Direct Democracy' has an off year; changes ahead?

Tim Eyman (left) gestures during an Oct. 17th debate in Seattle with
Phil Talmadge over Eyman's $30-car-tab initiative. Talmadge wants to be
governor, and Eyman sometimes is called Washington's "real" governor
because his initiatives often dominate campaign cycles.

In the 24 states that permit initiatives, just 49 measures are on the
ballot this fall, a 30 percent decrease from 2000 and the lowest number
since 1986.

DAVE AMMONS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

10/27/02

OLYMPIA, WA-- For all the complaints about running Washington by
initiative, "Direct Democracy" is having a bit of an off-year.

Critics of overuse -- or misuse -- of the citizen initiative hope to
launch a broad public discussion of ballot-box decision-making, and
lawmakers say additional restrictions and refinements may be in store.

Several dozen initiatives were filed last winter, but only two are on
the Nov. 5 ballot. One is a Tim Eyman transportation measure that
doesn't directly affect 35 of the 39 counties.

The other is a rather technical measure dealing with police and fire
pensions, a plan that likewise doesn't affect the masses.

The two initiatives, which will be joined on the ballot by two
legislative bills and a constitutional amendment, compare with a high of
nine measures voters decided in 1996 and six just two years ago. Three
were on the ballot last year, and the number dwindled even further this
year.

Will that soon drop to zero?

Aficionados and detractors alike agree that initiatives are here to
stay, and likely to cycle back into major prominence.

"Those big blockbusters, you can't expect those every year," says
initiative expert Todd Donovan.

"It's not just Washington (in a down cycle). Nationally, it's a bit of
an off-year.

"The '90s saw this big increase in the use of initiatives, but you can't
expect a linear progression forever. Nor do I think we will ever get to
a situation where there is hardly any usage. The Legislature and the
courts might make it harder, but the genie is out of the bottle and
you're never going to put it back."

Independent pollster Stuart Elway says voters don't think there are too
many initiatives and love voting on issues. "It's such a part of the
fabric of life here, it's never going away."

A national trend Dane Waters, president of the Initiative & Referendum
Institute in Washington, D.C., disputes critics who believe the bloom is
off the rose.

Washington reflects a national trend toward a temporary pause in furious
use of the process, he says.

In the 24 states that permit initiatives, just 49 measures are on the
ballot this fall, a 30 percent decrease from 2000 and the lowest number
since 1986, Waters says. Oregon has seven initiatives this fall, down
from 18 two years ago.

He attributes the decline to four causes:

-Legislatures are making access harder and adding requirements.
Washington hasn't changed its signature requirement -- 8 percent of the
last gubernatorial vote, or about 200,000 -- and hasn't found a
constitutional way to bar paid signature-gathering.

-Courts have thrown out some voter-approved initiatives, sometimes on
technical grounds. Two of Tim Eyman's initiatives, for instance, were
tossed out because he violated the single-subject rule.

"It's a chill across the country," Waters says.

-Some would-be sponsors are waiting to see how the November elections
come out, following redistricting last winter. They may try getting
their agenda through legislatures before resorting to the ballot box.

Pollster Elway agrees that many special interests are taking a
wait-and-see attitude. "If there are interests who feel particularly
aggrieved by inaction, or budget cuts, in the next session, there may be
a spate of initiatives next year."

-Some issues, like term limits and tax rollbacks, have run their course.

"Movements come and go," political scientist Donovan says.

Other analysts say it could reflect:

-The sickly economy. "Most people know we don't have any money (to
spend on initiatives)," says state budget chief Marty Brown.

He says people seem diverted by Sept. 11, Iraq, sagging 401K
statements, and other concerns and are less tuned into more mundane
aspects of government.

-Eyman fatigue. Eyman, the high-profile cowboy of the movement, has
ruffled many feathers and has become the symbol for everything critics
don't like about the system. He's now into his sixth year of running
initiatives, and weathered a salary scandal that knocked him for a loop.

