But that may be all there is for initiative reformers this year. Two other initiative bills – one to limit contributions to initiatives and another to require initiatives to identify new taxes to cover their costs – are expected to die at Tuesday’s first committee deadline for policy bills in the House.
House Bill 2499 requires the listing of names of the top five contributors for ads either for or against initiatives. The limit applies to ads costing more than $1,000 and with donors of at least $700 each in the past year. The House State Government passed it on a 7-to-4 partisan vote.
Rep. Sam Hunt, the Olympia Democrat who chairs the committee, voted for the measure and said it is fairer to subject campaigns to the same rules. “We ask other campaigns to list their top 5 contributors. I don’t think it should be any different,’’ Hunt said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’’
Proposals to put limits on initiatives might have slightly more appeal this year after Costco donated $22.5 million to a single campaign to privatize state liquor sales. A year before, the national soda industry poured $16 million into repealing a pop and bottled water tax, running misleading ads tying the taxes to food.
Tim Eyman, a professional initiative promoter who testified against HB 2499, said lawmakers left themselves out of the limits. But Hunt said later that lawmakers are limited to $1,600 per campaign cycle from any one donor – so it should be obvious they are supported by a broader base than, say, the Costco measure.
“My campaign says paid for by Sam Hunt, representative. I can’t use ‘People for Good Government’ or ‘People for Responsible Government.’ This is part of trying to peel that onion and see who is really there’’ behind big contributions, Hunt said.
That said, a second reform measure, HB 2500, is going to die, according to Hunt. That measure limits what individuals can contribute to initiatives – mirroring limits on what can be given to candidates.
“I think it’s pretty clear we’d face a court challenge and it would be a hard time upholding it,” Hunt said.
Hunt noted a recent federal-court ruling that struck down the state’s limit on donations in the final three weeks of a ballot campaign. “I think the current judicial atmosphere wouldn’t let it go anywhere,’’ he said.
Professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman testified against both bills.
And the battle over initiatives brought out strong sentiment – and strong arguments – on both sides. Go here for the prepared remarks from Craig Salins of Washington Public Campaigns. He believes that big money is corrupting the initiative process.
Go here for prepared remarks from Shawn Newman, an Olympia lawyer who is also Washington state director for the Initiative and Referendum Institute based at the University of Southern California.
Rep. Andy Billig, a first-term Democrat from Spokane, sponsored HB 2500 and HB 2499.
A third bill also dying at Tuesday’s deadline is House Joint Resolution 4224. It was sponsored by Rep. Fred Finn, D-Thurston County, and requires initiatives to identify new revenues to cover any new costs it incurs for state or local governments that exceed $5 million.
But Democratic Sen. Craig Pridemore of Vancouver has said he has interest in that same concept. The Senate’s deadline for moving policy bills is Friday.
