WSNIA - The Educator

INFORMATION ♦ EDUCATION ♦ ENFORCEMENT

THE EDUCATOR - Fall 2002

Cover Story: Initiative 790

Creates a Fair, Representative Governance Board
Protects the Pension Fund from Raids
Allows the Legislature to Have the Final Decision on Benefits, etc.
Washington is 1 of only 4 States Which Does Not Offer a Fair Governance Board
Is a Last Resort; Legislature Has Had the Chance to Make Changes
Initiative 790 Won't Cost Taxpayers Anything

Initiative 790 (Police & Fire Fighters for Pension Reform) is working its way to a strong win in November. This initiative is of great importance to the police officers in Washington, since it will affect you directly in terms of how your pension is handled and the retirement benefits you and your families receive

Phase 3: VOTER CONTACT
We are beginning the final phase of the campaign, from now to November 5th (Election Day). We have trained a team of local police officers and fire fighters to speak on behalf of Initiative 790 at endorsement meetings and Editorial Boards across the state. These speakers will help spread the message of I-790 and encourage voters to vote YES on November 5th.

We will also be producing our T.V. spots, which will run in late October and early November. In the last few weeks of the campaign, we will be calling on our troops again to help with sign-waving, Get-Out-The-Vote, and other means of voter contact to ensure a WIN on November 5th!

Unexpected Challenge: FISCAL NOTE
This is the first year initiatives will be given a "fiscal impact" note to inform voters of potential costs when they consider their vote. As you may have heard, Initiative 790 was, much to our surprise, given a deceptive fiscal note that will be our opposition's primary argument against us.

Initiative 790 was drafted from the text of House Bill 2931 (presented to the legislature in the 2002 session and killed in committee). I-790 is almost identical in text to HB 2931, which was given a fiscal note of $0.00. We had fully expected our fiscal note to reflect exactly what we know to be true; the passage of I-790 WILL NOT cost taxpayers. While the few opponents we have are powerful and vocal, their argument is misleading and we must ensure that voters know that OUR message is true and trustworthy.

How to win: STAY ON MESSAGE
This means we must STAY ON MESSAGE to win. When people you know ask you about Initiative 790, these are the key points that Washington voters need to hear repeatedly:

Remember-STAY ON MESSAGE.
We will win with a strong majority as long as we don't allow our opponents to force us away from our key points. We will be keeping a tight control over media contact, so if you would like to participate in writing "letters to the editor" or otherwise help with getting our message out, please check in with the campaign FIRST, and please refer ALL reporters to the campaign if you are asked to comment. Don't hesitate to contact the campaign with questions and check the web site regularly www.i-790.org.

You've worked hard to get to this point-we'll have to work harder to bring home the win on Election Day. Let's celebrate a victory on November 5th!