Tag Archives: November 2 2010 General Election

Do You Remember? Please mail back your ballot!

Posted on October 31st, 2010 | Comments Off on Do You Remember? Please mail back your ballot!

Do you remember? Please mail back your ballot if you haven’t yet.

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Washington State Anti-Tax Initiatives and the Shrinking of Public Services

Posted on October 28th, 2010 | Comments Off on Washington State Anti-Tax Initiatives and the Shrinking of Public Services

Conservative anti-tax proponents pushing initiatives like I-1053 and I-1107 on this year’s Washington State ballot are pushing lies about our ever-expanding state government.  The fact is that the percentage of our state’s resources (as measured by collective personal income) devoted to public services like education and health care for seniors and children continues to decline.

The following is taken from a post by the Washington State Budget and Policy Center and deserves wide distribution to help educate the public:

Despite the claims being made by Initiative 1107 and Initiative 1053’s proponents, Washington actually devotes a smaller share of its resources to public services like education and health care than a decade ago. And given the magnitude of the recession, the state will likely continue to devote a smaller share of its economy to public services than before.

Typically, economists measure changes in government spending over time by analyzing how much of a state’s total personal income – or the sum of its collective resources – goes for public services. But as the graph below shows:

•The share of our resources that are spent on education, health care, public safety, and other important services has actually dropped since the late-1990s;

•As of June 2010, state spending in the current 2009-11 biennium is projected to fall to about 5.4 percent of total personal income in Washington – lower than the 6 percent share that went for public priorities the late-1990s.

This percentage will decline even further due to the recently-announced, 6.3 percent across-the-board budget cuts.

In other words, a smaller share of our collective resources is going to public priorities like educating our kids or providing health care than before.

And it is declining.

The post adds a link to get more detailed information. See the full report by Andy Nichols entitled Budget Claims Lack Context, Belie Deep and Painful Cuts. 

I urge Washington Voters to vote No on Tim Eyman and Oil Industry giant BP’s Initiative 1053 – which would give 17 out of 147 Washington State Legislators veto power over our state budget. Vote No on I-1107 which would repeal a short term tax on bottled water and soda. The American Beverage Industry is bankrolling this effort.
For more information on the initiatives on the November ballot go to http://www.protectwashington.org/ and http://www.stopgreed.org/.

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Posted in Economy, Elections, Initiatives

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Broad Coalition of Groups Oppose Eyman and BP’s Initiative 1053

Posted on September 16th, 2010 | Comments Off on Broad Coalition of Groups Oppose Eyman and BP’s Initiative 1053

A broad coalition of Washington State organizations has come out against Initiative 1053 which is on the November 2, 2010 ballot. Initiative 1053 was put on the ballot by Tim Eyman, BP, and other oil and banking interests in an attempt to give a minority of 1/3 of the Legislators in either house of the Legislature veto power over the state budget and raising revenue or repealing special interest tax breaks.

I-1053 is unconstitutional because it is trying to amend the Washington State Constitution. You can not amend the Constitution by an initiative in Washington State. That requires a constitutional amendment.I-1053 is trying to amend the language in Article II, Section 22 of the State Constitution which says the Legislature shall act by a majority vote in passing legislation. By I-1053 trying to require a 2/3 vote to pass revenue bills it is basically saying that only 1/3 of the Legislators in either House can overrule the vote of the majority.That is why it is unconstitutional.

Major statewide groups opposing I-1053 include:

League of Women Voters of Washington
Washington Association of Churches
Washington State Labor Council
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington Education Association
Washington State Democrats
Sierra Club – Cascade Chapter

Here is the complete list opposing I-1053 done alphabetically. More groups are joining every day.

