From raising taxes for schools to legalizing medical pot, Utah ballot initiatives rake in more than $500K in October

Groups seeking to qualify five initiatives for next year’s ballot had a busy month — raising a combined $538,000 in October, according to new disclosure forms.

They now have raised a grand total of $1.34 million this year.

The Our Schools Now initiative — seeking to increase taxes for schools — raised $469,637 so far this year; Better Boundaries, campaigning to stop gerrymandering, brought in $321,552; and the Utah Patients Coalition, seeking to allow medical marijuana raised $282,972.

Also, Count My vote raised $201,649 toward creating a direct primary to replace entirely the caucus-convention system for choosing party nominees. And Utah Decides Healthcare, which seeks to expand Medicaid for the poor, raised $68,649.

In just October — the period covered by the latest disclosures — Count My Vote collected $201,000; Our Schools Now raised $122,000; Better Boundaries brought in $78,000; and Utah Decides Healthcare and the Utah Patients Coalition each raised about $68,000.

The initiatives each must gather 113,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, and then campaign for passage. Each group hope voters will enact legislation that has polled well, but never passed in the Legislature.

Several of the initiatives are being helped by large donors.

For example, Our Schools Now received another $100,000 in October from Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller, raising her total donations to the group to $200,000. That means she has provided more than $2 of every $5 it has raised.

Count My Vote received $100,000 each in the month from former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt — one of the founders of that initiative — and from John R. Miller, CEO of a meat packing company and a former member of Mitt Romney’s national finance team.

The pair account for almost all of Count My Vote’s money so far, although the group’s executive co-chairman, Rich McKeown, has said it has pledges for “a significant amount” approaching $1 million.

The Utah Patients Coalition reported receiving another $25,000 from the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation in Washington, D.C., during October. That foundation has now provided $50,000 total, and the related Marijuana Policy Project has given a separate $52,500.

The Medicaid expansion initiative in October received $37,400 from The Fairness Project of Washington, D.C., and $25,800 from AARP Utah. Those two groups have provided 92 percent of the initiative’s donations so far.

Better Boundaries received 816 separate donations from individuals and groups during October, but the vast majority of those were small amounts. The largest donation in that time was $10,000 from Sentry Financial. Also, activist Annette Cumming gave $5,000.