Formal complaint filed against Eyman

Associated Press

OLYMPIA – The state Public Disclosure Commission filed a formal complaint today against initiative sponsor Tim Eyman. The agency will investigate whether he violated state law by secretly taking money from his anti-tax campaigns for his own use.

Earlier this week, Eyman confessed to The Associated Press that he funneled money from his campaigns into a for-profit corporation so he could take it for himself.

Eyman had repeatedly denied accusations that he was profiting from his initiative work.

The complaint filed by Vicki Rippie, the commission’s executive director, ordered an investigation into whether Eyman and his campaigns failed to properly report campaign spending, whether they concealed the fact that campaign money was used to pay Eyman, whether the campaign paid for Eyman’s personal expenses and whether the for-profit corporation was an unregistered political committee.

If it finds Eyman or his campaigns violated state law, the commission could levy fines totaling $2,500. However, for intentional violations, the commission typically refers cases to the state attorney general, who can seek fines of as much as $10,000 per violation.

Susan Harris, the commission’s assistant director, said the campaign watchdog agency’s staff would have no further comment during the investigation.

Eyman did not answer phone calls to his Mukilteo home.

The mail-order watch salesman has mounted a multiyear assault on Washington’s tax structure, beginning with 1999’s Initiative 695, which repealed the hated motor vehicle excise tax and mandated a public vote on all tax and fee increases.

The courts threw out I-695, ruling it unconstitutional. But the Legislature quickly moved to abolish the car-tab tax anyway. Eyman followed up with Initiative 722, a property tax limiting measure also tossed out by the courts, and Initiative 747, last year’s successful property tax limitation measure.

A constant thorn in the side of lawmakers and Gov. Gary Locke, Eyman’s power in Washington politics grew as his initiatives passed. This year, he all but forced leading lawmakers to concede that any increase in the gasoline tax be put before the voters.

But his homegrown tax revolt took a hit on Sunday when he telephoned an AP reporter to confess what he had long denied – that initiatives were a living and not just a labor of love.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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