•Adams County Democrats

•AFT Seattle Community Colleges, Local 1789

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1015

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1384

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1765

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 843

•Amalgamated Transit Union Local 883

•American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

•American Federation of Teachers – AFT Washington

•Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

•Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of King County

•Center for Social Justice

•Central WA Progress

•Childhaven

•Children’s Alliance

•Church Council of Greater Seattle

•Community Workers of America (CWA) State Council

•Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Labor Council

•Eastern Washington Voters

•Economic Opportunity Institute

•Entre Hermanos

•Equal Rights Washington

•Friends Committee on Washington State Public Policy (Quakers)

•Fuse Washington

•Futurewise

•Greater Seattle Business Association

•Health Point

•IBEW Local 46

•IBEW Local 77

•IFPTE Local 17

•Inland Empire Residential Resources

•Inter*Im Community Development Association

•International Community Health Services

•Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Seattle Chapter

•King County Democrats

•King County Labor Council

•Kitsap County Labor Council

•Laborers Local 1239

•League of Women Voters of Washington

•Lewiston-Clarkston County Labor Council

•Lincoln County Democrats

•Latino PAC of Washington

•Lutheran Community Services Northwest

•Lutheran Public Policy Office

•Minority Executive Directors Coalition

•NARAL Pro-Choice Washington

•National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) Seattle Chapter

•National Council of Jewish Women – Seattle Section

•New Futures

•North Central Washington CLC

•North Urban Human Services Alliance

•Northwest Progressive Institute

•Northwest Washington CLC

•Olympic Labor Council

•One America

•One America Votes

•Operators (IUOE) 302

•Organizing for Seattle

•Pacific County Democrats

•Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane

•Pierce County Democrats

•Pierce County Labor Council

•Planned Parenthood Pub Pol Network of WA

•Public School Employees of WA/SEIU Local 1948

•Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans

•Raising Our APA Representation

•Retired Public Employees of Washington

•Sahngnoksoo

•SEA MAR Community Health Clinic
•Seattle Human Services Coalition

•SEIU 925

•SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW

•SEIU Healthcare 775 NW

•SEIU WA State Council

•Sheet Metal Workers Local 66
•Sierra Club Cascade Chapter
•Sightline

•Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee

•Snohomish County Labor Council

•Snohomish County Young Democrats

•Southeast Washington CLC

•Southwest Washington Central Labor Council (Formerly Clark, Skamania, and West Klickitat CLC)

•Spokane Regional Labor Council

•Statewide Poverty Action Network

•Teamsters Joint Council 28

•Thurston, Lewis, Mason Counties Labor Council

•Twin Harbors Labor Council

•UA Local 32 Plumbers and Pipefitters

•UFCW 141

•UFCW 365/WPEA

•UFCW 21

•UNITE Here Local 8

•United Faculty of Washington State

•Washington Association of Churches

•Washington Association of Community and Migrant Health Centers

•Washington Bus Education Fund

•Washington Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics

•Washington Community Action Network

•Washington Conservation Voters

•Washington Education Association

•Washington Federation of State Employees

•Washington State Council of Fire Fighters

•Washington State Democrats

•Washington State Labor Council

•Whatcom County Democrats21

•Yakima South Central Counties Labor Council

•Yakima County Democrats

•2nd Legislative District Democrats

•5th legislative District Democrats

•28th Legislative District Democrat

•30th Legislative District Democrats

•32nd Legislative District Democrats

•33rd Legislative District Democrats

34th Legislative District Democrats

•36th Legislative District Democrats

•38th Legislative District Democrats

•41st Legislative District Democrats

•43rd Legislative District Democrats

•44th Legislative District Democrats

•45th Legislative District Democrats

•46th Legislative District Democrats

•47th Legislative District Democrats

•48th Legislative District Democrats

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Posted in Elections, Initiatives, Washington State Legislature

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Does King County Elections Know There is a November General Election?

Posted on September 11th, 2010 | Comments Off on Does King County Elections Know There is a November General Election?

Visiting the King County Elections home page today (Sept 11, 2010) or clicking on the current elections tab would give you no indication that there is a November 2, 2010 General Election. Both pages talk about the August 17, 2010 primary. The current elections page is highlighted by the words August 17, 2010 primary and special election. It seems King County Electionsis still stuck in August and before. They don’t list the upcoming election , candidates or ballot issues. Is everyone in King County Elections on Vacation? Have all the workers been furloughed?

On another page King County Elections has the following:

Have I registered in time for the next election?

Date of Election 29 day mail-in registration and address change deadline Eight-day registration deadline *

August 17, 2010 primary and special election Monday, July 19, 2010 Monday, Aug. 9, 2010 >

Nowhere do they give the information on what most of us would consider “the current election – the one coming up on Nov 2, 2010“. If they can’t keep their site updated then maybe they should have included the deadlines for both the Primary and General Election when they put information up, particularly if they are not going to update it in a timely fashion.

