Washington state has a long history of ballot initiatives, dating back to 1912. But, this year is a bit different.
Hedge fund millionaire Bryan Heywood has bankrolled a campaign that’s put four initiatives on the ballot. They would roll back policies enacted by the Democratic majority in the Legislature, including major parts of the state’s climate law and the capital gains tax.
KNKX Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick talked about this with Western Washington University Political Science Professor Todd Donovan, who also serves on the Whatcom County Council.
A drought no more
Donovan said there was a bit of a drought in the COVID era because it was difficult to circulate petitions. Another reason is the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the ballot has increased as the population increases. And that makes costs go up.
"Why we have four this year is because somebody, one individual in particular, had the resources to fund the petition effort and get these on the ballot or get them before the Legislature," he said.
"Actually some of the efforts in previous cycles couldn't get enough signatures because it was just hard to find people to pay them to collect the signatures."
How this year compares to other big initiative years
All four of this year's ballot initiatives are designed to repeal laws that were enacted by the Legislature or bar laws that were passed from taking effect.
This is a change from some past years. For example, in 2012, Washington voters legalized both same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana. Donovan agrees we seem to have moved from a "let's do this" message to a "let's stop doing this" message.
"We have in the past had initiatives that were taking on things the Legislature had done. The car tab (measures) that (initiative promoter) Tim Eyman is famous for may be an example of that.
"But, generally, the process is used by folks outside the Legislature - maybe even working with the minority in the Legislature - to advance things that they can't get through Olympia. This year, these things got through Olympia and somebody is using the process to try to repeal those or undo those. It's not the norm but it's not completely unusual," Donovan said.
Knock-on effect?
There is the question of whether the initiatives that are before voters this year will have a knock-on effect down the ballot. For example: will someone who votes to repeal the capital gains tax also vote for Republican Dave Reichert for governor?
Donovan said that makes sense. But, he added, "At the same time, the initiatives mobilize opposition campaigns that then mobilize their folks who might come out and vote 'no' on this and then vote yes for a Democrat running for governor.
"We know these sorts of things are probably going to drive turnout up; we just don't know which side might get the net gain of that turnout increase," he said.
