By Robby Stern
Our ballots will arrive in the mail within several weeks. PSARA has taken a position on three important initiatives on the ballot. The fate of these initiatives will have an impact on our future and the future of our state. For those of you who do not want to read more, we recommend:
NO on I-1125. NO on I-1183. YES on I-1163.
Tim Eyman’s newest broadside is Initiative 1125. The bulk of the contributions to I-1125, over $1 million, come from Kemper Freeman, a Bellevue developer. According to Eyman, I - 1125 is intended to block the voter-approved construction of light rail on I–90 across the Lake Washington Bridge. I–1125 also threatens the Evergreen Point floating bridge replacement, Clark County’s Columbia River Crossing, the Alaska Way Viaduct replacement and multiple other projects around the state. It also threatens thousands of much-needed good-paying jobs.
The vehicle Eyman uses to achieve his purposes is to remove the setting of toll rates from an independent nonpartisan commission and instead require the legislature to set toll rates. Every other state in the country has an independent commission setting toll rates to avoid the political gridlock that frequently occurs when elected politicians make these decisions. According to an independent analysis for the State Treasurer, the initiative will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in increased bond costs to pay for transportation projects.
PSARA recommends we vote NO on I-1125.
In 2008, voters overwhelmingly passed I–1029, which required criminal background checks and increased training for long-term care workers who assist vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities. In the 2010 legislative session, the legislature reduced the training requirements and delayed the criminal background checks. Initiative 1163, on the ballot this year, restores the training requirements and criminal background checks for long-term care workers.
Hairdressers must have 1000 hours of training and nail technicians 600 hours of training. Home care workers do difficult and important work visiting seriously ill seniors and people with disabilities. They help them dress, bathe, clean, get out of bed and cook so they can stay in their own homes. Under present law, they will not be getting the training and certification they need. Nursing home caregivers must have 85 hours of training while home care workers who provide the same kind of care in a more isolated setting get no similar level of training.
I have not yet met a senior who has told me they want to age in a nursing home. All of us aspire to age in our own homes where we feel more connected to our families and communities. Without qualified and trained caregivers who can help us live safely in our own homes, the most vulnerable among us will be forced into nursing homes. Requiring training and background checks is a common sense approach to the growing need for home care workers.
PSARA members at our membership meeting voted to endorse I-1163 and to recommend a YES vote.
Last November, Washington voters said NO to privatization of liquor sales. Costco and other large retailers have returned with I-1183, which will create five times as many hard liquor retailers. The Centers for Disease Control says that will likely lead to more than a 50 percent increase in consumption. It is predicted that one of every four minors attempting to buy alcohol from private retailers will succeed. When big corporations spend large amounts of money to pass an initiative like I-1183, you can bet it is not for the public good.
PSARA recommends a NO vote on I-1183.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Upcoming Special Session
The damage that Wall Street and the banks have done to our economy is just astonishing. The suffering they caused is growing worse and worse. Those who created this recession/depression continue to do very well. The wealth gap continues to grow to historic proportions.
Revenue to the state has declined even more than had been anticipated in the 2010 legislative session. The September revenue forecast predicted an additional $1.4 billion decline in revenue and Gov. Gregoire indicated the need for a special session after the November forecast to address the reduced revenue.
PSARA believes that cuts to education, healthcare and other essential services undermine any hope for an economic recovery. After billions and billions in cuts, our communities cannot afford any more cuts to jobs, our future and our quality of life. We will not be able to cut ourselves out of this crisis. Revenue must be part of the solution. Our elected leaders should pass a referendum to the people (if they cannot muster the required 60% vote) ending unfair tax breaks. Let voters decide whether we end unfair tax breaks -- or make deeper budget cuts.
Showing posts with label initiatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label initiatives. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Friday, October 1, 2010
Forward? Or Backward? The 2010 Elections
By Robby Stern
The 2008 election created high expectations. The promise of a new forward thinking President and an overwhelmingly Democratic controlled Congress meant we could not only reverse the terrible policies of the abysmal Bush era but we could finally move a progressive agenda. At the state level, many believed the overwhelming Democratic majorities combined with a Democratic governor meant we could address the terrible economic recession in a humane manner that created the least suffering possible.