The major delay in posting actual candidates for the November election  falls to the certification date of the Primary Election which took place on Sept 1, 2010. This date is already long past. Another possible delay can take place in cities and counties submitting propositions for the November ballot. Snohomish County’s Election website has a page noting a 52 day prior to the election deadline for “resolutions”. That date is Sept 10, 2010. But King County makes no mention of this possible issue.

But is seems it serves the public best to post those races and issues like statewide initiatives and other measures that are not in doubt as soon as they are known and note that additional measures may be posted as they are certified for the ballot if this is an issue. This means that there should be a complete list of candidates and nearly complete list of issues on the November ballot available as of Sept 1, 2010.

Meanwhile the Washington Secretary of State’s website has already posted their November 2, 2010 General Election Voters Guide which lists all state issues and Federal, Congressional and legislative candidates. Obviously all candidates and most issues at this time are not in doubt as to being on the ballot.

The Washington Secretary of State’s website also give a clear explanation of the Deadlines for Registering to Vote and Changing Your Voting Address.  While they listed the Primary voter registration deadlines, they also include the current deadlines for the upcoming Nov 2, 2010 general election ballot.

They note that the standard deadline for online, and paper applications and updates is October 4, 2010. The late deadline for in person registration if not already registered in Washington State is October 25, 2010 for the November 2nd, 2010 election.

Is it possible for King County Elections to do a better job? Yes.  Look at Spokane County – they already have up an online general election voters guide that lists state measures, Congressional, legislative, and judicial races. Why can’t King County Elections?

Look at Thurston County Elections. They have up on their main page a prominent box that says how many days are left to register for the November Election. And they already have up a sample ballot for the November election. How is that they are able to do this but King County which represents about a third of the voters in the state is still stuck back in August?

Maybe it’s time for King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council to place a call over to King County Elections and see if anyone is there. If someone answers they need to ask if King County Elections is aware that there is a November election and that they should be keeping their website updated to provide current information to the voting public.

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League Of Women Voters Opposes I-1053, I-1100, I-1105, I-1107; Supports I-1098 and Ref 52

Posted on September 10th, 2010 | Comments Off on League Of Women Voters Opposes I-1053, I-1100, I-1105, I-1107; Supports I-1098 and Ref 52

The League Of Women Voters of Washington is urging voters to vote against 4 measures on the November 2, ballot and to support two others.  They urge a NO vote on I-1053 to give a minority of Legislators the power to overrule the majority. This is contrary to the State Constitution. They oppose I-1100 and I-1105 – the two initiatives to deregulate the liquor industry in the state.  They also oppose I-1107 which was put on the ballot by the soft drink industry to repeal a 2 cent tax on pop and candy.

The League is supporting I-1098 to raise new revenue to support our state schools and health care and reduce B&O taxes and state property taxes. They also support Referendum 52 to raise bonds to rehab our schools to make them more healthy and energy efficient, saving taxpayer dollars over the long term.

Here is more specific information on the Leagues positions on these measures:

Yes Referendum Bill 52: Engrossed House Bill 2561 passed the 2010 legislature and was signed by Governor Gregoire. The bill was named the Jobs Act. The bill provides for state general obligation bonds of up to $505 million to fund energy efficiency projects in the state’s K-12 schools and higher education facilities. The bonds would be funded by extending the current state tax on bottled water beyond its current expiration date of 2013. Because this bonding amount exceeds the state’s current debt limit, the bill must be submitted to the state’s voters.

The national League’s positions on Natural Resources, particularly those related to global climate change, together with the extensive work the national League has done in support of national climate change legislation, are the basis for League to support Referendum 52. LWVWA supported EHB 2561 in the 2010 legislative session.

Yes Initiative 1098: concerns establishing a state income tax and reducing other taxes. This measure would tax “adjusted gross income” above $200,000 (individuals) and $400,000 (joint-filers), reduce state property tax levies, reduce certain business and occupation taxes, and direct any increased revenues to education and health.

League of Women Voters of Washington position on tax structure states: Inequities in the distribution of the tax burden should be removed. Ability to pay is an important criterion. Flexibility and recognition of changing times and needs is important in tax policy. Income should be part of the tax base preferably through a graduated net income tax.

