I-735 Validated, Thurston County Contributed Nearly 16,000 Signatures

Above: The Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature. Initiative 735 clarifies that corporations are not people, money is not speech, and all political donations should be made public.

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“Woohoo! So happy! I am so pleased with what we in Thurston County were able to accomplish,” said Jennifer Sprague, in response to the news that the Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature.

Sprague, a local organizer for the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend) in Thurston County, received the news Tuesday afternoon.

Initiative 735 urges Washington State’s Congressional delegation and all members of Congress to propose a federal Constitutional amendment clarifying that Constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations. It also says that spending money is not free speech under the First Amendment.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, the invalidation rate, including duplicates and signatures from people not found on the voter rolls, was 18 percent, about average for Washington ballot measures in recent decades.

Next, the Legislature may enact the initiative into law, or may send it to the General Election ballot for a vote of the people. Since it is unlikely the initiative will be enacted into law, organizers are urging people to vote yes on I-735 this coming November.

Sprague and other I-735 supporters held a rally on Thursday afternoon, the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United v. FEC decision, at the Washington State Capitol Building.

“Voting yes will make Washington State the 17th state to urge Congress to introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision,” said Sprague.

WAmend organizers collected 333,040 signatures for I-735 and turned them in to the Washington State Secretary of State’s office on December 30 and 31, 2015.

Thurston County volunteers were responsible for gathering 15,920 signatures for the initiative. Sprague said that gathering almost 16,000 signatures was their goal, which is about 10 percent of the registered voters in the county.

Above: Several checkers strive to validate troublesome signatures for I-735 last week at the Washington Secretary of State's office in downtown Olympia.

The Secretary of State’s office started reviewing the I-735 ballots Wednesday evening and finished a few days earlier than expected. Anyone can observe the process during normal business hours.

Kay Ramsey, Secretary of State program coordinator, was busy checking signatures last week, along with about 15 paid, temporary staff who received training for their job from the Washington State Patrol. Staff cross checked signatures with the statewide voter registration database.

Asked what causes the most difficulties with petition signatures, Ramsey said that a lot of people aren’t actually registered to vote, bad handwriting, and very common names.

Checkers also have difficulties with very large and very small signatures, attempted scratch outs, lightly written signatures, those that only sign or only print their name, and other issues.

Little Hollywood observed the signature checking process last week and witnessed several illegible and light signatures that were not able to be confirmed by the checker.

Ramsey said that every effort is made to do a second round check to see if the proper signature can be found.

For more information about I-735 and the initiative process, go to: www.WAMEND.org. Previous articles about the initiative are at Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com. Use the search button to type in key words.

For more information about Thurston County’s I-735 efforts, contact Jennifer Sprague at I-735olympia@hotmail.com or Michael Savoca at Masavoca@fairpoint.net

Big Money in Politics: WAmend Initiative Efforts Begin Again

 

Above: President Andrew Jackson says, "Not To Be Used For Buying Elections" - Amend the Constitution

 

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

A new and improved initiative to get big money out of politics has Washington  Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend) organizers in Olympia motivated, once again, to start the signature collection process. The group had its first public strategy meeting Thursday evening.

The Move to Amend organization seeks to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision which declared in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission that a corporation is a person and unlimited campaign money is free speech. If successful, it would make Washington State the 17th state to ask that Congress pass a 28th Amendment to overrule the decision.

Formerly called I-1329, the new initiative is easy to understand, say WAmend organizers. The new initiative language stills needs a number, and is expected to soon be approved by the state Attorney General and Secretary of State.

“The new language is better because it is far shorter – fewer words than the old 1329, by more than half. Our aim in penning this new version is to minimize, or avoid altogether, language which could be misinterpreted, polarizing or partisan. The new language takes into consideration language which has been successfully passed in over one dozen states,” says Michael Savoca, acting chair of the Olympia Chapter of WAmend.

“We endeavored to craft language that would unite people on both the left and the right,” says Savoca, who participated in the initiative’s rewrite, a process that took WAmend steering committee organizers about three months.

