous initiatives | Requires an initiative sponsor to research a proposal and provide the information on it to state officials, who could exclude the initiative from signature collection or the ballot. Also would ban anyone violating the law from sponsoring another initiative. | Sponsor is Gretchen Sand of Kennewick, has received a donation from ARC. | Phone: (509) 586-1408 Mail: 220 E. 15th Ave.; Kennewick, WA 99337 Web site: None. Sponsor gets e-mail at gretchen_sand@hotmail.com | Sand said the signature campaign is still active and has petitions around the state, but can’t estimate how many have been collected. She says she’s printed up only about 100 petitions at this point but has plans to increase signatures in the coming weeks, which she won’t reveal. | Highly unlikely. |
| I-919 Easy Citizen Involvement | Sets up a network of “citizen counselors” to discuss “topics of statewide importance” at meetings around the state, then share those opinions with the state auditor. | Sponsor Richard Spady said he’s received the endorsement of the Washington Association of Churches. | Phone: (206) 634-0420 Mail: 4426 2nd Avenue NE; Seattle, WA 98105-6191 Web site: www.easycitizen involvement.com/ | Spady, who donated $25,000 to the campaign’s startup, hoped the endorsement of churches association would provide a big boost of signatures, but that does not appear to be the case. He says it will probably not make it. | Spady is correct; it’s highly unlikely. |
| I-926 Freedom of Association Initiative | Prohibits union contracts for state employees and employees of state universities, colleges or public schools. | John Smith, of Naselle, Wash. | Phone: (360) 484-7738 Mail: 17 Torppa Rd.; Naselle, WA 98638 Web site: None. | Smith refused comment when asked if they were actively gathering signatures and what their prospects were. | Highly unlikely. |
| I-929 No Front Plates in Washington | Requires motor vehicles to have only one license plate, on the back. | Amber Garrett, of Everett, is the sponsor, and some car enthusiast groups like the idea for aesthetic reasons. | Phone: (206) 706-8338 Mail: 3320 Lombard Ave.; Everett, WA 98201 Web site: www.nofrontplate.org | Garrett couldn’t be reached for comment, but Levy Longwill, who is listed on the Web site as the Spokane contact, said the signature effort started hard but has dropped off significantly. | Nonexistent. Group ran out of gas, and average voter might not care whether they have one plate or two. |
| I-932 County Choice Inititiative | Allows a part of a county to split off and set up its own county, or two counties to consolidate. | Sponsor Steven Pyeatt, of Issaquah, leads a group of eastern King County residents who’d like to split off. | Phone: (206) 312-0394 Mail: P.O. Box 2623, Issaquah, WA 98027 Web site: www.countychoice.org | Pyeatt could not be reached for comment. Group had petitions at the state GOP convention but has no listed representative in Eastern Washington. They seem confused about process because Web site lists a plan for an initiative to the Legislature; this is an initiative to the people. | Highly unlikely. |
| I-933 Property Fairness Initiative | Requires state or local governments to pay landowners if a regulation restricts or damages the use of their property. | The Property Rights Coalition has received money from state and local farm bureaus, plus $100,000 from Americans for Limited Government, a conservative group based in Illinois. | Phone: (360) 528-2909 Mail : P.O. Box 2446; Olympia, WA 98507 Web site: www.propertyfairness.com/ | Sponsor Dan Wood said they are “within striking distance” but will need their volunteers to keep pushing their petitions, and mail them in. | Better than even. They’ve raised more than $275,000 and spent more than half of that on paid signature gatherers. But they will be coming down to the wire. |
Health care | |||||
| I-923 Universal Health Care | Sets up a free health care system in Washington, with no copayments for people making less than $60,000 per year, and a sliding scale of copayments for those who make more. Paying for the system would be left to the Legislature. | A nonpartisan group calling itself Citizens for Universal Health Care, started by Kris Craig, an Evergreen State College student who recently went through heart surgery without health insurance. | Phone: (360) 888-9895 Mail: 4034 Rock Maple Ln #102; Olympia, WA 98502 Web site: www.citizensforhealthcare.com | Craig said they’re still collecting signatures but only as a way of recruiting supporters for an initiative campaign in 2007. | Highly unlikely. |
Finances | |||||
| I-925 Peoples, Parties in Interest Emergency Act | Provides notice to employees when a business is seeking bankruptcy. | Dale DeWalt, who founded Votequest.org to push the idea. | Phone: (425) 483-2511 Mail: P.O. Box 2257; Woodinville, WA 98072 Web site: www.votequest.org | DeWalt, a devout Christian who describes himself as “a fish out of water on politics” says signature gathering is “up and running,” but had hoped for support from the state Council of Churches. | Nonexistent. DeWalt is already talking about an initiative to the Legislature or to the people next year. |
Energy | |||||
| I-937 Clean Energy Initiative | Gives utility companies targets for generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020. | Washingtonians for Energy Security, which has raised nearly $400,000 in cash and $50,000 in in-kind contributions, with big contributions from alternative energy companies, the Union of Concerned Scientists and some environmental groups. | Phone: (206) 283-3335 Mail: 150 Nickerson St. #109; Seattle, WA 98109 Web sites: www.energysecuritynow.org/; www.yeson037.org | Campaign director Bill LaBorde said the group had about 185,000 signatures at the end of May, with active signature groups in 24 of the state’s 39 counties, and had a significant presence at the state Democratic Convention on June 3. | Good. They have both volunteer and paid signature gatherers, plus support from some unions and environmental groups and several high-profile politicians. |
Immigration | |||||
I-946 Protect Washington Now | Requires government workers to check identity and immigration status of anyone seeking welfare benefits, and makes failure to report immigration violations a misdemeanor. | Sponsor Robert Baker is chairman of Protect Washington Now. | Phone: (206) 275-2684 Mail: P.O. Box 911; Mercer Island, WA 98040 Web site: www. protectwashingtonnow.org | Baker said he had about 40,000 signatures by the end of May, and as many as 40,000 petitions out. He attended a protest of Mexican President Vicente Fox’s visit to Yakima and said the Fox trip to Washington state, along with the Senate debate over immigration, were a huge boon to the petition effort. | Unclear. The immigration issue is hot. Baker wants to distribute petitions in newspapers around the state, but this week the group was seeking $25,000 to help pay for that effort. The group listed less than $3,000 in contributions through mid-May; backers would need a huge influx of cash in a short period of time. |
By Jim Camden, staff writer | |||||