The League of Women Voters of Washington Board of Directors has voted to oppose the following:

No Initiative 1053: concerns tax and fee increases imposed by state government. This measure would restate existing statutory requirements that legislative actions raising taxes must be approved by two-thirds legislative majorities or receive voter approval, and that new or increased fees require majority legislative approval.

National League position includes that government must have the knowledge, resources and power to make decisions that meet citizens needs and reconcile conflicting

interests and priorities, and it must be able to function in an efficient manner with a minimum of conflict, wasted time and duplication of effort.

No Initiative Measure No. 1100 concerns liquor (beer, wine and spirits). This measure would close state liquor stores; authorize sale, distribution, and importation of spirits by private parties; and repeal certain requirements that govern the business operations of beer and wine distributors and producers.

According to the Office of Financial Management, I-1100 would lower state revenue approximately $25 million per year through the privatization of liquor.

No Initiative Measure No. 1105 concerns liquor (beer, wine and spirits). This measure would close all state liquor stores and license private parties to sell or distribute spirits. It would revise laws concerning regulation, taxation and government revenues from distribution and sale of spirits.

According to the Office of Financial Management, I-1105 would lower state revenue approximately $100 million per year through the privatization of liquor.

No Initiative 1107 concerns reversing certain 2010 amendments to state tax laws. This measure would end sales tax on candy; end temporary sales tax on some bottled water; end temporary excise taxes on carbonated beverages; and reduce tax rates for certain food processors.

According to the Office of Financial Management, I-1107 would lower state tax revenue by 55 million in the current fiscal year and $218 million in the upcoming biennium by removing the tax on candy, gum, bottled water, soda and reinstating tax loopholes.

League believes all initiatives proposed should “require how revenue losses or budget increases might be covered, either through program cuts or increases in revenue sources.” (League position on Initiatives, IR-4)

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Washington Education Association Opposes Initiative 1053

Posted on September 9th, 2010 | Comments Off on Washington Education Association Opposes Initiative 1053

The Washington Education Association is urging voters to oppose Initiative 1053 which would allow a minority of 1/3 of the Legislators in either House of the Legislature to block any new revenue going to support education.

Here is their explanation from their webpage:

NO on I-1053: Two-thirds supermajority legislative vote to approve new state revenue.

 If I-1053 passes, it will be nearly impossible for the Legislature to raise the revenue needed to fully fund public education, including things like all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes and the promised restoration of I-732 cost-of-living adjustments for school employees.


It’s another misguided initiative sponsored by Tim Eyman.


I-1053 impact on public education: Essentially prevents the Legislature from raising the revenue needed to fully fund K- 12 and higher education.

The Washington Education is urging No votes on I-1053, I-1082, I-1100, I-1105 and I-1107.
Thet are urging yes votes on I-1098 and Ref 52. You can read more details about their positions on their
webpage.

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Posted in Elections, Initiatives, Washington State Legislature

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Progressive Majority Targets 20 Key Races in Washington State

Posted on August 4th, 2010 | Comments Off on Progressive Majority Targets 20 Key Races in Washington State

Progressive Majority over the last few years has done a tremendous job getting progressives elected to office. Their recruiting and training effort is bringing new faces into the political arena. Their campaign team effort is now active in 8 states – Colorado, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Here in Washington State they are supporting 20 candidates running for local office in 2010.

Below is a list of the candidates and races.  Go to their State webpage and click on Washington State to get information on the candidates and their campaigns.

Luis Moscosco – Legislative District 1 – House

Andy Billig – Legislative District 3 – House

Dean Willard – Legislative District 5 – House

Laurie Jinkins – Legislative District 27 – House

Tami Green – Legislative District 28 – House

Carol Gregory – Legislative District 30 – House

Peggy Levesque – Legislative District 31 – House

Cindy Ryu – Legislative District 32 – House

Sharon Nelson – Legislative District 34 – Senate

Joe Fitzgibbon – lLgislative District 34 – House

Nick Harper – Legislative District 38 – House

Randy Gordon – Legislative District 41 – Senate

Eric Oemig – Legislative District 45 – Senate

Geoff Simpson – Legislative District 47 – House

Claudia Kauffman – Legislative District 47 – Senate

John Dean – Island County Commissioner

Patricia Terry – Island County Clerk

Joe McDermott – King County Council

Todd Iverson – Pierce County Council

Jean Melious – Whatcom County Council

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