Savoca intends to hold monthly meetings and coordinate volunteers to collect the estimated 300,000 signatures needed for the initiative’s placement on a statewide ballot.The deadline to collect signatures is at the end of December.

New Initiative Strategy

In early January, Fix Democracy First! and Move On organizers showed the movie Pay to Play, a film about the corrupting influence of money in politics, which successfully galvanized a standing room only crowd at downtown Olympia’s Traditions Fair Trade to begin focused, local organizing efforts.

Activists took time to examine its efforts and discuss lessons learned from the last signature gathering process. The campaign fell short, generating about 175,000 signatures: there was little time for volunteers to gather enough signatures and little to no money to advertise or pay signature gatherers.

Unlike the last initiative, which went straight to the voters, this year’s strategy for success means that this initiative, when certified as having enough signatures, will be submitted to the Legislature at its regular session in January of 2016. 

Signature gathering will take place during all of 2015, from April until December.  Activists are ready to start gathering signatures as soon as possible, says Savoca.

An over-simplified explanation of the new strategy process means that the Legislature can pass it as written, bring it to a vote, or change it.

After the initiative is submitted to the Legislature, the Legislature can take one of three options:

• The Legislature can adopt the initiative as it has been proposed by the public and in this case it becomes law without it a vote by the people;

• The Legislature can reject the proposed initiative or refuse to act on it and in this case the initiative must be placed on the ballot for the state’s next general election;

• The Legislature can approve an amended version of the proposed initiative and this this case both the amended and the original versions of the bill will appear on the state’s next general election ballot.

Above: Jennifer Sprague, Olympia, collected thousands of signatures for last year's initiative to the people to overturn the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court ruling. She's ready to do it again this year!

Efforts United

Olympia WAmend activist Jennifer Sprague collected thousands of signatures for last year’s initiative. She said she found it easy and fun.

“I collected 200 signatures in one afternoon before the Procession of the Species,” said Sprague.

Savoca and Sprague encourage activists to track several pieces of state legislation this session that affect campaign finance reform.

A rally held January 21 at the State Capitol marked the fifth year anniversary of the Citizens United decision. Several statewide organizations participated, including WashPIRG, Fix Democracy First! (formerly Washington Public Campaigns), WAmend, and the Backbone Campaign.

Representative Andy Billig (D-3) spoke to his proposed legislation, SB5153, that would serve to increase transparency in elections by requiring greater reporting of who gives to political campaigns.

Senate Joint Memorial 8002, sponsored by state Senator Bob Hasegawa (D-11), urges Congress to pass a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United. It has 12 co-sponsors.

Sprague says she asked Representative Sam Hunt (D-22) to co-sponsor the Senate’s companion bill, HJM 4004, and is pleased that he has done so. A first reading of the bill occurred February 2 and was referred, subject to approval, to the State Government Committee. Hunt is chair of the House State Government Committee. HJM 4004 has 34 co-sponsors, including Representative Chris Reykdal (D-22).

Koch Brothers Threaten Washington State Senator Murray

In an email sent yesterday to constituents, Washington State Senator Patty Murray said the Koch Brothers are planning to go after her Democratic seat and spend a billion dollars up front to buy her office.

“You and I now have an opponent in my re-election campaign: the Koch brothers. There wasn't a flashy press conference or anything, but a week ago, at a secretive meeting in California, the Koch brothers announced that they are going to spend nearly $900 million on the next election…and some of that money is going to be heading to Washington State.

“….David and Charles Kochs' names won't actually be on the ballot in Washington state, but their fingerprints are going to be ALL over this election. With close to $1 billion to spend, and only nine incumbent Democratic senators, they're sure to spend millions to try to repeat their 2014 success,” says the Murray email.

Olympia activist Bev Bassett received Murray’s email. Wearing several buttons, saying No Oil Trains, Bassett attended the WAmend meeting Thursday night. She said she worked “half-assed and half-hearted” on last year’s campaign. This time, she will work harder to collect signatures for the initiative.

