Deadline day for Wash. initiative campaigns

Initiative campaigns dealing with tax increases and private liquor sales turned over boxes of signed petitions Friday, the final day for sponsors to show they have enough voter support to appear on November's ballot.

The three campaigns delivering signatures Friday join three others that handed in petitions earlier in the week, making 2010 a very busy season for direct democracy campaigns.

State officials must verify that the campaigns' petitions have enough valid voter signatures to meet the minimum threshold of about 241,000. Each of the six campaigns estimated they turned in more than 300,000 signatures, which is the cushion recommended by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

The three initiative campaigns turning in petitions Friday were:

- I-1107, which would roll back new tax hikes on pop, candy and other products.

- I-1053, requiring a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature to raise taxes.

- I-1105, which would privatize the current state government monopoly on liquor sales and distribution.

I-1107 is supported mainly by the American Beverage Association, which has contributed nearly $2.5 million to the campaign, according to state finance reports. The opposition, which has raised about $200,000, is led by labor unions, hospitals and clinics.

If approved by voters, I-1107 would roll back state tax hikes on pop, bottled water, candy, gum and some processed meat products. Sponsors said they turned in nearly 400,000 signatures Friday morning.

"We're talking about products that everyday families get when they go to the grocery store and load up their carts," said Tim Martin, president of the Washington Beverage Association.

But Jon Gould of the Children's Alliance, which opposes the initiative, said rolling back the tax hikes would only bring more cuts to state programs that have suffered through recent budget deficits.

"The choice for us is clear, a few extra pennies or the loss of essential services for kids," Gould said.

I-1053 is sponsored by perennial initiative activist Tim Eyman. It would make raising taxes more difficult by forcing the Legislature to get a two-thirds majority vote, rather than the simple majority required for most legislation.

Voters have approved such a requirement three times in various initiatives over the years, but legislators have suspended it and raised taxes when facing big budget deficits, as they did in 2010.

"It ought to be tougher for them to take more of our money," Eyman said Friday.

No opposition committee is yet registered with the state, but Eyman's anti-tax initiatives usually face a "no" campaign backed by unions and social service groups.

The final campaign to turn in petitions Friday was I-1105, which would end the state's sole control over distribution and sales of hard liquor and allow private businesses to take over.

It's the second initiative dealing with privatizing the liquor system this year, and both have submitted enough signatures to potentially make the ballot.

I-1105 supporters say their initiative is a balanced approach that reforms an antiquated system while still keeping many of the regulations that govern how alcohol is moved from manufacturers to retailers. Beverage distributors are major financial supporters.

"I think we all want our government working on essential services and not on liquor sales," spokeswoman Charla Neuman said.

The competing liquor initiative, I-1100, goes much farther: It also would toss out the "three-tier" system of alcohol regulation that isolates wholesalers from retailers, mandates minimum price markups and bans retailers from getting discounts on large purchases of beer or wine.

I-1107 got a huge push of financial and logistical support from Issaquah-based Costco Wholesale Corp., which has fought the state's post-Prohibition alcohol regulations for years.

A unified campaign called Keep our Kids Safe opposes both liquor privatization initiatives, saying they will cost the state millions in tax revenue and greatly increase hard liquor sales.

The two other initiatives that have handed in signatures are I-1082, which would allow private insurers to offer workers' compensation coverage; and I-1098, which would institute an income tax on couples making more than $400,000 yearly, or half that for individuals.

---

AP Writer Rachel La Corte contributed to this report.

---

Online:

Yes on 1107: http://stopgrocerytaxes.com

Yes on 1053: http://www.voterswantmorechoices.com

Yes on 1105: http://liquorreform.org/