The Initiative 1000 campaign on January 4, 2019, submitted more than 387,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office. If I-1000 qualifies, it could be approved during the current legislative session or could be sent to the November ballot. Initiative 1000 would change Washington state law to allow the government to use “affirmative action that does not constitute preferential treatment” to remedy discrimination in public employment, education and contracting against veterans and historically disadvantaged groups, such as women and people of color.
I-1000 is aimed at negating Initiative 200, a measure approved by Washington voters in 1998 that changed state law to prohibit the government from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any person or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.
Since I-200 became law, businesses owned by women and minorities have lost billions of dollars in work they would otherwise have been awarded, said Hayward Evans, another activist. “The results have been horrible, devastating,” added Nat Jackson, who worked for affirmative action years ago under then-Gov. Dan Evans and is now an architect of I-1000.
Source: Seattle Times, January 10, 2019 and August 16, 2018
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