Newsroom Archives by Month: July 2007

July 30th, 2007

Referendum 67 qualifies for ballot

Threat Analysis

You can thank insurance industry money for forcing this unnecessary public vote:

Secretary of State Sam Reed announced today that Referendum 67 has sufficient valid signatures to qualify for a spot on the statewide ballot in November.

According to elections officials, a check of petition signatures submitted in support of the proposal has shown that the measure meets constitutional requirements for a minimum of 112,440 valid voter signatures. The measure will appear on the November 6 General Election ballot.

Referendum 67 would make it unlawful for insurers to unreasonably deny certain coverage claims, and permit treble damages plus attorney fees for that and other violations. Some health insurance carriers would be exempt. The official ballot summary on Referendum 67 reads, “Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5726 would make it unlawful for insurers to unreasonably deny a claim for coverage or payment of benefits to any “first party claimant”, as defined in the bill, or to violate insurance fair practices regulation.

With court approval, successful claimants would be entitled to actual damages plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, and in some cases up to triple damages. The bill would not apply to health plans offered by health carriers.”

Sponsors of Referendum 67 submitted a total of 156,446 petition signatures to the Secretary of State. Election officials conducted a random sample of 4,783 signatures, of which 4,132 were valid signatures – 651 were determined invalid. Signatures are invalid if the signer is not a registered voter or if he or she signed more than once.

The petition was checked using the “random sample” process authorized by state law. Under the process, a statistically valid percentage of the signatures are selected at random and checked against voter registration records. A mathematical formula is then applied to the results to obtain a projected rate of invalidation.

Election officials examined 4,783 (a 3 percent sample) on Referendum 67. From that inspection, it was determined that the measure had an invalidation rate of 13.6 percent.

Remember to vote YES on Referendum 67 this November. Voting YES keeps the consumer protection law in place!

July 23rd, 2007

I-960 lawsuit will continue for now

In the Courts

Our parent organization’s blog reports that Futurewise and SEIU 775 – the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to block Tim Eyman’s initiative from being considered by voters – have filed an emergency motion for accelerated review with the state Supreme Court because the Superior Court refused to actually consider the issues at hand.

That’s good news, but the Court still has to take the case.

MORE (JULY 25th): A number of articles have appeared recently in Washington media outlets conveying the idea that Tim Eyman’s I-960 has overcome all obstacles and is now guaranteed to go before the voters of Washington State. Despite I-960’s passage of a random sample check conducted by the Secretary of State’s office, the initiative is still not cleared for placement on the ballot yet because Futurewise and SEIU 775 have appealed Judge Catherine Shaffer’s decision to allow I-960 to proceed. The lawsuit thus continues while the state Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.

“If the Supreme Court accepts the case, it is our hope that it will set a precedent that checks abuse of the initiative process and upholds the rule of law,” said NPI Executive Director and Permanent Defense Chair Andrew Villeneuve.

“The initiative process has limitations for good reason. It cannot, for instance, be used to amend the U.S. Constitution. An initiative that attempted to covertly amend the U.S. Constitution would be struck down by the Courts and not allowed to go before voters. Likewise, I-960, which contains language that is in conflict with our state’s Constitution, ought to be nullified.”

July 19th, 2007

I-960 passes random sample check

Ballot Watchdogging

The Secretary of State’s office just put out a release saying that a random sample check has determined that Initiative 960 has sufficient valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, as expected:

According to elections officials, a check of petition signatures submitted in support of the proposal has shown that the measure meets constitutional requirements for a minimum of 224,880 valid voter signatures. The measure will appear on the November 6th General Election ballot.

Initiative 960 would require two-thirds legislative approval or voter approval for tax increases, legislative approval of fee increases, certain published information on tax-increasing bills, and advisory votes on taxes enacted without voter approval. The official ballot summary on Initiative 960 reads, “This measure would require either a two-thirds vote in each house of the legislature or voter approval for all tax increases. New or increased fees would require prior legislative approval. An advisory vote would be required on any new or increased taxes enacted by the legislature without voter approval. The office of financial management would be required to publish cost information and information regarding legislators’ voting records on bills imposing or increasing taxes or fees.”

