Elections workers make a first count of petition sheets.

OLYMPIA, July 6.—Looks like the state’s two big initiative campaigns have gone over the top, meaning that Washington voters will get two more chances this November to say yes to a pair of hardy perennials – charter schools and the state’s two-thirds-for-taxes rule. Even if the presidential and gubernatorial races weren’t enough of a draw, now it looks like this year’s ballot will have something for people of every political persuasion – liberals, conservatives, Huskies and Cougars.

Supporters of the two measures showed up at the state elections office on deadline day with more than enough signatures to assure themselves a place on the ballot. The charter schools campaign, I-1240, presented more than 350,000 signatures. The two-thirds-for-taxes campaign, I-1185, presented more than 318,000.

The signatures still have to be checked, of course. But inasmuch as the legal requirement is 241,153, and the secretary of state’s office maintains that 320,000 offers a near-perfect margin of safety, it appears that the official count is a formality and the two measures will be certified for the ballot forthwith.

That makes six measures in all that will be appearing on this year’s ballot. Others already certified for the ballot deal with gay marriage and legalization of marijuana. And there are a couple of constitutional amendments forwarded by the Legislature – one dealing with bond debt and another with investments by Washington State University and the University of Washington.

Secretary of State Sam Reed said, “This year’s crop, including marijuana and marriage, tax limits and charter schools, should make for a lively ballot and help turnout. One hundred years after the voters approved the initiative and referendum, the process is alive and well in Washington.”

Fourth Try for Charter Schools

More than 350,000 signatures were delivered Friday for the latest charter schools initiative.

Friday was the final day for campaigns to turn in signatures at the state elections office, and as always there was a bit of a show as supporters opened up their trucks and vans in the parking lot and began carrying boxes of petitions inside. Neither of the deadline-day issues are new to Washington voters. It will be the fourth time Washington voters have had their say on charter schools, and the fifth time for the supermajority rule. Both measures are backed by business interests of various stripes, and are heartily opposed by the traditional Democratic coalition of labor and activist organizations.

The battle lines on the charter school measure are a bit fuzzy. Some Democrats support it, among them House Majority Caucus Chair Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, who was on hand for the signature delivery. He sponsored a charter-school bill in this year’s Legislature, but was beaten back by opposition from the Washington Education Association and its allies in the statehouse. “I had many people who were very critical of me, but I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said.

House Majority Caucus Chair Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle.

Proponents say charter schools, now permitted in 41 states, offer an alternative to failing schools in existing K-12 school districts – particularly those in inner-city areas. This year’s measure would permit as many as 40 such schools to be established in Washington over the next five years. More flexibility in curriculum and in administrative procedures can make a big difference, Pettigrew argues. And while voters have rejected the measure three times since 1996, he said the experience of other states in the meantime has helped craft a tight little plan with strong accountability. “We’ve learned a lot about what is a good charter school bill and what is not,” he said. “This charter law is the best of all that have been proposed to this point.”

The measure is supported by an unusual crowd – a who’s-who of the tech biz/ ed-reform crowd, including Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, venture capitalists Nick Hanauer and Ali and Hadi Partovi, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and the parents of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Current contributions stand at $2.2 million.

Though no opponents were on hand for the signature turn-in, we can be sure opposition is on the way. WEA has already declared war, arguing that it diverts money from existing schools — which also happen to be schools where teachers are unionized. The Washington Federation of State Employees joined WEA with an announcement Friday morning.

Shannon Campion, executive director of the Washington chapter of Stand for Children.

The charter-school measure raised its signatures in just 21 days, tying with last year’s liquor-privatization initiative for the second-speediest signature gathering campaign in state history. The fastest was the drive for I-282, accomplished in 17 days back in 1973, which ultimately reversed a salary increase for elected officials that had been approved by that year’s legislature. The fact that signatures were gathered so quickly ought to be taken as a sign that voters are ready to consider the issue anew, said Shannon Campion of Stand for Children, one of the organizations supporting the measure. “I’m just really excited and overwhelmed with the level of support,” she said. “The bottom line is that more than 350,000 Washington voters said we want to send this to the ballot and we want to vote on it.”

Fifth Repeat for Popular Tax Measure

Tim Eyman, veteran initiative promoter, presents petitions for his third two-thirds-for-taxes measure since 2007.

The tax measure is a different animal. It’s a repeat, too, but the problem is that voters keep passing it and lawmakers keep ditching it. Last time out, in 2010, the supermajority rule passed with a whopping 64 percent of the vote — but that doesn’t mean it’s safe. The measure requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate for a tax increase, or a majority vote of the people. The hitch is that lawmakers have never been fond of voter-imposed restrictions on their ability to raise taxes, and they have repealed or suspended the rule whenever it becomes easy to do so. Although the Legislature can repeal an initiative at any time, it is deucedly hard during the first two years – it takes a two-thirds vote – but it can be done with a blink of an eye after that, with a simple majority.

Explained sponsor Tim Eyman, “We’ve learned that Olympia will always take away these protections in their third year, so that is why we are doing 1185 this year – to give voters the chance to protect themselves from tax-hiking politicians in 2013 and 2014.”

The measure has changed the way the Legislature does business, forcing Democratic majorities to negotiate with Republican minorities and making tax increases almost impossible whenever the rule is in full force. It has had a particularly dramatic effect during three of the last four sessions, when tax revenue tanked and tax hikes might otherwise have sailed through. The other session, in 2010, proved the point. An earlier version, I-960, was suspended by the Legislature’s Democratic majority right after its two-year birthday, and lawmakers that session raised billions of dollars in temporary and permanent taxes. This year’s measure, like the one that passed two years ago, is supported by business interests that have been gored or have been threatened with goring during the current recession. Biggest contributors are the national beer distributors and oil companies, but other business interests are ponying up as well.

Doug MacDonald, former secretary of the Department of Transportation.

Doug MacDonald, a former secretary of the state Department of Transportation, was on hand in the parking lot as Eyman’s truck arrived. He says he’s part of the vanguard for a just-coalescing no-on-1185 campaign – which so far hasn’t raised any money or filed any papers. “It is time to get done with the tyranny of gridlock this has placed on the state of Washington,” he said. “It is getting in the way of the problems we need to fix. So it is time to get done with the tyranny of the minority; it is time to say that citizens shouldn’t be taken in by special interests, it is time to say that the constitution matters.”

Democratic lawmakers and special interest groups are battling the voters in court.  They are convinced the rule is unconstitutional because it places a requirement on the Legislature that is not mentioned in the constitution. But the Supreme Court has rejected statehouse-based suits for procedural reasons three times since 1993; a similar case now is working its way up to the Supreme Court. Gov. Christine Gregoire told reporters Friday, “It is time for the Supreme Court to step up and decide this case, so that would be where the solution lies, not going to the voters every two years to get them to enact an initiative – let the courts rule and rule before the Legislature begins its next session on whether it is constitutional.”

Gregoire’s argument presumes, of course, that the measure is unconstitutional – a point that is far from decided. And if she’s wrong about that, and voters heed her advice and reject the measure, tax increases would be more likely next session.

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