In the form of measure 82, it went to public ballot. Polls showed the measure so unpopular, though, that with only a third of the money spent, the industry suspended its campaign. The new citizen gas tax was overwhelmingly rejected. The initiative system was born of the populist reform movement a century ago, to lessen the influence of money in politics. It enables citizens to bypass state legislatures and enact laws themselves.
Laws go to a direct public vote if they generate enough signatures.
24 states use the process today. In Oregon, which requires a relatively low number of signatures, the success rate is usually higher. Some of the state's most innovative laws, like suffrage for women in 1911 and legalization of doctor-aided death for terminally ill patients, were enacted through initiative. But Oregon political activist Dick Springer says many grassroots initiatives in Oregon were derailed by well-funded special interests in the 1990's. Whether it was to limit a harvest and clear-cutting of our forests, limit pollution of our streams, expand Oregon's bottle bill, truly grassroots efforts that had significant public support in the polling, those measures flipped around after millions of dollars of paid advertising.