Commentary

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Sunday, October 18, 2009 INITIATIVE 1033 YES: Rein in spending, cap government revenue By Tim Eyman The worst thing government can do right now is raise taxes because that’ll just make this tough recession last longer. That’s why Gov. Gregoire’s recent announcement enthusiastically supporting higher taxes makes Initiative 1033, on the November ballot, especially necessary. I-1033 protects taxpayers and our struggling economy by making sure that state, county and city politicians cannot take more of our money — raise taxes, increase fees, jack up property assessments — unless voters approve. With I-1033, instead of constantly trying to maximize revenue — taking more of our money — politicians will have to spend their time maximizing the effectiveness of existing revenue. And “more revenue” will only be a last resort and only with voter approval. 93 percent of small business owners in Washington endorsed I-1033 recently. In their endorsement announcement, Washington’s NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) wrote: “Small businesses are struggling just to keep their doors open. Higher taxes jeopardize their ability to stay in business, let alone add the jobs this state needs to pull itself out of recession. With a looming $117 million workers’ compensation tax hike and Gregoire’s announcement that she is open to additional tax increases, it’s not surprising that small businesses are demanding some restraint.” Eight years ago, during tough economic times and just six weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Initiative 747 was on the ballot. It proposed a 1 percent cap on the growth of a lot of the revenue for the state, counties, cities, ports, fire districts, library districts, public utility districts, and other local governments (it specifically excluded school districts). I-747 had a safety valve — if government wanted more than 1%, they could go to the voters and ask for more. At the time, Big Business, Big Labor, politicians and the press went ballistic — they said it’d be “devastating” and “impossible.” A massive list of opponents said it was a bad time for fiscal discipline. Nonetheless, voters approved I-747 by a huge 58-42 percent margin. Since 2001, governments have adapted to the 1 percent limit. It has become so widely accepted that Gregoire called a special session and reimposed it in 2007. The vote was 86-8 in the House, 39-9 in the Senate — every Republican and 80 percent of Democrats — and Gregoire enthusiastically signed it. Prior to the election, a 1 percent cap was “impossible” — now, it is the new normal. What’s being said about I-1033 is the same stuff that was said about I-747 but instead of a 1 percent automatic increase, I-1033 provides a much higher automatic increase: inflation-and-population growth. And I-1033 has the same safety valve: if government wants more than I-1033’s automatic increase, they can ask the voters for more. Have we had any experience with inflation-and-population growth limits? You bet. From 1993 through 2005, government lived with I-601’s growth limit, the same as I-1033’s. During that 12 years, government grew but at a more stable, sustainable rate. That changed in 2005, when Gregoire and the Democrats got rid of I-601’s limit with Senate Bill 6078. The result? They created a huge fiscal roller coaster, overextending themselves in good times — creating unsustainable budgets — which inevitably made the bad times even worse, ending with a $9 billion deficit. If they hadn’t repealed I-601’s reasonable growth limit, government would have grown to where it is today — but there wouldn’t have been a wrenching $9 billion deficit. I-1033 brings back I-601’s fiscal discipline — we need it now more than ever. From NFIB’s 93 percent endorsement announcement: “Initiative 1033 will restore some sanity to government budgeting which has been lost as the Legislature whittled away the spending controls that the people established through I-601.” I-1033 also allows funds to be transferred into the constitutionally-protected rainy day fund. And if government receives excess tax revenue beyond that, that extra revenue will be used to lower everyone’s crushing property tax burden. Opponents want higher taxes and a state income tax. Opponents are against any limit on government’s power to take as much as they want from the taxpayers. Property taxes keep going higher and higher and government keeps getting bigger and bigger. The people are losing control. I-1033 allows the state, counties and cities to grow, but at a rate that citizens can control and taxpayers can afford. I-1033 gets government off the fiscal roller coaster, allowing it to grow at a sustainable rate that doesn’t outpace taxpayers’ ability to afford it. Remember, under I-1033, politicians can’t raise your taxes, increase fees, or jack up property assessments — not without voter approval. Please vote Yes on I-1033. Tim Eyman is co-sponsor of I-1033 (www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com). Contact him at 425-493-8707 or tim_eyman@comcast.net. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out LOL! Yes, your $30 car tab cap worked so well for families, didn't it Tim! So why not cash-strap our government again......and middle class citizens will AGAIN, take the brunt of lowered state revenue. How about YOU taking a pay cut and donating to the families who are suffering as a result of lowered taxes/state revenue due to your insane $30 car tab fiasco? Don't go away angry, Tim. Just go away! Linton Dawson | Oct 21, 2009 10:16 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

1. From behind bars, pal tells Colton Harris-Moore to keep running 2. A student by day, he's homeless by night 3. Colton Harris-Moore’s mother says he’s not out in the cold 4. Vigil at Mariner High School honors two crash victims 5. Attorney’s daughter: Mom had to have deal with Tiger Woods 6. Sen. Haugen’s husband sued by her former aide 7. Korean Air to buy Boeing 747-8 passenger planes 8. Fund set up to benefit children of couple killed in crash 9. Everett approves a tribute to key figure in its history 10. Snohomish County home sales up; prices fall 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Wildcats fall to familar foe in semis • ‘Nutcracker' times three • Road warrior • Mavericks reloading • Holiday Lightings & Santa Sightings • Cities prepare for winter blast repeat • Wolfpack duo takes last shot at state tourney • This Weekend in Your Town • Tips for the stormy season • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million