[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMoY8XAakzA[/youtube]

There are six initiatives and one referendum on the ballot this year, which is a lot for anyone to keep track of. We checked in with Anne Martens, spokeswoman for the Ballot Initiative Network (a progressive group that works on initiatives) for a quickfire ballot measure roundup.

Martens and her organization are obviously progressive, and so they're working the lefty angle on all of the issues. They're opposing five initiatives this year:

• I-1053, reinstating the two-thirds majority required for tax increases;


• I-1100 & 1105, the liquor privatization initiatives;


• I-1082, the privatization of Worker's Comp;


• and 1107, the repeal of the candy and soda tax.

And they're championing a couple as well:

• I-1098, the higher-earners' income tax,


• Referendum 52, which would create a competitive grants process for renovating schools in ways that would save energy. (R-52 was criticized widely with the belief that it would harm Washington State's bond rating, but it has since been tied to the bottled water tax, which means that Washington bonds won't suffer.)