-Decline to sign. People seem to be paying more attention to proposals
and aren't as eager to sign just any petition, says Secretary of State
Sam Reed. Gov. Gary Locke jawboned business groups into backing off
from a plan to impose tighter state spending and tax limits. Some
lawmakers say the spate of newspaper criticism of overuse of the process
is getting through to people.

-Legislative performance. House State Government Chairwoman Sandra
Romero, D-Olympia, says breaking the logjam in Olympia this year gave
some people more confidence that lawmakers can perform. Government is
getting higher poll marks since the Sept. 11 attacks.

This go-around The twin initiatives on the Nov. 5 ballot:

-I-776. From Eyman's Permanent Offense initiative factory, this measure
would restore the $30 annual car tabs that were approved under a
previous measure, I-695, which removed about $750 million annually from
state and local treasuries.

Except for cheaper light truck tabs, the new plan affects voters only in
King, Snohomish, Pierce and Douglas, where a $15 road tax is levied.

An excise tax approved by voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish also is
targeted, removing about 20 percent of Sound Transit's funding.

-I-790. Law enforcement and fire fighters are pushing for creation of a
pension board with a majority of employee members. The Legislature now
sets pension policy. I-790 allows the board to propose benefit changes
that are subject to a straight up-or-down vote of the Legislature.

Three other measures are up for a statewide vote.

The Legislature seeks approval of a $7.7 billion transportation package
with Referendum 51.

Business groups are taking their feud over unemployment taxes to the
voters with R-53.

Lawmakers also propose a constitutional amendment, HJR4220, to allow
fire protection districts to request operating levies up to four years
and construction levies up to six years, rather than being limited to
one year.

Changes afoot?

Legislators, gubernatorial hopeful Phil Talmadge and activists on both
sides of the issue have ramped up the debate over whether the system is
being overused and whether any changes are needed.

Talmadge, a Democrat who says initiatives often are a sign of weak-kneed
political leaders, criticizes "budgeting by initiative" by Eyman and
others who want to cut revenue without identifying service cuts, and
spender groups who want to mandate new spending without identifying
revenue sources.

He noted that while Eyman was chopping car tabs by billions, education
forces were mandating equally huge spending increases.

Budget chief Brown says education initiatives and Eyman's property-tax
cap measure are costing the treasury $1.3 billion in the current budget.

Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach, says flatly "The
initiative process is being overused and it is destroying representative
government."

Single-issue special interests are going to the ballot rather than
taking their turn in Olympia, where competing needs must be balanced, he
says.

Talmadge says it's a bit of a vicious cycle, since the threat of
initiatives "tends to make your elected officials less than leaders,
make them extremely tentative, not willing to step up to solve problems
for fear the decision will be overturned by the electorate."

Eyman and other users and defenders of the system say it is precisely
Olympia's failings that fuel the initiative.

If lawmakers dealt with issues that initiatives seek to address, the
initiative would wane, he says.

The National Conference of State Legislatures, in a harsh report in
July, said the initiative has evolved from a populist tool for the
average citizen into "a tool that too often is exploited by special
interests. Opportunities for abuse of the process outweigh its
advantages."

Romero says lawmakers will continue mulling the initiative process, but
aren't likely to make wholesale changes in something so popular.

She will sponsor a bill to lower the number of signatures required for
an initiative to the Legislature. That would generate hearings and
allow lawmakers to propose an alternative for the ballot, she says.

Other lawmakers will propose that initiative sponsors get a quota of
their signatures from each of the nine congressional districts.

Roaring back?

Lawmakers themselves talk about using their referendum powers more.

They are considering plans to place voter-approved education spending
measures back on the ballot with a revenue source. Lawmakers may also
place a new transportation package on the ballot.

Eyman already is talking about 2003. He intends to push a plan that
would ratchet down spending and tax limits, and if it qualifies, an
initiative to the Legislature that shifts sales tax receipts from car
sales from the general treasury to the road fund.

He can't imagine the process withering away.

"The process is about having the voters' voices heard about how much
taxpayers can afford. It is inconceivable that there won't be at least
one area in all of public policy where elected officials aren't
listening.

"The initiative tells them 'You're not the only game in town.' "