Election Rundown: Part Two

As you know, there were five initiatives voted on this past Tuesday. The following are the results, and what they mean for us.

I-900: Passed 56.8%
While this site never wrote about this initiative, no one on this website supported it. I find it strange that Tim Eyman sponsored this initiative, because he’s always been in favor of low taxes and small government. This initiative simply added another layer of bureaucracy to the state government, and will cost him, you, and all the rest of us millions of dollars every year.

Politically, we should be worried that this passed by such a wide margin. It shows that the majority of Washingtonians do not trust our government to handle its money, nor do they trust the auditor’s office to do its job. No effort was made to defeat this initiative, and that’s not a good thing.

I-901: Passed 62.8%
This initiative is bad news for all the bars and restaurants in the state that already have to compete with tribal casinos. I would expect a significant number of these businesses to be closing by this time next year. Despite the outcry from the small business owners, fire marshals and police who will have to enforce this unenforceable law, and the employees everyone was trying to “help,” the vast majority of voters approved the law for purely selfish reasons. Again, there wasn’t the slightest hint of debate over this initiative. Nobody even tried to explain why it was a bad idea.

I-912: Rejected 53.4%
This one is very good news for just about everyone. As anyone who drives already knows, the roads in this state are falling to pieces. The gas tax was just about the last thing the legislature could find to foot the bill for all the major transportation projects in the state that need to happen. If this had been approved, the legislature would have either had to raise the sales tax, cut funding for other vital programs, or let the roads crumble. Polls showed as little as two months ago that this would have been approved. There was a strong, well-funded campaign against this initiative that deserves a fair bit of credit.

I-330: Rejected 55.0%
Voters will only vote for something they have little or no doubt in. The advertisements being run on this initiative lent ample doubt to voters. Putting caps on fines intended as punishment is a very bad idea, and Washingtonians were smart enough to realize that. This initiative would not have solved the problem of skyrocketing insurance premiums. In fact, it didn’t even address the problem. Once again, strong advertising won this one.

I-336: Rejected 59.5%
While I agreed, in principle, with what this initiative was trying to accomplish, there was no way the law itself would have worked. Very little advertising was done in the name of I-336, and the few ads I saw to reject it were cartoonish – caricaturing personal injury lawyers as greedy fat cats (while ignoring the fact that many PI lawyers accept cases pro bono). In the final analysis, I think voters couldn’t make heads or tails of the initiative itself. People will not vote for something they do not understand. While it’s possible that a strong advertising campaign from the bill’s sponsors could have made an impact, I’d rather see the initiative come back in a few years in a better worded, easier to understand version.