October 5, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Dave McMullan, Chairman, Pierce County Republican Party
PCRP Email:
Web: Piercegop.org
Local Republican Party Takes Positions on Two State Initiatives and One Resolution
At its third quarterly meeting of 2019, held on August 16th, the Pierce County Republican Party (PCRP) Central Committee unanimously approved taking formal positions on three items. One is a resolution that is included on the state ballot this November, and there are two initiatives the party (PCRP) is hopeful will make it to the November 2020 ballot.
The Republican Party has a very long, distinguished history of boldly supporting passage of civil rights legislation. The PCRP also opposes discrimination and strongly supports existing non-discrimination laws and practices. Therefore, for the November 2019 ballot, the PCRP firmly recommends that voters REJECT Referendum 88, regarding I-1000. This initiative abolishes the standard of equality for all, as is currently required by the voter-approved Washington Civil Rights Act.
If this passes with a vote to approve, a new system would be created to apply different discrimination factors to different groups of people when granting public employment, contracting and educational opportunities. It would also establish a large governor-appointed bureaucracy. Perhaps most disturbingly, it would eliminate the Veterans’ Preference in public employment that has been a legal standard in Washington State since 1895.
Ongoing Signature Gathering for the following Initiatives:
The Party’s ‘Minimal Government’ core principal and ‘Spending and Taxes’ platform clearly support reducing taxes, cutting waste, and limiting government control. Therefore, the party ENDORSES Initiative 1082, Term Limits on Taxes, Round 2. Over 300,000 signatures must be gathered to allow citizens to vote on this initiative on the 2020 ballot; therefore, the PCRP encourages citizens to both sign the initiative and volunteer to gather signatures to help meet this goal. This measure would require state tax increases to expire after one year unless approved by a majority vote of the people, and terminate tax increases imposed in 2019 and 2020 without such approval.
The Party also ENDORSES Initiative 1004, the Parental Notification of Abortion Act. The PCRP strongly encourage voters to sign the petition and volunteer to help gather signatures to ensure this initiative gets on the November 2020 ballot. This measure would protect parental rights and require physicians to notify parents or guardians before performing abortions on minors, with exceptions for medical emergencies or by court order. It would also provide criminal penalties and civil liability for violations.
“These endorsements follow the policies and vision of our party. Our party supports our veterans, the men and women who have given so much for the freedom we enjoy in this country and our republic. They need to be treated with respect, and not the dismissal that this referendum shows them.
Our party values the sanctity of life and the unborn baby. We believe it is the parents’ undeniable right to know before their minor child is given an abortion and the life of an unborn child is ended.” said Dave McMullan, PCRP Chairman.
“And Washington voters should decide for themselves if they want to allow these taxes to continue costing Washington voters nearly $27 billion over the next decade. The fact these taxes were passed in the dead of night in the last hours of the 2019 session using title only bills, commonly referred to as “ghost bills,” when the state already has a surplus in revenue, makes what was done most appalling. It should be pointed out not a single Republican voted for these insane tax increases on the citizens of Washington.”
To sign petitions for these initiatives, or to learn more about support for these measures, www.PierceGOP.org or email Paula Lonergan at or contact her at (253) 722-5353 to obtain petition forms.