Disappointment shadows us as we face the 2010 election. There is a significant distance between what we had hoped for and what has occurred. At the state level, the legislature did raise some revenue, but not enough and they lacked the courage to attack the tax breaks that have been handed out like Halloween candy. The continuing tidal wave of revenue shortfalls promises even more devastating cuts.
At the federal level, the stimulus package, while helpful, was not nearly big enough. The health care reform legislation, while historic, could have been so much better and the same can be said about Wall Street Reform legislation.
So many things are still on the table including Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Employee Free Choice Act, the Fair Pay Act, Global Warming legislation and legislation that overturns the terrible Supreme Court decision that handed our electoral process over to the wealthy corporations and Wall Street. We feel these disappointments keenly. But we cannot give in to cynicism and despair. WE MUST BE ACTIVE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION BECAUSE IF WE AREN’T, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR STATE GO IN ABSOLUTELY THE WRONG DIRECTION.
As I am writing this column, the House Republican Caucus just announced their Pledge for our country. They will repeal the health care reform act, retain the tax cuts for the wealthy, scapegoat immigrants, move to privatize Social Security, and cut spending for much needed social programs. They are clear. They are telling us what they will do. They will continue to blame the unemployed for their fate and do as much as they can to weaken organized labor. We can assume, from the filibusters of the Senate Republicans, that they are in lock step with their House Republican colleagues. WE MUST DO ALL THAT WE CAN TO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE GAIN CONTROL OF CONGRESS.
At the state level, both the election of candidates and the initiatives are critical. We are faced with q fundamental question: Who do we want to write the biannual budget for the next two years? It is clear that had the Republicans been in control of the state legislature in 2009-2010, no revenue would have been raised.
On the initiative and referendum front, the choices could not be clearer. I-1107, robs the state of significant revenue raised in the 2010 session – more than $100 million per year by repealing the soda and candy tax. I–1100 and I–1105, privatizing liquor sales, would create an explosion of liquor vendors in our state. In addition, I-1100 would cost state and local governments $275 million over five years and I–1105 would cost more than $700 million over five years. These two initiatives would also eliminate approximately 800 good family wage jobs for workers represented by UFCW 21. I–1053 is Tim Eyeman’s initiative and would absolutely tie the hands of legislators who might want to close tax loopholes or raise additional revenue. I–1082 will privatize our Workers Compensation system and turn it over to the likes of AIG and Liberty Mutual. Corporate interests are spending HUGE dollars to pass these five initiatives and boost their profits at the expense of every day working people. They are the “Dirty Five” and PSARA recommends a “No” vote on each one of them.
Much has been written about I–1098, the high income tax initiative. This could be the biggest assistance in the history of our state to revenue for education and health care since our regressive tax system was developed. The initiative is fair. It supports those things we most value. I–1098 presents us an historic opportunity. Finally, R–52 addresses two desperate needs; 1. It creates between 30,000 & 40,000 jobs and 2. It will allow the long overdue physical upgrading of our educational infrastructure.
Will we continue create the groundwork, giving us the opportunity to move forward? Or will the forces and interests who will take us backward achieve a victory in this election? The answer is up to us!
The 2008 election created high expectations. The promise of a new forward thinking President and an overwhelmingly Democratic controlled Congress meant we could not only reverse the terrible policies of the abysmal Bush era but we could finally move a progressive agenda. At the state level, many believed the overwhelming Democratic majorities combined with a Democratic governor meant we could address the terrible economic recession in a humane manner that created the least suffering possible.
Disappointment shadows us as we face the 2010 election. There is a significant distance between what we had hoped for and what has occurred. At the state level, the legislature did raise some revenue, but not enough and they lacked the courage to attack the tax breaks that have been handed out like Halloween candy. The continuing tidal wave of revenue shortfalls promises even more devastating cuts.
