Eyman to launch new initiative targeting initiatives

An initiative on initiatives. It’s not even January, and political veteran Tim Eyman says he’s preparing to file the first measure for the 2013 ballot.

I-517 would make it illegal to bring a lawsuit against an initiative until after citizens have had a chance to vote on the measure.

Eyman says he’s confident backers have more than enough signatures to qualify I-517 for the November election.

Over the last two years, Eyman says he has been working with local groups who want to put red light cameras to a vote of the people. But, several times cities have filed lawsuits to keep the initiatives off the ballot.

“They shouldn’t have to face this onslaught of litigation brought by, sometimes, their own local elected officials suing their own citizens,” says Eyman.

People backing conservative measures aren’t the only ones facing challenges to their initiatives, according to Eyman. He notes the city of Bellingham recently sued to stop a citizen initiative keeping coal trains from running through their city.

“Squelching a basic First Amendment right, the right to vote, is an absolutely horrible thing for them to do,” Eyman says. “Let the litigation happen after the election.”

I-517 would also give petitioners an extra six months to gather signatures in order to qualify a measure for the ballot. Eyman says grassroots measures without much financial backing need more time for signature gathering than do initiatives with corporate support.

Eyman says the signatures in support of I-517 will be delivered to the Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday, January 3rd.