Land Use, Renewable Energy Measures Appear Headed To Ballot
POSTED: 7:33 am PDT July 7,
2006
UPDATED: 9:23 am PDT July 19,
2006
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Two more statewide initiatives appear to be headed for this fall's ballot.Initiative 933 is a property-rights measure supported by the state Farm Bureau.It requires government to compensate private landowners for regulations that hurt their property values. Opponents said that could scrap important government rules and send taxpayer dollars to big developers.I-933 backers say they turned in more than 315,000 signatures Thursday -- which would be enough to get it on the ballot.Also turning in signatures Thursday was the campaign for Initiative 937. That measure calls for 15 percent of large utilities' electricity to come from renewable sources by the year 2020. Supporters said they have more than 330,000 signatures. Initiative backers have until the close of business Friday to submit about 225,000 valid signatures. Sponsors usually try to turn in at least 260,000 to allow for duplicate and invalid signatures. Meanwhile, another pair of initiative campaigns have appointments with state elections officials Friday, and at least one is optimistic about making the ballot. Initiative 921 would send some sex offenders to prison for life on a first conviction. Sponsor Tracy Oetting of Skykomish declined to reveal her signature count, but said she is confident the measure will make the ballot. And Initiative 946 would require state and local governments to verify the identity and immigration status of every applicant for non-federally mandated public benefits, including welfare, Medicaid, food stamps and public housing.
Copyright 2006 by KIROTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.