At the federal level, the stimulus package, while helpful, was not nearly big enough. The health care reform legislation, while historic, could have been so much better and the same can be said about Wall Street Reform legislation.
So many things are still on the table including Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Employee Free Choice Act, the Fair Pay Act, Global Warming legislation and legislation that overturns the terrible Supreme Court decision that handed our electoral process over to the wealthy corporations and Wall Street. We feel these disappointments keenly. But we cannot give in to cynicism and despair. WE MUST BE ACTIVE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION BECAUSE IF WE AREN’T, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR STATE GO IN ABSOLUTELY THE WRONG DIRECTION.
As I am writing this column, the House Republican Caucus just announced their Pledge for our country. They will repeal the health care reform act, retain the tax cuts for the wealthy, scapegoat immigrants, move to privatize Social Security, and cut spending for much needed social programs. They are clear. They are telling us what they will do. They will continue to blame the unemployed for their fate and do as much as they can to weaken organized labor. We can assume, from the filibusters of the Senate Republicans, that they are in lock step with their House Republican colleagues. WE MUST DO ALL THAT WE CAN TO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE GAIN CONTROL OF CONGRESS.
At the state level, both the election of candidates and the initiatives are critical. We are faced with q fundamental question: Who do we want to write the biannual budget for the next two years? It is clear that had the Republicans been in control of the state legislature in 2009-2010, no revenue would have been raised.
On the initiative and referendum front, the choices could not be clearer. I-1107, robs the state of significant revenue raised in the 2010 session – more than $100 million per year by repealing the soda and candy tax. I–1100 and I–1105, privatizing liquor sales, would create an explosion of liquor vendors in our state. In addition, I-1100 would cost state and local governments $275 million over five years and I–1105 would cost more than $700 million over five years. These two initiatives would also eliminate approximately 800 good family wage jobs for workers represented by UFCW 21. I–1053 is Tim Eyeman’s initiative and would absolutely tie the hands of legislators who might want to close tax loopholes or raise additional revenue. I–1082 will privatize our Workers Compensation system and turn it over to the likes of AIG and Liberty Mutual. Corporate interests are spending HUGE dollars to pass these five initiatives and boost their profits at the expense of every day working people. They are the “Dirty Five” and PSARA recommends a “No” vote on each one of them.
Much has been written about I–1098, the high income tax initiative. This could be the biggest assistance in the history of our state to revenue for education and health care since our regressive tax system was developed. The initiative is fair. It supports those things we most value. I–1098 presents us an historic opportunity. Finally, R–52 addresses two desperate needs; 1. It creates between 30,000 & 40,000 jobs and 2. It will allow the long overdue physical upgrading of our educational infrastructure.
Will we continue create the groundwork, giving us the opportunity to move forward? Or will the forces and interests who will take us backward achieve a victory in this election? The answer is up to us!
Friday, September 3, 2010
The ‘dirty five’ -- and the vital two
By Will Parry
Each and every issue on our November ballot, if approved by voters, will affect the quality of life in our state for good or for evil, and for years to come. Here’s an effort to help our readers cast an informed vote on a very complicated ballot.
Five of the seven measures due to come before the electorate have this in common: They are the work of narrow special interests, designed to undermine existing institutions or programs and to increase private profit at public expense. None of the five deserve five cents worth of support.
Here are the “dirty five”:
Initiative 1082: The welfare of every injured worker is on the line here. The insurance industry and the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) want to privatize workers’ compensation, to open the door to domination of the system by insurance companies.
Long ago, Washington workers gave up the right to sue their employers in exchange for “sure and certain relief” – that is, for the right to receive pay and care and job retraining when job injury or job disease strike.
I-1082 would enable BIAW and the likes of AIG and Liberty Mutual to transform our nonprofit system, challenging, delaying and denying claims in the classic manner of health insurers. The measure would drive up employers’ costs by 25 percent or more, cost jobs, and compel taxpayers to bail out any insurer who became insolvent. Written by and for private insurance, it would wreck a program that has functioned well for decades.
