Washington
This city’s debate over red-light cameras just got hotter. A group calling itself Mukilteo Citizens for Simple Government filed a lawsuit late Monday attempting to keep the city’s red-light camera initiative off the Nov. 2 ballot. The six-page complaint attempts to block an initiative that calls for a public vote and City Council approval before red-light or speed-zone cameras can be installed in the city. The initiative also would limit fines to the least expensive traffic ticket, which is $20.
Voters will get to decide the fate of Tim Eyman’s latest tax initiative in November. State officials say I-1053 has qualified for the fall ballot. It would reinstate a supermajority requirement for state legislators to raise taxes.
The second initiative in city history is bound for the November ballot after the Mukilteo City Council voted 5-1 to let voters decide whether Mukilteo should have traffic cameras capture the license plates of drivers who either run red lights or exceed 20 mph in school zones. “I agree very strongly with the initiative process,” Councilmember Kevin Stoltz said. “Really, when we have this many people sign the petition, it’s the responsibility of the council to put it on the ballot.”
Secretary of State Sam Reed has certified one of two liquor privatization measures to the ballot.Initiative 1100 was certified Monday. Supporters turned in more than 390,000 voter signatures, well above the 241,000 required. A random check of signatures was completed Friday.
A campaign to impose an income tax on the state’s wealthiest residents is likely headed to the November ballot, as supporters submitted boxes of petitions Thursday morning. Bill Gates Sr., father of the Microsoft Corp. co-founder, and about two dozen other supporters of Initiative 1098 turned in 350,000 petition signatures Thursday in Olympia, many more than the roughly 241,000 required to get on the ballot. The campaign says it will turn in an additional 20,000 Friday.
A voter initiative seeking to end the state monopoly on workers’ compensation could be headed for the November ballot. Sponsors of Initiative 1082 have turned in their signed petitions with state elections officials. The campaign says it has about 340,000 signatures. That’s well above the roughly 241,000 required get on the ballot. I-1082 is sponsored by the Building Industry Association of Washington, a construction trade group that’s very active in conservative politics.
Voter initiatives to outlaw photo enforcement gained a second wind this week in Texas and Washington state as enough signatures have been gathered to force the issue onto the November ballot. In both Baytown, Texas and Mukilteo, Washington, organizers required a renewed effort to meet all of the legal requirements. Later today in the Lone Star State, SaferBaytown.com leader Byron Schirmbeck will turn in a second batch of signatures to the city clerk’s office.
Last week the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on favor of petition signature disclosure, but an article at Crosscut.com says there is certainly more to come in this case:
The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken, kind of. In what has been regarded, prematurely, as a victory for opponents of last year’s Referendum 71 drive, the court said on June 24 that, in general, the state doesn’t stifle free speech when it makes public the names of people who sign referendum petitions. But in the specific case of people who signed petitions for R-71, who knows? The court sent the case back to the U.S.
A campaign seeking to end the state’s monopoly on hard liquor is one step closer to the ballot. Initiative 1100 supporters say they turned in petitions with more than 390,000 signatures on Wednesday. The state requires about 241,000 valid voter signatures to make it on the November ballot. I-1100 would allow stores that sell beer and wine to also sell hard liquor. It also would eliminate state price controls and allow volume discounts. In addition, retailers could buy liquor directly from manufacturers. Costco has been a major supporter.
Sponsors of several statewide initiatives are turning in signatures this week, moving them a step closer to having their ideas go before voters this fall. Petitions for a measure to end the state’s hold on hard liquor distribution and sales are in hand. State election officials are preparing to receive initiatives that would repeal new taxes on candy and soda pop, revamp the workers’ compensation system and add an income tax to Washington’s wealthiest.
Supporters of an initiative to put an income tax on people who make more than $200,000 may have the signatures to make the Nov. 2 ballot. The Initiative 1098 folks have informed the Secretary of State’s office they’ll be bringing in an estimated 325,000 signatures on July 1, the day before the deadline for turning in petitions.
The names and addresses of those who sign ballot-measure petitions, such as Referendum 71, can be made public, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in a decision that upholds the constitutionality of Washington state’s Public Records Act. But that doesn’t mean copies of the Ref. 71 petitions will be immediately available. A lower court will now take up the question of whether those petitions can be disclosed at all, since those who want to keep petition signers’ names secret plan to pursue an exemption from disclosure in their case only.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued their decision on the Doe v Reed case out of Washington State earlier today. The Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Reed, which means it ruled in favor of public disclosure of petition signers. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion, with Justice Thomas writing the lone dissent. To read a pdf of the decision click here.
A stack of signatures is expected to be delivered to the state Capitol on Wednesday for an initiative that would end the state’s monopoly on liquor sales. Right now, Washington state residents have to buy hard liquor at one of the 316 state-run liquor stores. Initiative 1100 would change that and allow residents to purchase liquor at the grocery store and would force the state to close its 316 liquor stores.