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Only days before the ballots for November’s general election must be finalized, a Whatcom County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday the Healthy Children’s Fund repeal initiative is illegitimate, putting to rest a question county government has wrestled with for months.
This spring, citizens with the political action committee Washingtonians for a Sound Economy gathered enough signatures to introduce a ballot initiative to repeal the Healthy Children’s Fund in an effort to lower property taxes. The fund is paid for with a levy lid lift that was approved by voters in 2022, increasing property taxes to fund child care and support for vulnerable children.
The fund is expected to bring in a total of $100 million by its renewal date in 2032. The county has already executed $1.6 million in contracts with another $2.2 million set to be approved for specialized services, basic needs and workforce development directed toward child care and homelessness.
In August, a divided Whatcom County Council approved a $60,000 contract for outside legal counsel to review the repeal initiative, while at the same time Protect Whatcom Kids, another political action committee, filed an injunction in an effort to keep the issue off the ballot.
Judge Lee Grochmal heard the case on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 3, after several judge reassignments and a rescheduling further increased the sense of urgency, with the county auditor required to approve the ballot for the general election on Friday, Sept. 6.
Protect Whatcom Kids attorney Knoll Lowney argued the ballot initiative was both procedurally and substantially invalid for several reasons, citing prior cases, state statute and the county charter. He said the initiative impairs existing or pending contracts the county has entered into with service providers, exceeds the scope of local initiative power and interferes with the county council’s budgeting authority.
Attorney Joel Ard, representing Washingtonians for a Sound Economy sponsor Tim Koetje, denied the initiative was invalid and said that even if it did have errors, precedent shows that challenges to the form and structure of a citizens initiative are not enough to keep it off the ballot. He also said that there is no threat to existing contracts and there’s “plenty of time” to address any harms that the initiative might cause after it goes to a vote, in post-election review.
“There is certainly no harm in the next six weeks of people discussing whether or not the ordinance from 2022 should be repealed,” Ard said.
In her decision, Judge Grochmal accepted that the initiative was procedurally sound but said its substance was invalid, and ordered an injunction that will keep it off November’s ballot.
Grochmal said the repeal initiative, if enacted, would hinder plans adopted by the county and could interfere with contracts already in place. She agreed with the plaintiff’s argument that implementation of the Healthy Children’s Fund is administrative in nature, not legislative, so a citizens initiative is not the proper way to stop the program.
Erin Lynch, the board president of the Chuckanut Health Foundation and a member of Protect Whatcom Kids, said after the decision that she was “so relieved.” As an advocate for the Healthy Children’s Fund in 2022, she expected to spend nights and weekends this fall campaigning again to protect the program.
“Now we can focus on spending time doing good in our community and getting the real work done,” Lynch said.
Ard declined to comment on the case. Ashley Butenschoen, the volunteer communications manager for Washingtonians for a Sound Economy, described the decision as “nothing short of canceling democracy.”
“If it’s not a legislative action, then why not let the people tell the council where they stand on it?” Butenschoen said. “People are very mad about the fact that they’re not allowed to vote.”
The PAC could appeal the injunction, but Butenschoen declined to comment on any possible or pending legal actions.
This story was updated on Sept. 4 to include comment from Washingtonians for a Sound Economy.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
