Article by Erik Smith. Published on Wednesday, July 15, 2010 EST.
Latest Campaign Reports Show it’s a Barnburner Year for Initiatives — $10.5 Million Raised So Far
By Erik Smith
Staff writer/ Washington State Wire
UPDATE 1:54 p.m. July 14 — Earlier reports to the Public Disclosure Commission did not reflect the full cost of the I-1082 campaign. BIAW is updating its filings and the story now reflects the correct figure for the cost of the signature drive.
OLYMPIA, July 14.—The final campaign-finance numbers from the initiative season are in, and now we can see what a barnburner this year has been so far – and what a collision we’re going to see between free-market and labor/ progressive interests this fall.
Six initiatives turned in enough signatures to make the ballot this year, and right now state elections officials are going through the petitions to make sure all of them qualify. But because all of the campaigns turned in far more than the required number, it’s a slam-dunk cinch that all of them will go before voters this year.
Five of the campaigns were backed by business interests; the sixth, an income-tax measure, is backed by a coalition of labor and progressive organizations and has triggered a business-backed opposition campaign.
We may not hear much from any of them for the next couple of months, until election season kicks into high gear. But finally we can tell a reasonably well-rounded story about what got the campaigns to this point. So far $10.5 million has been raised. It’s the details that count, though, and we have them in the campaign-finance reports that were due at the state Public Disclosure Commission on July 10. The details appeared on the PDC website Tuesday. Among the most striking developments:
n Late-starting campaigns for liquor-store privatization and a pop-tax rollback gathered their signatures in record time – and they had to spend big money to do it. I-1105 and I-1107 had just three weeks to qualify for the ballot once judges approved their ballot titles, and the records show the campaigns paid upwards of five dollars a signature. That’s more than four times the amount spent by the year’s most frugal campaign.
n Business came to the rescue of Tim Eyman’s I-1053, the measure that would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for tax increases. An independent business campaign coordinated by the Association of Washington Business paid $300,000 directly to the signature-gathering firm that conducted the signature drive. That’s in addition to the $510,000 paid by Eyman’s own campaign organization, Voters Want More Choices.
n Not a dime has been raised so far in opposition to I-1053, nor has an opposition campaign committee been formed. That raises a couple of possibilities – that the campaign will fly under the radar, or that it will be challenged by some sort of coordinated labor/ progressive opposition campaign to all the business initiatives.
n And money continues to flow into campaign coffers as business interests, labor groups, trial lawyers and progressive organizations prepare to do battle.
Biggest Bang for the Buck?
For quite some time it’s been possible to see where the big money went in the initiative signature-gathering cycle. That’s old news. The two biggest-spending campaigns were the ones that started the latest and had to pay the most per signature. They were I-1105, a liquor-store privatization measure backed by liquor distributors, and I-1107, a measure that would roll back taxes imposed this year on soda pop, candy and gum, and bottled water, and which was supported by the Washington Beverage Association. I-1105 has spent about $1.8 million so far, and I-1107 has spent about $2.5 million.
But which campaigns got the biggest bang for the buck?
The new itemized campaign-spending reports make it possible to calculate how much those signatures actually cost. We’ve done a little work with the calculator here; we’ve ignored the expenses for consultants, campaign staff and other overhead costs not directly associated with the signature drives. And keep in mind that these rough figures are somewhat less than the amounts that were actually paid to the signature gatherers themselves, because every campaign, to some degree, got some of its signatures from volunteers.
Turns out there was quite a spread.
n Initiative 1098, the income tax measure, got the most for its money. Comparing the cost of the signature drive against the number of signatures turned in, the campaign wound up spending $1.24 a signature. The relatively low cost reflects the fact that a larger percentage of signatures were collected by volunteers from labor and progressive groups, although the campaign also utilized paid signature gatherers.
n Initiative 1100, the year’s other liquor-store privatization measure, did it for $2.16 a signature. That measure, largely backed by Costco, also would end special protections under law for alcoholic beverage distributors. Many of the signatures were collected by on-duty Costco employees, and their work, recorded as an in-kind contribution, is reflected in the number.
n Initiative 1082, a measure that would allow private competition for the state’s workers’ compensation insurance program, hit the mark for $2.35 a signature. The campaign was managed by the Building Industry Association of Washington.
n Initiative 1053, the two-thirds vote measure, did it for $2.45 a signature.
n Initiative 1105, the distributor liquor-privatization measure, had to pay a whopping $4.45 a signature. That includes $1.4 million paid to the signature-gathering firm and another $200,000 paid to the Strategies 360 consulting firm for management of the campaign.
n And Initiative 1107, the pop-tax rollback, was the biggest-spending campaign of them all, with a figure of $5.03 a signature. That includes $1.6 million for the signature-gathering company and another $400,000 for a direct-mail campaign.
Money Flows to Anti-1098 Campaign
Meanwhile, the campaigns continue to build up their war-chests. One of the more interesting reports comes from the Defeat 1098 campaign, the business-backed effort against the income-tax measure. That campaign has now raised $474,240, much of it from high-tech and venture-capital firms that could be hit hard by the measure. The tax aims at high earners, not at companies, but many sole proprietors and partners report income on their personal taxes. And most scoff at the idea that the tax would remain limited only to the wealthiest.
“More and more people are beginning to understand that 1098 is just the camel’s nose under the tent,” said spokesman Mark Funk. “They know that the Legislature can change this initiative in two years, and when that happens, the income tax will be extended to everybody.”
Business Backs Eyman, From a Distance
The reports also showed that business interests coordinated by the AWB played a major role in the success of I-1053. Rather than sending money to Eyman’s campaign, they launched an independent campaign, raised just over $300,000, and paid the signature-gathering company directly. The records list AWB government-affairs director Gary Chandler as the contact person for the business campaign, which calls itself Citizens for Responsible Spending.
The independent effort at this stage raises the possibility that business will mount an independent campaign for the measure, rather than going through Eyman’s campaign organization.
Eyman, meanwhile, said he was grateful for the help. “What mattered at the end of the day was just making sure 1053 made the ballot,” he said.
More Money for Liquor
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