Ramifications of tax initiative debated

Published 11:11 pm Thursday, September 20, 2007

EVERETT — Whether Initiative 960 will make state lawmakers more accountable or impede their ability to govern dominated a debate Thursday between the measure’s Mukilteo author and a critic from Monroe.

Tim Eyman is pushing the November ballot measure that reaffirms rules for raising taxes while adding new ones to thicken the flow of information to the public on proposed taxes.

I-960 would reaffirm the state law approved in 1993 requiring a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature to raise a state tax.

The initiative also would require a fiscal analysis for each revenue-raising bill introduced in a legislative session and a press release sent out every time that bill is discussed or voted on.

“We have to think of our elected officials down in Olympia like children,” he told an audience of 50 business, civic and political leaders at the Holiday Inn. “This is the adult supervision we’re simply trying to place upon (them) in Olympia.”

Nancy Truitt Pierce, president of Woods Creek consulting in Monroe, countered that the initiative’s rules would add layers of bureaucracy that would bog down lawmakers.

She said it is “very poorly written” and the ambiguity will mean the state “will probably spend years and millions of dollars to understand what it says.”

The initiative doesn’t apply only to taxes, she told the crowd. It would bar state agencies from creating a new fee or increasing an existing one without legis lative approval by lawmakers.

This means debating and passing legislation on increases as small as a quarter in the costs of parking at a state park campsite.

The time and energy spent complying will mean lawmakers “don’t have the time to debate the really important things,” she said.

“I don’t think you’re children,” Pierce said to the current and former lawmakers in attendance. “I think you’re dedicated adults doing important work.”

Pierce said the public can now track legislation on the state Legislature’s Web site. They can also sign up to receive e-mails alerting them to action involving any bill, tax-related or not.

Eyman responded: “That only matters if you know about this state Web site that discriminates against older people who don’t have a computer.”

“What’s so insidious about Olympia is you don’t know what they’re doing. This (initiative) allows you to break through the fog,” he said.

The Private Enterprise Coalition was the host of Thursday’s debate.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.