Sue Lani Madsen: Republicans taking the initiative

Washington state politics have been dominated by Democrats for 30 years. The initiative process is a necessary counterbalance to one-party rule. It’s also a useful get-out-the-vote tool, one that Democrats have used for years. In 2024, Republicans will be wielding the power of the initiative.

Supporters of Initiative 2117 to repeal the carbon scheme driving up gas prices have submitted over 420,000 signatures, providing a nice cushion above the 324,516 required.

The other five initiatives to the Legislature are on track to meet the Dec. 29 deadline, said Jim Walsh, chairman of the Washington State Republicans. Parental notification about minor children’s health care and a public safety-driven approach to police pursuits have been especially well received, Walsh said. The other three initiatives would amend the long-term care tax, repeal the capital gains tax, and make it clear for the 11th time that Washington voters do not want an income tax.

Signature-gathering is proceeding briskly despite a hotline asking people to report the location of petition circulators. The usual modus operandi is to send paid signature disruptors to make it unpleasant enough for customers that retail businesses ask signature-gatherers to leave. The “snitch line” asks callers to “leave as much detail as possible including the location, time of day, a description of the circulator and any other relevant details.” There’s no confirmation as to who is behind the hotline, and there was no response to repeated attempts to contact Shasti Conrad, chairman of the Washington state Democrats, to find out about the hotline.

Democrats are probably not planning to send thank you notes to citizens for exercising their democratic right to petition their government. Or to congratulate businesses for allowing petitioners to gather on their property.

Attempts to set up signature disruption is coming a little late, with signature-gatherering momentum holding into the home stretch, according to organizers from Let’s Go Washington (letsgowashington.com/). “Democrats in WA have been using the initiative process for decades to motivate and activate their base voters, to get out their vote, and for too long moderates and conservatives have sat back and watched that happen,” Walsh said. “That’s the reason the majority party is so twisted out of shape about this, they failed to recognize that if they acted in a dismissive way then the minority was going to find a way to clean up the mess in Olympia.”

The first power reserved to the people is the initiative. That’s not the words of some fringe element of either party, it’s the line of Article II Section 1(a) of the Washington state Constitution. The power of the initiative provides a voice for the people in a state dominated by a single party controlling the issues and bills to be considered and signed.

Initiatives to the Legislature have the force of law when adopted, and the governor has no power to veto. If the Legislature does not adopt the initiative, the issue goes to a vote of the people.

That’s where the get-out-the-vote effect happens. One side comes up with an issue people care about, voters pay attention, and voter turnout goes up for their side. It can be enough to shift election results in tight races.

The city of Spokane may have seen that effect on the makeup of the City Council in 2009 and 2011 when Envision Spokane put an emotionally charged Community Bill of Rights on the ballot. It was later found to be outside the scope of local initiative power on all four counts by the Washington Supreme Court. Were the initiatives poorly written in ignorance of the rules or cleverly written for political gain? Either way, the concurrent elections saw centrist voices pushed off the council in favor of more extreme candidates.

The city of Spokane has adopted a constitutionally recognized prefiling review for local initiatives. Statewide initiatives are explicitly not subject to review prior to signature gathering or being placed on the ballot, according to the court ruling. The organizers behind 2023’s six initiatives to the Legislature gathering signatures have been working for more than a year to get it right. “We needed to address the imbalance in policy coming out of Olympia by using the initiative process, and activating our voters, too,” Walsh said.

Putting the initiatives in front of the Legislature requires legislators facing an election in 2024 to go on the record on issues voters care about. If the Democrat-controlled Legislature punts it to the voters to decide in November 2024, they risk driving turnout higher among conservative as well as typically centrist Washington voters who identify as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

The last thing Democrats want is a strong Republican turnout in a year when the leading Republican candidate is polling ahead of the leading Democratic candidate for governor. And the games have begun.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.