The Daily News
I support Initiative 517 because I am a strong believer in our initiative rights which our state has had for over a century. Our right to initiative and petition our government is the most important tool we have to push back when government does things we don’t like.
Initiative 517’s primary policy change is guaranteeing you the right to vote on qualified initiatives.
In a recent unanimous ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court rejected an effort by special interest groups to stop the people from voting on a qualified initiative. The court’s reason: “Because ballot measures are often used to express popular will and to send a message to elected representatives, pre-election review unduly infringes on free speech.”
A Columbia County Circuit Court judge declared “unconstitutional and unenforceable in its entirety” a measure voters approved last fall to refund the tax money collected for a hospital project that has been shelved. Measure 5-209 was an initiative petition to stop all work on the Columbia Health District’s hospital project, to stop levying any hospital tax and to give back all the money collected for the hospital project since 2004, when voters approved a measure to build a hospital.
In a hearing punctuated by sharp questions, U.S. Supreme Court justices Wednesday seemed skeptical that people who sign ballot petitions ”” including one that sought to overturn a gay-rights law in Washington state ”” should remain anonymous. “Running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage,” Justice Antonin Scalia said during oral arguments in a case brought by conservative groups trying to keep Referendum 71 petition signatures secret. “The First Amendment offers no protection against criticism or even nasty phone calls.”
The candidates aren’t the whole story in the May 8 elections. Voters in four communities also will decide the fate of ballot referendums. In Galveston the school district is pushing to replace the aging Kermit Courville Stadium with a multiuse sports venue that would be home of the Ball High football team and other sports. The proposal would allow the district to spent up to $35 million to build the complex on property it owns on 83rd Street.
Anti-tax groups are crying foul over a change being pushed by the majority Democrats over what a “yes” or “no” vote means when actions of the Legislature are referred to a vote of the people. The issue is timely, because it’s likely opponents will be able to collect enough signatures to force a statewide vote on the Legislature’s $733 million tax hike on corporations and upper-income earners.