Under current state law, college admissions, state contracts and hiring decisions treat everyone equally. But Referendum 88/ Initiative 1000 threatens that fairness and must be rejected.

Because we should all be treated equally.

Referendum 88 / Initiative 1000 would impose different rules for different races:

• Want to attend a state university or college? Your race will be a factor on whether you get in.

• Want a job working for a city, county or the state? Your race will be judged not just your qualifications.

• Want to apply for a government contract? Your company’s ability to do the best work for a fair price won’t matter. The race of the business owner will.

• And our honorably discharged veterans, disabled veterans and survivors will lose a preference in public hiring that was written into state law over 100 years ago.

And what do we get in return for these new quotas? A massive new state bureaucracy—unelected and unaccountable— that will spend millions to enforce the use of race in every part of our lives.

Vote to reject Referendum 88 / Initiative 1000. Washington state is rightly proud of its record of treating every person and every race equally. Don’t let anybody change that now.

ZhiQing Yao

Issaquah