By Katie McClendon
August, 2006
The 45th District Democrats are working to protect Washington taxpayers from the high costs of lawsuits and the threat to neighborhood protections that Initiative 933 would create.
Initiative 933 will open up loopholes to pave farmland and turn back the clock on community protections by creating a “pay or waive” system. That “pay or waive” system forces taxpayers to shell out potentially billions of dollars to make people follow laws that are already on the books or those protections must be waived.
Even before local communities are forced to waive laws for special interests, it will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars just to administer. Initiative 933 also mandates that taxpayers must pay for claimants' attorneys' fees.
Initiative 933 is so poorly written and leaves so many questions unanswered that there will be an influx of lawsuits to sort it all out. Taxpayers will be left with the bill for this expensive legal mess.
The extraordinarily high cost and the lawsuits that will likely result from 933 are not the only horrible outcomes of this initiative. Initiative 933 would be retroactive and rollback environmental protections at least 10 years and potentially further.
The NO on 933 campaign continues to gain support in the farming community. Western Washington Agricultural Association has joined the United Farm Workers, Tilth Producers of Washington, Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland and many other family farmers in endorsing the NO on 933 campaign.
Initiative 933 would open up land for development that is currently protected for agriculture. Farmers don’t want to have to compete with irresponsible developers for land to grow crops, this would make it more costly and more difficult to stay in business.
As the Skagit Valley Herald puts it in a recent editorial, if Initiative 933 passes… “you can kiss farming good-bye in Skagit County.”
Oregon has seen farmland come under attack from its similar, but less extreme Measure 37. So far there have been more than 2,800 Measure 37 claims, for over $3.8 billion dollars. Sadly, over 1,100 of those claims are for changes to more than 80,000 acres of farmland.
The 45th District Democrats have helped to grow the NO on 933 coalition and communicate with people who care about Washington. The diverse and growing coalition of organizations and individuals across Washington State includes the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, League of Women Voters, American Lung Association of Washington, The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Washington Environmental Council, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and many more. The entire list is available on the campaign website www.NOon933.org. These groups share the common thread of wanting to preserve the rights of communities and our quality of life by defeating this costly and loophole ridden initiative.
Also at the website you can Pledge to Vote NO, check for NO on 933 events near you, read a detailed analysis and learn why so many of your fellow Washingtonians are going to Vote NO on 933!
Please visit www.NOon933.org and volunteer; put up a yard sign or have a house party and help us stop this reckless and costly initiative.