Initiative 1107: The Office of Financial Management (OFM) says I-1107 will reduce revenue to the state by $352 million and to local governments by $83 million over the next five years. This during a deep, ongoing recession labeled by Governor Chris Gregoire “the worst in 80 years.”
But I-1107 will do wonders for the big national beverage companies by repealing small, mostly temporary taxes on soda pop, gum, candy and bottled water. That’s why the big soft drink companies have already poured $10 million into the campaign to enact the measure.
Revenue produced by I-1107’s small taxes on nonessential products helps to fund education, health care, senior services – or at the very least, to ward off cuts in those programs.
Initiatives 1100 and 1105: Both measures would end the carefully regulated sale of liquor in our state by privatizing the business. It’s estimated that passage of either would increase the number of outlets from the present 340 to as many as 5,000 – hard stuff in every corner drug store.
Privatization would cost the state. OFM estimates a reduction in state revenues from liquor sales of $277 million over five years under I-1100, and up to $730 million over five years under I-1105.
Either initiative would end Washington’s leadership in having the fewest illegal sales of any state. Either would increase illegal sales to underage persons, by up to 400 percent, according to the state auditor. And either would wipe out a thousand stable, family-wage jobs.
The liquor interests could care less. At our deadline, backers had poured $1.2 million into I-1100 and $2.2 million into I-1005. Booze bucks a-plenty to underwrite one big statewide binge.
Initiative 1053: Tim Eyman’s latest gridlock initiative would require a two-thirds vote to enact any revenue-raising legislation. Thus it would give a minority of legislators veto power over the majority. It would be our state’s counterpart to the 60-vote requirement that has tied the U.S. Senate in knots.
Passage of I-1053 would compel the 2011 legislature to deal with an anticipated $3 billion revenue shortfall with no recourse other than brutal cuts and drastic state employee layoffs.
Blood-soaked oil money is bankrolling the Eyman initiative. BP Corporation of North America, the architect of the Gulf oil disaster, and Tesoro Company, Inc., who gave us the Anacortes refinery explosion and fire, are the top donors to I-1053 at $65,000 each. BP killed 11 workers and Tesoro seven in their ghastly April dance of death.
So much for the “dirty five.” Let’s look now at two positive measures.
I-1098: It brings a long-overdue measure of equity to our state’s tax system. It establishes a limited income tax on the wealthiest 3 percent of Washingtonians. It helps thousands of small businesses by exempting them from the business and occupations tax. And it helps homeowners by reducing the state’s portion of the property tax by 20 percent.
I-1098’s tax on high incomes will generate about $2 billion a year, wholly dedicated to education and health care. And the money’s needed. Washington currently ranks 46th of the 50 states in the amount of our economy we invest in education. As for health care, there are 100,000 residents on the waiting list for the state’s Basic Health Plan right now.
(To volunteer for I-1098, use the form inserted with this issue of the Retiree Advocate.)
Referendum 52: A quality education also depends on the quality of the school buildings. Passage of Referendum 52 will enable the state to sell bonds to fund an energy refit of schools across the state. Nearly half our schools were built, or were last remodeled, 40 or more years ago. A retrofit will remove asbestos, mold, lead and other toxics. New energy-efficient systems will save money for years to come.
And the retrofit will create an estimated 30,000 jobs in a time of acute need, even as it gives our children the learning environment they deserve.
For our children, our health and our state’s future: YES on Initiative 1098 and on Referendum 52! NO on the ‘dirty five’ -- Initiatives 1082, 1107, 1100, 1105, and 1053!
Back to Home
Each and every issue on our November ballot, if approved by voters, will affect the quality of life in our state for good or for evil, and for years to come. Here’s an effort to help our readers cast an informed vote on a very complicated ballot.
Five of the seven measures due to come before the electorate have this in common: They are the work of narrow special interests, designed to undermine existing institutions or programs and to increase private profit at public expense. None of the five deserve five cents worth of support.
