On February 7, 2019, Initiative 1000 was certified to the Washington legislature after enough signatures were found to be valid. Proponents submitted 395,938 signatures and, using a random sample method, the secretary of state’s office found that 76 percent of the signatures were valid—more than the 259,622 required signatures.
Initiative I-1000 would allow affirmative action without the use of quotas in the state of Washington. This means that characteristics such as race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status could be used as factors when considering a person for education or employment opportunities. I-1000 would, however, ban preferential treatment, meaning those characteristics could not be the sole or deciding factor when considering a person for education or employment opportunities. I-1000 would also ban discrimination based on those characteristics.
The measure would also create the Governor’s commission on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which would be responsible for ensuring compliance with the measure, and would be required to issue an annual report on the progress of state agencies in achieving the measure’s goal of “guaranteeing every resident of Washington state equal opportunity and access to public education, public employment.”
Initiative to the Legislature is the name for indirect initiated state statutes in the state of Washington. Upon signature verification, these initiatives go before the Washington Legislature at its next regular legislative session in January. The legislature must take one of three actions:
- The legislature can adopt the initiative as proposed, in which case it becomes law without a vote of the people.
- The legislature can reject or refuse to act on the proposed initiative, in which case the initiative must be placed on the ballot at the next state general election.
- The legislature can approve an alternative to the proposed initiative, in which case both the original proposal and the legislature’s alternative must be placed on the ballot at the next state general election.
Washington I-200 of 1998 banned preferential treatment and discrimination in public education, employment and contracting based on sex, race, and ethnicity. Voters approved the measure by over 300,000 votes (58 percent to 42 percent) making Washington the second state to enact such a measure at the time.
Seven other states besides Washington currently ban race-based affirmative action at all public universities. In Arizona, California, Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, all bans were passed by voters at the ballot box. In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush created the ban through executive order. In New Hampshire, the legislature passed a bill banning the consideration of race.
The following constitutional amendments prohibited discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting:
- California Proposition 209 (1996)
- Michigan Proposal 2 (2006)
- Nebraska Measure 424 (2008)
- Oklahoma State Question 759 (2012)
The Oklahoma measure was referred to the ballot by the state legislature while the California, Michigan, and Nebraska measures were initiated by citizens.
Arizona Proposition 107 (2010), a legislatively-referred amendment, banned affirmative action programs in the state that were administered by statewide or local units of government, including state agencies, cities, counties, community colleges, and school districts.