Washington Universal Healthcare Ballot Measure Falls Short In Signature Drive
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A grassroots campaign to put universal healthcare on the Washington ballot this year has fallen short. Campaign organizers announced Wednesday that they are ending the petition drive for Initiative 1600.
I-1600 sought to create a nonprofit trust to guarantee all Washington residents access to health care. But with only $79,000 raised and an all-volunteer signature-gathering campaign, it wasn’t to be. In a July 4 statement to supporters, organizers said they were determined to top 100,000 signatures—far short of the nearly 260,000 required to qualify for the November ballot.
“Even a People’s Initiative is dependent on large sums of money,” the statement said.
The campaign took an emotional hit as well when its founder and chair Kathy Angel recently died of cancer. An initiative to make collective bargaining sessions open to the public also appears to have fallen short. The Transparency in Government campaign cancelled its appointment to drop off petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Measures dealing with a carbon fee, soda taxes and guns do appear on track to qualify for the fall ballot.
Copyright 2018 Northwest News Network
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