Citing the interconnectedness of all local issues, Bassett said, “Big money clouds everything. It makes our politicians answerable to corporations, not us….Now, Patty Murray is not perfect, I'll be the first to say, but she is not as bad as, say, Mitch McConnell, who is completely owned by the wealthy interests.

“….So many times in my lifetime I have looked at our political situation and thought, ‘It could not be worse.’ And now, it’s worse. I believe that we no longer have the luxury of prioritizing any issue below the issue of big money in politics. It has already cost us most of our democracy, and what little we have left of it is circling the drain. So, while we still have a Constitutional framework to work with to make positive change, I am working with WAmend,” said Bassett.

Move to Amend organizers will meet monthly, and will host an upcoming event, “Challenging Corporate Rule and Creating Democracy,” with national spokesperson David Cobb on Thursday, February 12, 7:00 p.m., at Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5^th Avenue, in downtown Olympia.

For more information about the Washington State Legislature, specific bills and members, go to www.leg.wa.gov.

To read more about the difference between an initiative to the Legislature and an initiative to the people, go to:  http://participedia.net/en/methods/washington-state-initiative-process

For more information about the initiative or future Olympia area meetings, contact Michael Savoca at (360) 951-6518 or go to www.WAmend.org.

Previous Little Hollywood articles about WAmend and getting big money out of politics can be found by typing keywords into the search engine at Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com.

Move To Amend U.S. Constitution Initiative Filed in Washington State

 

Initiative Filed with Secretary of State on Saturday

By Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

A state initiative seeking to amend the U.S. Constitution was submitted electronically to the Washington Secretary of State's office on Saturday, say organizers.

The full text of the initiative is available on the WAmend website at www.WAmend.org.

The summary provided to Secretary of State Kim Wyman is:

The voters of the State of Washington urge immediate action by the current and future Washington State Congressional delegations to propose a joint resolution for an amendment to the United States Constitution clarifying that:

 

1)      The rights of people protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.

 

2)      All citizens should have equal voice in the political process, and no person or artificial legal entity should gain undue influence over government as a result of financial resources. Federal, state, and local governments shall be fully empowered to regulate all political contributions and expenditures to meet this goal.

 

3)      All political contributions and expenditures shall be publicly disclosed in a full and timely manner.

 

Kim Jordan, a WAmend organizer from Whidbey Island, was in Olympia on Thursday night to meet with South Sound activists and solicit support for the initiative’s language. 

“I got involved with this movement because, over the years, I finally came to realize that government and the political parties do not function like I thought they did. I thought that politicians were dependent on the people. But too many times I saw that only a few voices - those of very wealthy interests - seemed to be controlling the conversation and that our representatives seemed to listen to them, or fear them, far more than you and I. So I knew it had to do with money…. both inside and outside of the campaigns and how it controls candidates, political parties, legislation and just about every other aspect of the political system,” said Jordan.

The statewide group is quickly becoming organized and learning lessons from the state’s recent I-522 debacle. The Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution is 27 organizations with about 1,450 volunteer petition gatherers so far.

Jordan asked for volunteers, saying that 3000 people are desired to accomplish the work of signature gathering by June 30, 2014.

“I-522 was a top down structure – that is not us. We are a volunteer, grassroots, statewide initiative, building teams throughout the state…our goal is to give templates and tools to local groups, and let them do their own field work….” Jordan told the local group, which has been active for several years in various forms.

According to a 2012 USA Today/Gallup Poll, 87% of Americans say money in the political process is a problem and want it solved.

Ninety U.S. Congressional House of Representative members and 28 U.S. Senators have announced their support for a constitutional amendment.

According to WAmend, 18 Washington State senators and 38 representatives support a U.S. Constitutional amendment, including South Sound 22^nd District Senator Karen Fraser and Representatives Chris Reykdal and Sam Hunt.

Over 600 counties and cities nationwide have voted for measures calling for an end to money as free speech.

In Washington State, thirteen cities have passed resolutions supporting the move to amend: Port Townsend, Bellingham, Seattle, Langley, La Conner, Coupeville, Olympia, Kirkland, Sequim, Walla Walla, Tacoma, Oak Harbor, and Anacortes.

