It
fs all a matter of choice. The Governor has CHOSEN not to address congestion, the same mistake he made when he CHOSE to ignore the dislike the voters had for the MVET. For a bright man, he sure seems to be making the same mistake twice.

In the absence of any better alternative, Eymans traffic improvement initiative will get wide support.

From the Seattle PI: http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/budg18.shtml Locke puts money toward teachers, tax cuts, but not highway construction Saturday, December 18, 1999 By ROBERT GAVIN SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke this week put off the question of paying for highway construction, declaring the shortfall created by Initiative 695 "too large" to be addressed in his proposed budget. But he could have, had he wanted to. The amount of money he would return to taxpayers through property tax cuts alone would nearly cover the cost of the transportation program approved by voters as 1998's Referendum 49. Add to that the money Locke would spend on new teachers, and the state could even cover the cost of borrowing money for the now-defunct traffic congestion relief program. State Treasurer Michael Murphy earlier this year estimated the cost of paying off the 25-year bond issue at about $136 million a year. Compare that to the property tax revenue the state will forego -- about $110 million a year. And add in Locke's "1,000 new teachers" initiative, which would cost an estimated $70 million annually. That equation illustrates what undoubtedly will be the focus of debate in the coming legislative session: What are the state's spending priorities in the wake of I-695?

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), December 20, 1999

Answers

If it is a matter of choice, didn't the voters speak when they voted in I-695, basically abolishing Proposition 49 which dedicated the majority of MVET to cover transportation? The voters had a chance to change their minds and they did.

Wouldn't people think that Gov. Locke is disregarding the "will of the people" if he proposed a budget that replaced funds to a program that the people had just cut funding to?

Isn't there a state commission that is supposed to come up with a transportation report/recommendation soon? Wouldn't it be smarter to wait until the commission's report came out before proposing a new transportation budget?

Should the transportation problems of basically three Western Washington counties be funded by the rest of the state? Isn't that why Sound Transit was formed?

-- Questioning (g_ma2000@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

Traffic congestion, what traffic congestion? I live in a small town which traveling salesmen who come here, call," A Grave Yard with Lights". The only economic development we have had, has been two taco bells and an Als autoparts store. It takes me approximately two and a half to three minutes to get to work everyday. I do get mad if the occasional stop light has two cars in front of me. I can live with this amount of traffic congestion. What bothers me is the city council. It wants to add seventy thousand dollars to the tourist fund to attract tourists. Who is going to drive here to take pictures of wheat fields? 695 is going to make them change their priorities. Who is this Gov. Locke? He must govern the west side of Washington because he never comes to the east side or or seem to help us. Just be glad Olympia is on the west side of the state or you would really be screwed.

-- Rolex Hoffmann (rolex@innw.net), December 20, 1999.

[If it is a matter of choice, didn't the voters speak when they voted in I-695, basically abolishing Proposition 49 which dedicated the majority of MVET to cover transportation?] Actually, the majority of MVET under prop 49 was used for transit and ferries.

[The voters had a chance to change their minds and they did.] Thats right. They wanted a tax reduction and the opportunity to have veto power over future tax increases. I-695 was a revenue issue. What should be funded out of the remaining 98% of the taxes, and at what level, is still subject to debate.

[Wouldn't people think that Gov. Locke is disregarding the "will of the people" if he proposed a budget that replaced funds to a program that the people had just cut funding to?] Actually, thats just what he is doing. And that was the intent, to reallocate from other funding sources into areas cut when the dedicated taxes for I-695 went away.

[Isn't there a state commission that is supposed to come up with a transportation report/recommendation soon?] There is yet another of the ubiquitous Blue Ribbon panels that get appointed as cover by politiciand who dont want to take individual responsibility for making prioritization decisions.

[Wouldn't it be smarter to wait until the commission's report came out before proposing a new transportation budget? ] Not if you judge by the effectiveness of previous Blue Ribbon commissions.

[Should the transportation problems of basically three Western Washington counties be funded by the rest of the state?] Thats a real issue, since most of the rest of the state was paying money to fund ferries that they would never see, and transit that came nowhere near them.

[Isn't that why Sound Transit was formed? ] Actually, no. Sound Transit was passed after multiple failures stretching back to the Forward Thrust initiatives of the 60s, because people, after years of misappropriating capital funds that should have gone to roads into transit, King County citizens were sufficiently desperate to try anything. The people in Snohomish and Pierce county were included to spread the tax burden caused by King County policies to the citizens in Pierce and Snohomish counties.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate. -- Dave Barry

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

With regard to the people butting in to the business of government:

From an Eyman interview-

"Politicians don't like initiatives and there's a bottom-line reason for that -- they're a monopoly. They do not agree with the initiative process at all. They don't like any kind of competition.

"Clearly, they pass thousands of laws every year. We're popping out maybe one or two and letting the voters decide if they're better ideas. This is complete accountability, because the voters are making the ultimate decisions."

Eyman said he likes some of the ideas of conservative think tanks like the Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Olympia, and that some legislators "get" what he's trying to do.

Meanwhile, Eyman said he has a simple answer to legislators who want him to go away and let them do their job.

"If they don't want us coming back, the best thing to do is to start solving problems."

WELL SAID.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

If you think that Eyman is pushing some aggressive stuff, look at what other initiatives have been filed. http://www.secstate.wa.gov/inits/leg99.htm

Zowie- Lovin' this populist stuff!

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

"Isn't there a state commission that is supposed to come up with a transportation report/recommendation soon? Wouldn't it be smarter to wait until the commission's report came out before proposing a new transportation budget? "

A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done. -- Fred Allen

Zowie- Lovin' all the populist quotations!

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.