Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Amid the myriad of topics and candidates on this year’s general election ballot, voters in our state already have a 20-year tradition when it comes to two measures.
Statewide, voters have twice overwhelmingly told lawmakers to hold the car tab fees at $30. And statewide, voters 21 years ago overwhelmingly told lawmakers to stop injecting race, gender, etc. into government hiring and college admissions processes.
So, I’m at a loss as to why government employees and elected officials think it's now OK to subvert the will of voters.
Initiative 976
The measure, if approved by voters in the Nov. 5 general election, will limit car tab fees to $30 for vehicles weighing less than 10,000 and base vehicle taxes on the Kelley Blue Book standard rather than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. (When have you ever paid the suggested retail price for a new car?)
I-976 will also repeal some taxes and fees imposed by local and regional agencies for transportation projects.
Government agencies would have you believe passage of the measure will threaten numerous road and other projects. But they should have thought about that when adding taxes and fees to vehicle licensing against the will of voters, a will that has been exercised at the polls already twice.
Indeed, many regional and municipal governments are now charging fees for filing, license service, general service, vehicle weight, transportation districts, vehicle weight, value, and more. Those and other fees were opposed by 51.5 percent of voters in 2002 (Initiative 776) and 56.2 percent in 1999 (Initiative 695).
In 2000, then Gov. Gary Locke signed the $30 tab restriction into law, only to have other government agencies file suit and upend the will of the people.
The $30 restriction passed again in 2002 and was upheld by the state Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Justices Charles Johnson, Barbara Madsen, Richard Sanders and Mary Fairhurst upholding the $30 restriction.
But after two years, state law allows amending or repealing initiatives. And little by little, with voters taking their eyes off the ball, regional and local government agencies began their assault on the will of voters.
Now, those same agencies are trying to scare voters by telling them transit projects can’t survive without those taxes and fees. Some are inappropriately passing resolutions assailing the ballot measure, citing that possibility.
But many of those projects were not requested by voters. Furthermore, in most cases, voters were never asked to support the projects, presumably because elected officials and bureaucrats believed voters wouldn’t allocate their hard-earned dollars to them.
As a result, in recent years, we’ve seeing a wellspring of unnecessary roundabouts pop up across Eastern Washington. In most cases, motorists don’t like them and voters were never asked if they wanted them.
I-976 puts the licensing fee back at the rate voters have overwhelmingly – and traditionally – supported. If voters want roundabouts and other transportation projects, put funding for those projects on the ballot for a separate vote.
Initiative 976 is on the ballot because government agencies have decided they know what’s best for the electorate, without first having asked voters if they are willing to ante up.
Referendum 88
Here’s another ballot measure in which state voters have an established tradition that’s being upended by government-knows-best types from Western Washington.
In 1998, 58.2 percent of voters in our state ended affirmative action.
Since then, race, sex, gender, etc. have been disallowed as factors in government hiring and college admissions processes. In 1998, 58.2 percent of voters said ability is more important that diversity in their approval of Initiative 200.
Referendum 88 is on the ballot because of last-minute shenanigans on the floors of our state House and Senate.
In the waning hours of the final day of the 2019 legislative session -- shortly before 9 p.m. April 28 – westside Democrats pushed through Initiative 1000 to resume affirmative action. There was virtually no discussion or debate.
It didn’t take long for voters to organize and say wait a minute. Quickly, enough signatures were gathered statewide to get Referendum 88 on the ballot. The referendum questions whether the legislature’s near-secret maneuver should become law.
If R-88 passes, race, sex, gender, etc. will be again used as one factor among several in the hiring process for government jobs and college admissions. Passage effectively ends the competitive practices to get hired in a government job or admitted to a public institution of higher learning.
Opposing R-88 reaffirms our state’s 21-year tradition of putting skill ahead of race and ability ahead of gender.
When you head to cast your mail-in ballot, remember that we – meaning Washington state voters – have already addressed the topics covered by these two ballot measures. We’ve already loudly said “yes” to $30 car tabs limits twice and overwhelmingly “no” to affirmative action.
Don’t let bureaucrats and elected officials overturn the will of voters. They work for us, not the other way around.
Roger Harnack is the publisher of Free Press Publishing. Email him at [email protected].
Roger Harnack is co-owner and publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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