Three Washington counties, Jefferson, Island, and Snohomish have also passed resolutions in support of the movement.

The Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution is 27 organizations with 1,450 volunteer signature gatherers so far. The group is seeking 300,000 signatures as a buffer to ensure they get valid 250,000 signatures.

“This is do-able!” said Jordan.

Several groups have worked on the initiative’s wording, which has gone through about nine versions and will have to pass muster at the code revisers and attorney general’s office, and a Thurston County judge. The petition is expected to be printed around January 17 or 18.

“Our strategy is based on Colorado’s and Montana’s successful method,” said Jordan.

It is predicted by some that opposition will be quiet, given that the initiative is non-binding.

Language about how candidates are going to pay for campaigns is not addressed in the proposed initiative language.

WAmend is seeing a surge of support since I-522 went under because activists saw the result of corporate spending, and approximately sixty people are signed up so far to volunteer with the campaign in Thurston County, many of them who were activists with I-522, says Jordan.

“This is a different deal than I-522…I-522 had paid petition gatherers, and grassroots efforts were pushed off to the side. This is a different ballgame – this is a real citizen’s initiative. That’s what many of us thought I-522 was, but it wasn’t….” she said.
Mike Savoca, chair of the Olympia Move To Amend group, said that despite the differences in methodology to amend the Constitution, the point is that campaign spending by corporations should be limited.

"The sky should not be the limit...within days, we saw support for I-522 erode with millions of dollars and lies...The goal is equal access for an equal voice, otherwise politicians will be in contradiction to the Constitution,” he said.

Although the local group tabled outright merging with the state WAmend group, those present supported the proposed language and will work with the organization.

The Olympia Move to Amend group agreed to support the following wording to describe their own efforts: “Through collective action we pledge to work toward the common goal of educating the public about corporate personhood, with the ultimate goal of passing a 28^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stating that a corporation is not a person and as such does not possess the constitutional rights of a human being, and thus corporate campaign spending is not free speech and as such shall be subject to legislative regulation.”

Cindy Black, a WAmend organizer from Seattle, said, “I see this as a unifying issue to include seniors to youth. It’s about educating people about this issue. Whether it passes in November or not, the work continues….”

Jeff Eidsness, state organizer for Wolf-PAC, agreed, saying, “I think it’s an awesome way to network…we have support on this from all sides.”

Wolf-PAC is working on the same issue in a different way - through an Article V convention via the state legislatures. Some say this is the only official way to go about changing the U.S. Constitution.

Asked later about how he got involved with the issue, Eidsness said, “My passion for this issue stems from the level of disgust with the legalized corruption we've been handed. I grew up in a military family, and spent some of my youth in Hawaii, steeped in the lore of Pearl Harbor/WWII and the USS Arizona in particular. We were taught about the sacrifices, the blood, sweat and tears, that were offered so other people could have a better life, so it was easy for me to buy into Obama's whole Change idea.

"Well, things are different for sure, but nothing like most of us were expecting. I'm not a politically active individual by nature...(but) watching the news, it was obvious that the system wasn't working….One way I got my news was via an online talk show, The Young Turks.

"The Young Turk’s founder started Wolf PAC during Occupy Wall Street and I sat on the sidelines watching until early 2013 when I started actively participating in the most important course correction that our country has needed in generations....Given all the sacrifices others have made for this country in the past, using the system to get our politicians to do the right thing is the least I can do.”

Wolf-PAC conducts weekly conference calls to exchange updates and ideas. For more information, contact Jeff Eidsness at jeff@wolf-pac.com or (360) 349-2120.

The Olympia Move to Amend organization meets bimonthly on the first Thursday and the second Wednesday of each month. For more information, contact Mike Savoca at masavoca@fairpoint.net or go to www.movetoamend.org or www.WAmend.org.

For more information about money in politics, read “Dollarocracy and the Movement to Amend the Constitution,” November 17, 2013, Little Hollywood, and other articles at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com.