Sponsors of Initiative 960 submitted a total of 314,504 petition signatures to the Secretary of State. Election officials conducted a random sample of 9,607 signatures, of which 8,410 were valid signatures – 1,197 were determined invalid. Signatures are invalid if the signer is not a registered voter or if he or she signed more than once.

The petition was checked using the “random sample” process authorized by state law. Under the process, a statistically valid percentage of the signatures are selected at random and checked against voter registration records. A mathematical formula is then applied to the results to obtain a projected rate of invalidation.

Election officials examined 9,607 (a 3 percent sample) on Initiative 960. From that inspection, it was determined that the measure had an invalidation rate of 17.1 percent.

There is a possibility that I-960 will still not go before voters in November, if the state Supreme Court accepts for review the case filed by Futurewise and SEIU 775 and decides for the plaintiffs. But the likelihood is that I-960 will be on the ballot, and we will be doing everything we can to ensure that it fails.

July 13th, 2007

Setback in I-960 lawsuit

Ballot WatchdoggingThreat Analysis

Via our parent organization’s blog, some bad news:

Judge refuses to block I-960 from ballot
Before actually granting the state’s motion, the judge explained the various reasons why she did not want to address the issues raised by the plaintiffs. At one point she even paused and clearly stated, “This is very limited review.”

She did not address the constitutionality of the measure, noting that would, however, be appropriate for post-election review.

And while acknowledging that the scope issue was pertinent to the case, she basically sidestepped it. For example, she refused to look at the supermajority issue on the basis that a similiar requirement was approved years ago as part of Initiative 601 (and is now on the books, although the Legislature has not considered the law to be binding, and no court has considered its validity or constitutionality.)

So we didn’t get the definitive ruling for or against the suit that I thought we would get from the Court. Restraint evidently weighed heavily on Judge Shaffer’s consideration of the plaintiffs’ request.

Futurewise and SEIU 775 could still appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, which might come out of summer recess to hear two other unrelated cases that also pertain to the 2007 general election this November.

Eyman should think twice before he gloats…this may not be over yet.

July 6th, 2007

Statement on submission of signatures for I-960

Off Topic

Here’s the press release we sent out this morning following the news:

Permanent Defense today responded to Tim Eyman’s submission of signatures for I-960 to the Secretary of State’s office by renewing its commitment to fight the measure if it qualifies for the ballot.

“Anyone with half a million dollars can buy their way onto the ballot, no matter your issue or political ideology,” said Permanent Defense chair Andrew Villeneuve. “We anticipated that Mr. Eyman would turn in a significant number of signatures for this un-American, unconstitutional, unfair proposal…but it remains to be seen if it’s actually true.”

“We’ll be waiting to see if the Secretary of State’s office actually has the number of signatures that Eyman claims he turned in. We already know we can’t trust his boasting.”

Villeneuve noted that I-960 may never qualify for the ballot, even if there are enough signatures. A lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court last May by Futurewise and SEIU 775 is due for a hearing next week (July 13th). The suit seeks to block I-960 from the ballot because it is outside the scope of the initiative process – it attempts to do what our state’s initiative process was not designed for and expressly prohibits (amending the state Constitution by initiative).

“We will work diligently with a broad and diverse coalition of other organizations to defeat this measure in November and protect our cherished tradition of majority rule,” Villeneuve added.

July 2nd, 2007

Hutcherson abandons Initiative 963

Threat Analysis

Antioch Bible Church pastor Ken Hutcherson, who earlier this year filed an initiative to overturn Washington’s recently amended civil rights law that bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, admitted today that he has not been doing any work to qualify the measure.

Initiatives currently require 224,880 valid signatures to appear on the ballot. I-963 never had a signature drive, so it stands no chance of going before voters. Its demise is the religious right’s second failure in two years to force a vote on the law. Last year’s Referendum 65 (an effort by Tim Eyman, Hutcherson, and others) also came up short. The equal rights law appears to be safe for the foreseeable future.

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