Here are the “dirty five”:
Initiative 1082: The welfare of every injured worker is on the line here. The insurance industry and the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) want to privatize workers’ compensation, to open the door to domination of the system by insurance companies.
Long ago, Washington workers gave up the right to sue their employers in exchange for “sure and certain relief” – that is, for the right to receive pay and care and job retraining when job injury or job disease strike.
I-1082 would enable BIAW and the likes of AIG and Liberty Mutual to transform our nonprofit system, challenging, delaying and denying claims in the classic manner of health insurers. The measure would drive up employers’ costs by 25 percent or more, cost jobs, and compel taxpayers to bail out any insurer who became insolvent. Written by and for private insurance, it would wreck a program that has functioned well for decades.
Initiative 1107: The Office of Financial Management (OFM) says I-1107 will reduce revenue to the state by $352 million and to local governments by $83 million over the next five years. This during a deep, ongoing recession labeled by Governor Chris Gregoire “the worst in 80 years.”
But I-1107 will do wonders for the big national beverage companies by repealing small, mostly temporary taxes on soda pop, gum, candy and bottled water. That’s why the big soft drink companies have already poured $10 million into the campaign to enact the measure.
Revenue produced by I-1107’s small taxes on nonessential products helps to fund education, health care, senior services – or at the very least, to ward off cuts in those programs.
Initiatives 1100 and 1105: Both measures would end the carefully regulated sale of liquor in our state by privatizing the business. It’s estimated that passage of either would increase the number of outlets from the present 340 to as many as 5,000 – hard stuff in every corner drug store.
Privatization would cost the state. OFM estimates a reduction in state revenues from liquor sales of $277 million over five years under I-1100, and up to $730 million over five years under I-1105.
Either initiative would end Washington’s leadership in having the fewest illegal sales of any state. Either would increase illegal sales to underage persons, by up to 400 percent, according to the state auditor. And either would wipe out a thousand stable, family-wage jobs.
The liquor interests could care less. At our deadline, backers had poured $1.2 million into I-1100 and $2.2 million into I-1005. Booze bucks a-plenty to underwrite one big statewide binge.
Initiative 1053: Tim Eyman’s latest gridlock initiative would require a two-thirds vote to enact any revenue-raising legislation. Thus it would give a minority of legislators veto power over the majority. It would be our state’s counterpart to the 60-vote requirement that has tied the U.S. Senate in knots.
Passage of I-1053 would compel the 2011 legislature to deal with an anticipated $3 billion revenue shortfall with no recourse other than brutal cuts and drastic state employee layoffs.
Blood-soaked oil money is bankrolling the Eyman initiative. BP Corporation of North America, the architect of the Gulf oil disaster, and Tesoro Company, Inc., who gave us the Anacortes refinery explosion and fire, are the top donors to I-1053 at $65,000 each. BP killed 11 workers and Tesoro seven in their ghastly April dance of death.
So much for the “dirty five.” Let’s look now at two positive measures.
I-1098: It brings a long-overdue measure of equity to our state’s tax system. It establishes a limited income tax on the wealthiest 3 percent of Washingtonians. It helps thousands of small businesses by exempting them from the business and occupations tax. And it helps homeowners by reducing the state’s portion of the property tax by 20 percent.
I-1098’s tax on high incomes will generate about $2 billion a year, wholly dedicated to education and health care. And the money’s needed. Washington currently ranks 46th of the 50 states in the amount of our economy we invest in education. As for health care, there are 100,000 residents on the waiting list for the state’s Basic Health Plan right now.
(To volunteer for I-1098, use the form inserted with this issue of the Retiree Advocate.)
Referendum 52: A quality education also depends on the quality of the school buildings. Passage of Referendum 52 will enable the state to sell bonds to fund an energy refit of schools across the state. Nearly half our schools were built, or were last remodeled, 40 or more years ago. A retrofit will remove asbestos, mold, lead and other toxics. New energy-efficient systems will save money for years to come.
And the retrofit will create an estimated 30,000 jobs in a time of acute need, even as it gives our children the learning environment they deserve.
