Washington
Growth, crime and punishment have caught up with Pasco and Franklin County, say officials who want voters to approve a 0.3 percent sales tax increase on the Nov. 3 ballot. Proposition 1 would bring in about $3 million a year, most of which would go to pay off 30-year bonds to construct a new police station and more than double the size of the county jail. The measure needs a simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote to pass.
The fight continues in Washington state over I-1033 and its placement on the November 2009 ballot. The measure would limit state, county and city revenue increases, thereby saving the state’s residents from more tax increases.
In a 6-to-1 vote, the city council chose Sept. 15 to oppose Proposition One ”” the ballot measure that would allow Federal Way residents to elect their own mayor. The council is allowed, by law, to discuss upcoming ballot measures using city property only during a process in which it takes a formal position toward the measure. During a public hearing, city attorney Pat Richardson gave a presentation on the changes an elected mayor would bring. Representatives from each side of the issue were granted 10 minutes to explain their position. Twenty-one citizens spoke publicly.
Several states –including Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming – ban or restrict paying people who collect signatures on a ballot initiative, referendum or recall petition based on the number of signatures they collect. Payment-per-signature allows citizens greater certainty in judging the cost of a petition effort. Moreover, in states that have passed such bans, the cost of successfully completing a petition drive has risen considerably, sometimes more than doubling.
Last week we blogged about the dustup in Washington over whether or not the names and information of petition signers should be released to the public in the name of transparency. The court ruled last week that the names did not have to be released. This was a victory for the initiative & referendum process.
Secretary of State Sam Reed on Monday formally appealed a federal judge’s ruling that blocks the release of names of people who signed Referendum 71. In its filing (Emergency_Motion_(09-14-09).pdf”>PDF) to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the state argues that Judge Benjamin Settle’s ruling Thursday that people who sign referendums or initiatives have the First Amendment right to engage in anonymous political speech is fundamentally flawed. R-71, which will be on the November ballot, seeks to overturn the state’s new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partner law.
Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights we have in this country. Signing a petition for a ballot initiative you support is one of the many ways you can express your freedom of speech. 
A federal judge in Tacoma may decide Thursday whether the public can see the names of people who signed Referendum 71. That’s the measure on the November ballot that could roll back expanded rights for domestic partners. Gay rights activists plan to post the names online, encouraging supporters of same-sex unions to discuss the issue with anyone they may recognize.
Tacoma City Council is putting a tax increase before voters next year, possibly in April, to pay for street repairs. Council members discussed creating a task force to study the issue during their Sept. 1 Committee of the Whole meeting. Mayor Bill Baarsma said many residents are aware there is a problem with the streets. Tacomans are willing to increase taxes to improve the city if they are presented with enough information pointing out a need, according to Baarsma.
A judge on Tuesday refused to block a proposed ballot initiative on expanded domestic partnership benefits for gay couples in Washington state. An appeal was considered likely, however, with just a few days remaining before officials need to begin printing materials for the Nov. 3 general election. The case involves Referendum 71, which would put the Legislature’s latest expansion of domestic partnership rights for gay couples on the November ballot.
Challengers who hope to block a statewide vote on the state’s new “everything but marriage” law have been given a court date in Thurston County Superior Court for the day after Labor Day. The hearing of the lawsuit brought by Washington Families Standing Together will be before Judge Tom McPhee at 1:30 p.m. in the county courthouse in Olympia. A King County judge dismissed a challenge brought by Washington Families earlier this week, seeming to concur with their views but saying she was unable to block the Nov.
Voters won’t decide the fate of the historic Collins Building after all, following an about-face by Port of Everett commissioners. The three commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday morning to pull a $15 million tax levy from the November ballot, saying public perception seemed to go against the measure. If approved, the levy would have used property tax revenue to restore and renovate the 75-year-old former casket factory that has long been a thorn in the port’s side.
A federal judge in Tacoma says he will decide by Sept. 10 whether the names of those who signed Referendum 71 will be made public. The judge heard 90 minutes of arguments in the case Thursday afternoon. The referendum challenges Washington state’s so-called “Everything but Marriage” law giving equal rights to gay and lesbian couples. Attorney Sarah Troupis argued that releasing the names would subject those who signed signed the petitions to harassment and worse. She said it would have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected free speech and free association.
The secretary of state’s office says the signature checking on Referendum 71 should be completed by Tuesday. Then election officials will announce whether there are enough valid signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. R-71 would ask voters to overturn the “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law passed by the Legislature.
For a month, rotating teams of gay-rights supporters and opponents have crowded into a basement room, watching as state workers check every signature on a referendum that seeks to overturn the latest expansion of gay rights. They have not become friends. In fact, they’ve had complaints. Religious conservatives with Protect Marriage Washington, the group trying to put Referendum 71 on the ballot, speak of a chumminess between elections workers and gay-rights supporters that excludes them.