Jay Inslee, Wash­ing­ton’s like­ly Demo­c­ra­t­ic nom­i­nee for gov­er­nor in 2012, released his posi­tions on all three of Wash­ing­ton’s 2011 statewide ini­tia­tives this after­noon, after ear­li­er tak­ing a strong stand on one of them (Tim Eyman’s I‑1125) at the Wash­ing­ton Con­ser­va­tion Vot­ers’ Break­fast of Cham­pi­ons ear­li­er this month.

Inslee oppos­es I‑1125 and Cost­co’s I‑1183, and sup­ports SEIU’s I‑1163.

His ratio­nale on I‑1183:

As a for­mer pros­e­cu­tor of many drunk dri­vers who has per­son­al­ly seen the car­nage they cause, I can­not in good con­scious sup­port a large expan­sion of hard liquor avail­abil­i­ty in our state. So while we must look for effi­cien­cies in the deliv­ery of all ser­vices, I can­not sup­port this measure.

We agree and strong­ly urge a NO vote on I‑1183 this autumn.

On I‑1163:

Giv­en the impor­tance of pro­tect­ing the least among us, I will be vot­ing in sup­port of this mea­sure. Ini­tia­tives with bud­getary impacts pose unique prob­lems, and the Leg­is­la­ture will still have to bal­ance fund­ing this with oth­er priorities.

We are also sup­port­ing I‑1163, with the same reservations.

On I‑1125:

I will be join­ing the many busi­ness own­ers, work­ers, tran­sit rid­ers and farm­ers across the state vot­ing against I‑1125 this Novem­ber for one sim­ple rea­son: it will dam­age our abil­i­ty to grow our econ­o­my and cre­ate jobs.

I‑1125 is more than just a jobs-killer. It’s a grid­lock cre­ator. If the old Ever­green Point Float­ing Bridge is dam­aged by an earth­quake or a wind­storm because our plans to replace it were sab­o­taged by I‑1125, we’ll be in a world of hurt.

The loss of either one of our float­ing bridges would have dev­as­tat­ing impacts on cross-lake com­merce. It is vital we replace the aging span built dur­ing Gov­er­nor Rosellini’s time in office half a cen­tu­ry ago.

I‑1125 also jeop­ar­dizes the Colum­bia Riv­er Cross­ing and East Link. If we don’t get those projects built, traf­fic con­ges­tion will only become worse.

We thank Jay Inslee for tak­ing a strong, coura­geous stand against I‑1125, and for join­ing us in oppos­ing I‑1183 and I‑1163 as well.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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2 replies on “Jay Inslee releases positions on Washington’s 2011 statewide initiatives”

  1. I agree with Inslee about 1183. I dis­agree with him on 1125. Basi­cal­ly, light rail on either I‑90 or I‑5 (Port­land to Van­cou­ver, WA) is ille­gal under the 18th amend­ment to the State Con­sti­tu­tion. The 18th specif­i­cal­ly says that gas tax­es can only be used for high­way pur­pos­es, nev­er for light rail. 

    As for a nat­ur­al dis­as­ter destroy­ing 520, remem­ber that even if 1125 pass­es, it does NOT ban tolls, it sim­ply makes tolls project spe­cif­ic. There is no rea­son why vot­ing yes on 1125 would stop the replace­ment of 520.

  2. Pingback: Morning Rundown for October 19th, 2011

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