For our children, our health and our state’s future: YES on Initiative 1098 and on Referendum 52! NO on the ‘dirty five’ -- Initiatives 1082, 1107, 1100, 1105, and 1053!
Back to Home
Friday, July 30, 2010
In plain English! Your Voters’ Guide to ballot measures
By David Groves
(Editor’s note: The July 22 Membership Meeting of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans adopted the same positions on this year’s ballot issues as those recommended by David Groves.)
The initiative process is direct democracy. It’s our opportunity to do what legislators don’t do -- or for us to undo what they did.
But, for a people’s process, the ballot questions sure don’t use plain English. By the time the dueling attorneys are done beating all the common sense out the question, it’s hard to tell exactly what we’re voting on.
Translating all the pompous legalese, here’s your Plain English Voter’s Guide to this fall’s key statewide ballot measures:
INITIATIVE 1053: Should we get rid of majority rule in the State Legislature? Should we let one-third of legislators block passage of the budget or anything related to state revenue?
When you put it like that, you see Tim Eyman’s I-1053 for what it is: an intentional recipe for gridlock in Olympia. In California, a similar super-majority requirement has been an unmitigated disaster -- unless you like your state employees receiving IOUs instead of paychecks.
I-1053 is a harmful, undemocratic impediment to our elected legislators’ ability to fund the critical state services we all rely upon, especially during the current severe economic downturn. Vote NO!
INITIATIVE 1082: Should AIG and other insurance companies take over our public nonprofit workers’ compensation system? Should we let them work the same “private sector efficiency” magic that they have on our health care system?
The fact that the insurance companies and the Building Industry Association of Washington are spending millions to try to convince you this is a good idea may be all you need to know. For them, this is just a cynical opportunity to make money – in BIAW’s case, by allowing them to skim money from the system to fund their right-wing conservative politics.
The truth is that I-1082 would drive up employers’ costs by at least 25% and that would kill jobs in this state. In states with privatized systems, taxpayers have been forced to bail out insolvent insurers that left injured workers and employers hanging. Vote NO!
INITIATIVE 1098: Should people who can afford it, pay less or more taxes than poor people?
I-1098 tackles the elephant in Washington’s living room: As a percentage of their incomes, the rich here pay less in taxes, and the poor pay more, than in any other state. It’s called a regressive tax structure, but us plain English speakers call it ass-backwards.
I-1098 will make the tax code fairer by creating a high-earners income tax on couples with joint incomes of more than $400,000 a year ($200,000 for individuals) to raise desperately needed revenue dedicated to education and health care. Vote YES
INITIATIVES 1100 AND 1105: Do we want liquor sold in every WalMart and Rite Aid?
These rival initiatives funded by dueling retail special-interests would privatize Washington liquor stores, eliminating more than 1,000 family-wage jobs and costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year in revenue. That means even more cuts in core state services.
Our state liquor stores have the best compliance rate in the nation for avoiding alcohol sales to minors. That’s because clerks have decent family-wage jobs that they don’t want to lose. Hand that grave responsibility to a minimum-wage clerk at a big box store, and the State Auditor estimates teenagers’ access to hard alcohol will increase by more than 400%. That’s why public safety officials have denounced I-1100 and I-1105. Vote NO on both!
INITIATIVE 1107: Should we force the Legislature to do another all-cuts budget?
Should we revoke taxes on soda pop, bottled water, candy and gum, compelling the Legislature to make even more severe cuts in education, public safety and health care?
Callously indifferent to the billions of dollars in state job and service cuts enacted in the past two years, out-of-state industry groups funded I-1107 to protect their products from taxation. Do you think the folks at Nestle care whether there are 30 or 35 students per class in Washington’s schools, or whether we have to eliminate parole supervision for criminals? No way – their focus is on the bottom line. Vote NO
REFERENDUM 52: Should we create jobs by repairing and upgrading schools?
The “Schools & Jobs Referendum” would issue $505 million in bonds to create some 30,000 jobs doing energy repair and retrofitting work at public schools, state colleges and universities. This investment will create desperately needed jobs and energy cost savings for the state over the long term. It will pay for itself and frontload the jobs NOW, when we need them. Vote YES!
