Political Quotes

“Senator Ashcroft feels strongly about the validity of citizen initiatives. So do I. So does Margaret Morrow. As she explained to the Committee when she testified and reiterated in response to written questions, she fully respects and honors voters choice. Ms. Morrow has explained to the Committee that she is not anti-initiative in spite of what some would have us believe. In response to written questions, she discussed an article she wrote in 1988 and explained, in pertinent part: My goal was not to eliminate the need for initiatives. Rather, I was proposing ways to strengthen the initiative process by making it more efficient and less costly, so that it could better serve the purpose for which it was originally intended. At the same time, I was suggesting measures to increase the Legislature's willingness to address issues of concern to ordinary citizens regardless of the views of special interests or campaign contributors. I do not believe these goals are inconsistent. . . . . The reasons that led Governor Johnson to create the initiative process in 1911 are still valid today, and it remains an important aspect of our democratic form of government. Does this sound like someone who is anti-democratic? No objective evaluation of the record can yield the conclusion that she is anti-initiative. No fair reading of her 1988 article even suggests that.”