Washington
Opponents of illegal immigration are paying for their petitions to be sent to newspaper subscribers here and in Skagit County. The Respect for Law committee — an umbrella group for Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, Grassroots of Yakima Valley, and So Tired Of Paying pro-taxpayers group — paid for 6,000 pink petitions to be inserted in Monday’s Yakima Herald-Republic.
Signing an initiative petition should be a fairly private matter. Doing so simply means the signer would like to see the matter decided by voters, and does not necessarily indicate how they will vote…
Several gay-rights groups from across the country are developing databases of names and address of people who signed petitions supporting traditional marriage measures. These searchable databases would be put on the Internet open to all interested parties.
A group called KnowThyNeighboor.org has already placed names of traditional marriage supporters on he Internet in states like Oregon, Florida and Arkansas.
Voters can expect to see a ballot measure Nov. 3 by the city of Lynnwood asking them to extend the city’s Emergency Medical Services property tax levy rate through 2019.
Just hours ago Washington governor, Chris Gregoire signed into law a bill that will afford certain elderly domestic couples as well as same sex couples all of the same legal rights and benefits as any married couple in the state. The bill falls short of recognizing same sex marriage and places no obligations on the state’s churches to do so.
Residents fed up with the promotion of red light cameras and speed cameras in Longview, Washington are looking to cut off the ability of city council members to impose the technology. Local activists Mike Wallin and Dave Grumbois last week announced a drive to collect the 2786 signatures needed to give voters a chance at the ballot box to block the expected installation of automated ticketing machines in the community of 35,000.
Just 11 years ago, Washington state lawmakers barred same-sex marriage with the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act. This week, that law is on the edge of becoming irrelevant.
Today, Gov. Chris Gregoire is set to sign an “everything but marriage” bill that gives gay and lesbian couples all the state-provided benefits that married heterosexual couples have. A referendum effort to overturn the law has already ramped up.
A Shaw Island man has filed a referendum challenge today to the state’s participation in the national-popular-vote compact that would trump the traditional Electoral College pick for president.
A House appropriations committee gave its approval to a ballot measure that will raise the sales tax by about $486 million. Most of the funds generated will go to health care services with the rest going to tax credits. The bill must now go to the House floor for a vote. If passed by the legislature the measure would also have to be approved by voters.
Tim Eyman, an activist in Washington State, just sent out an email announcing his legal victory of Initiative 960, requiring the state legislature to have a 2/3 majority vote in order to increase taxes. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected challenges to I-960.
Many times initiatives which have passed at the ballot box are challenged in the court system. In this case, Mr. Eyman won the challenge and the taxpayer protection initiative will stand. He writes:
OLYMPIA, Wash. — As lawmakers chop their way out of an estimated $8 billion budget deficit, voices in the Democratic majority’s political base are crying out for higher taxes to save favorite state services.
So where’s the money? One place to look is the so-called “shopping list,” a state Revenue Department compilation of possible sources of additional money for the state.
You have a statutory Initiative & Referendum process. Citizens can pass laws they write or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature by collecting enough petition signatures to place the statute on the statewide ballot for a decision by the voters. Unfortunately, voters do not yet enjoy any process for passing a constitutional amendment by Initiative.
In 1897 State Representative L. E. Reeder of Ollalla introduced a
constitutional amendment for initiative and referendum that passed the
lower house by a 63 to 12 vote, but it failed in the state senate. Influential
in that partial victory was House Speaker Charles E. Cline of Olympia, who
became secretary of the state’s Direct Legislation League.
Another state legislator, George F. Cotterill of Seattle, had become
president of the League by 1900. By this time, however, Cline was no
longer House Speaker, and the I&R movement stagnated.
The sponsor must file a printed or typewritten copy of
the complete text of the proposed initiative or referendum with the
Secretary of State. The sponsor must include an affidavit of sponsorship
and a five-dollar ($5.00) filing fee. Each measure, when filed with the
Secretary of State, must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit that the
sponsor is a legal voter of the state. (Affidavits are available from the
state.) The sponsor of an initiative should contact and file with the Public