(Editor’s note: The July 22 Membership Meeting of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans adopted the same positions on this year’s ballot issues as those recommended by David Groves.)
The initiative process is direct democracy. It’s our opportunity to do what legislators don’t do -- or for us to undo what they did.
But, for a people’s process, the ballot questions sure don’t use plain English. By the time the dueling attorneys are done beating all the common sense out the question, it’s hard to tell exactly what we’re voting on.
Translating all the pompous legalese, here’s your Plain English Voter’s Guide to this fall’s key statewide ballot measures:
INITIATIVE 1053: Should we get rid of majority rule in the State Legislature? Should we let one-third of legislators block passage of the budget or anything related to state revenue?
When you put it like that, you see Tim Eyman’s I-1053 for what it is: an intentional recipe for gridlock in Olympia. In California, a similar super-majority requirement has been an unmitigated disaster -- unless you like your state employees receiving IOUs instead of paychecks.
I-1053 is a harmful, undemocratic impediment to our elected legislators’ ability to fund the critical state services we all rely upon, especially during the current severe economic downturn. Vote NO!
INITIATIVE 1082: Should AIG and other insurance companies take over our public nonprofit workers’ compensation system? Should we let them work the same “private sector efficiency” magic that they have on our health care system?
The fact that the insurance companies and the Building Industry Association of Washington are spending millions to try to convince you this is a good idea may be all you need to know. For them, this is just a cynical opportunity to make money – in BIAW’s case, by allowing them to skim money from the system to fund their right-wing conservative politics.
The truth is that I-1082 would drive up employers’ costs by at least 25% and that would kill jobs in this state. In states with privatized systems, taxpayers have been forced to bail out insolvent insurers that left injured workers and employers hanging. Vote NO!
INITIATIVE 1098: Should people who can afford it, pay less or more taxes than poor people?
I-1098 tackles the elephant in Washington’s living room: As a percentage of their incomes, the rich here pay less in taxes, and the poor pay more, than in any other state. It’s called a regressive tax structure, but us plain English speakers call it ass-backwards.
I-1098 will make the tax code fairer by creating a high-earners income tax on couples with joint incomes of more than $400,000 a year ($200,000 for individuals) to raise desperately needed revenue dedicated to education and health care. Vote YES
INITIATIVES 1100 AND 1105: Do we want liquor sold in every WalMart and Rite Aid?
These rival initiatives funded by dueling retail special-interests would privatize Washington liquor stores, eliminating more than 1,000 family-wage jobs and costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year in revenue. That means even more cuts in core state services.
Our state liquor stores have the best compliance rate in the nation for avoiding alcohol sales to minors. That’s because clerks have decent family-wage jobs that they don’t want to lose. Hand that grave responsibility to a minimum-wage clerk at a big box store, and the State Auditor estimates teenagers’ access to hard alcohol will increase by more than 400%. That’s why public safety officials have denounced I-1100 and I-1105. Vote NO on both!
INITIATIVE 1107: Should we force the Legislature to do another all-cuts budget?
Should we revoke taxes on soda pop, bottled water, candy and gum, compelling the Legislature to make even more severe cuts in education, public safety and health care?
Callously indifferent to the billions of dollars in state job and service cuts enacted in the past two years, out-of-state industry groups funded I-1107 to protect their products from taxation. Do you think the folks at Nestle care whether there are 30 or 35 students per class in Washington’s schools, or whether we have to eliminate parole supervision for criminals? No way – their focus is on the bottom line. Vote NO
REFERENDUM 52: Should we create jobs by repairing and upgrading schools?
The “Schools & Jobs Referendum” would issue $505 million in bonds to create some 30,000 jobs doing energy repair and retrofitting work at public schools, state colleges and universities. This investment will create desperately needed jobs and energy cost savings for the state over the long term. It will pay for itself and frontload the jobs NOW, when we need them. Vote YES!
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