Seattle Times
Two recent polls indicate Tim Eyman’s initiative on initiatives, I-517, is losing ground.
A poll by Moore Information, out of Portland, shows more voters opposing the measure than supporting it. And a Stuart Elway poll, out of Seattle, found a shrinking majority of voters supporting I-517.
Stonewall Jackson Bird had never supported a Tim Eyman initiative. But earlier this month the Bellingham progressive rode to Olympia to speak on behalf of Eyman’s newest effort, Initiative 517, the “initiative on initiatives.”
“Stoney” Bird had been a corporate attorney in London. He became disenchanted, moved to the Skagit Valley, and later to Bellingham. He says that for a long time he “wanted to find a way to use my corporate legal experience for something important.”
Last year he found his cause: stopping coal trains.
Read more at the Seattle Times
Initiative activist Tim Eyman’s latest offering ”” if it makes it onto November’s ballot and is approved by voters ”” could bring the tolling plan for the Columbia River Crossing to a screeching halt. Eyman announced recently he’s collecting signatures on Initiative 1125, which would change Washington law to ban peak-hour tolling, a key part of the tolling plan for the Vancouver-Portland crossing. It also would prohibit tolls from being used to pay for anything but highway purposes and require the Legislature to set toll amounts.
The U.S. Supreme Court has set April 28 as the date it will hear arguments over whether those who sign petitions for ballot measures can keep their identities confidential — a case stemming from the Referendum 71 battle last year. The High Court had decided in January to hear the case — referred to as Doe v. Reed. At issue is whether signing a ballot petition is a form of political speech protected by the First Amendment. And if so, whether a portion of the state’s Public Records Act violates the signers’ First Amendment rights.
Undaunted by a string of past failures, a group of Washington residents will try for the fifth straight year to collect signatures for an initiative that would make Washington less attractive to illegal immigrants. The measure, I-1056, would require all employers ”” public and private ”” to use a free federal employment-verification system, E-Verify, to weed out those ineligible to work legally in the U.S.