Washington
It could be do or die week for opponents of Washington’s latest gay domestic partnership law. By the end of the month, the Secretary of State’s office hopes to finish verifying signatures for Referendum 71. But the attorney for backers of the referendum says if the measure fails to qualify for the ballot legal action is likely. KPLU’s Austin Jenkins reports.
Franklin County residents who oppose a plan to levy an additional 0.3 percent county sales and use tax for public safety services and facility improvements are being sought to serve on a committee to prepare a ballot statement. Franklin County commissioners will appoint the committee, which will prepare a statement for the November election when the measure will go before voters.
On Independence Day, before a throng of people outside the Snohomish County Courthouse, Elizabeth Scott railed against government leaders for spending too much and intruding too deeply into lives of Americans. As she wrapped up that speech at the Tea Party Patriots Rally, she declared her candidacy for state office and ignited the crowd to cheers with a fist pump and a chant of “Life, Liberty, Property.” On Monday night, Scott will kick off her campaign as a Republican challenger to Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, in the 2010 race for the 21st District.
Voters in Spokane County Fire Protection District No. 4 may have been confused by a ballot title when they rejected a levy measure in the sprawling north county district on Tuesday, the district chief said today. The levy was trailing in Tuesday evening’s count with 42 percent of voters saying yes to the measure. A 50 percent majority was needed to allow the district to increase the regular state property tax levy to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation – the state limit for regular levies.
Seattle voters have rejected a 20-cent fee for every paper or plastic bag they get from supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores. The city’s incumbent mayor didn’t fare much better than the fee, trailing two challengers in a bid for a third term. With about half the ballots counted in the all-mail vote, the bag fee was failing 58 percent to 42 percent in Tuesday’s primary. City leaders had passed an ordinance to charge the bag fee, which was to start in January. But the plastics industry bankrolled a referendum to put the question to voters in Tuesday’s election.
Opponents of Washington’s latest gay domestic partnership law say they’re under attack and feeling threatened. As a result, they want Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission – or PDC - to seal the names of their financial backers. Stephen Pidgeon is an attorney for Protect Marriage Washington. It’s one of the groups behind Referendum 71, a ballot measure to repeal the state’s newest domestic partnership law.
The Public Disclosure Commission will hear arguments from backers of Referendum 71 on Aug. 27 as to why donors to the effort to repeal Washington state’s gay partnership law should remain secret. Protect Marriage Washington last week asked the PDC to hold an emergency hearing because it said their had been violent threats against churches, property and supporters of the campaign. The group said such threats had been forwarded to the FBI.
The fate of the Referendum 71 challenge to domestic partner rights in Washington is in the hands of signature checkers at the Office of the Secretary of State. And it appears sponsors of the measure, who want to send new domestic partnership rights to the voters for a second look, say they don’t think they are getting a fair shake. I don’t know the details, but Gary Randall, spokesman for the Protect Marriage Washington campaign that collected signatures for R-71, called me a day late last week for my story about the signature-checking process.
A round of applause erupted Monday night from residents both inside and outside Mukilteo’s current footprint when the City Council voted unanimously to put annexation on the Nov. 3 ballot. Not only will those in the potential annexation area get to vote whether or not they’d like to become part of Mukilteo, but current city residents are finally getting a voice in the matter, albeit in the form of an advisory vote.
Sponsors of Referendum 71 say they are headed to court for a hearing Wednesday afternoon over their request to block release of the names of voters who signed their measure. R-71 puts on the ballot the state law, Senate Bill 5688, that expands the civil rights protections for registered domestic partners, including same-sex couples in Washington.
Local volunteers gathered thousands of signatures toward the 138,000 turned in Saturday in Olympia to try to put Washington’s “everything but marriage” domestic partnership bill to a public vote. Luanne Van Werven of Lynden, chair of the Whatcom County Republican Party, said she and Cindy Honcoop, leader of the Washington Eagle Forum, personally turned in nearly 2,000 county signatures on July 22.
Spokane City Council members Monday spoke loudly against a proposed initiative that would create nine rights the city would be required to enforce. But their dislike of Envision Spokane’s “Community Bill of Rights” didn’t stop them from letting residents make the call. The council voted unanimously to put the measure on the November ballot, a move widely expected since county officials verified supporters gathered enough signatures for a vote.
Backers of Referendum 71 brought in what they estimate are 138,000 voter signatures on Saturday, hoping to win a November ballot spot for a public vote on the state’s new “everything but marriage” domestic partnership bill. State election crews opened the Secretary of State’s executive offices on Saturday, the deadline for submitting referendum petitions. Several dozen backers and foes attended the turn-in at 3 p.m., which was low-key and without speeches on either side.
King County, which includes Seattle, may have to cut back on a few of its services after the county council refused to put a 1/10 of a cent tax increase on the ballot. Council members indicated that due to the struggling economy they could not ask the taxpayer to give up more of their money.