OLYMPIA — More than two decades after Washington state voters banned affirmative action, the question of whether one’s minority status should be considered as a contributing factor in state employment, contracting and admission to public colleges and universities is back on the ballot.
The Nov. 5 vote comes after the Legislature raced to approve Initiative 1000 on the final day of this year’s legislative session in April. Opponents of the measure collected enough signatures to force a referendum.
Referendum 88 asks voters to either approve or reject the measure that amends 1998’s Initiative 200, which was approved by 58 percent of voters. Under that law, state government is prohibited from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment to individuals or groups based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, or public contracting.
The initiative passed by lawmakers last spring would allow the consideration of being part of a minority group to be a contributing factor for a qualified applicant. Along with race, sex, and ethnicity, the measure allows consideration of age, disability and honorable discharge or military status.
It would prohibit using factors such as race as the sole qualifier and bans mandatory quotas but would allow state agencies and public colleges and universities to establish diversity goals. A commission would be created to direct and oversee compliance.
A 2017 opinion by the state attorney general said that I-200 “does not categorically prohibit all race- and sex-conscious actions regarding state contracting,” stating it only prohibits situations where race or gender is used to select a less qualified contractor over a more qualified one.
April Sims, co-chair of the Washington Fairness Coalition, said that I-1000 is needed because the fact that the attorney general was asked to weigh in shows that “the language in I-200 wasn’t clear.” She said voting to approve the initiative through next month’s referendum would clarify what state agencies and universities can do to diversify their workforce.
“It puts Washington state on par with the 42 other states that currently allow for affirmative action and increased opportunity and fairness for communities and people who have been left out and left behind for years,” she said. “This gives us the opportunity to level the playing the field.”
Washington is one of eight states — including California, Florida and Oklahoma — that ban affirmative action in state government and public colleges and universities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Opponents who pushed to get the referendum on next month’s ballot argue the goals and timetables allowed under the new legislation are essentially quotas by another name.
