I can't afford to do it, only think about it and help as I can. This state needs someone to publish the names of all politians who oppose I-695. We need to get those bums out!! Go-Tim, Go-Tim!! Let's keep it up!!

-- Jim Spring (poolwalk@centurytel.net), March 06, 2000

Answers

It would seem, based on the votes in the Senate last Sunday, that you can add every democrat Senator in the state to your list.

Ken "The Real" McCoy

-- Ken McCoy (bosco@submarine.com), March 07, 2000.

From the "Maybe not yet seeing the light, but definitely feeling the heat" department.

$30 license tabs are here to stay, Locke says

Wednesday, March 8, 2000

By ANGELA GALLOWAY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

OLYMPIA -- Voters enjoying their new $30 license tabs need not sweat the legal battle to overturn popular Initiative 695.

Whatever happens in court with the attempt to throw out I-695 -- and the state's half-million-dollar venture to defend it -- the measure's underlying principles appear here to stay.

Gov. Gary Locke yesterday joined the ranks of election-minded politicians who have vowed to obey the will of voters, even if courts rule I-695 is unconstitutional.

"Obviously, the citizens of the state of Washington did not like the motor vehicle excise tax," Locke said. "I don't think we should go back -- even if it were thrown out -- reimposing (it.)"

In November, voters overwhelmingly supported the measure to replace the state's car-license tax with a flat fee. It also requires voter approval for all tax and fee increases, an element that is a bit more dicey for elected officials.

At least seven groups, including transit workers and cities, have challenged I-695 as unconstitutional.

The state attorney general plans to spend $468,000 over the next two years defending the measure, which is now state law. And its backers plan to throw in about $60,000 and their lawyers.

King County Superior Court Judge Robert Alsdorf plans to rule Tuesday.

Either way, the case is headed for the state Supreme Court.

And either way, the effect of the measure seems here to stay.

Whatever happens, Locke and high-ranking politicians from both parties have said, voters have made it clear they do not want a motor vehicle excise tax.

In fact, Rep. Hans Dunshee,

D-Snohomish, said he already has a bill written up that would wipe out the vehicle tax, just in case I-695 is overturned.

"We're not going to go, 'Ha, ha,'" Dunshee said.

Dunshee also said lawmakers would likely pass a bill requiring that voters approve tax increases, but the Legislature would clarify exactly what "monetary charges" are affected, he said.

For his part, Locke said he would hold off on that element until he hears from the court.

"The judge can rule in so many different ways," said Locke, himself an attorney. "The judge can rule that this part is legal and this part is not legal."

Were the courts to kill I-695, said sponsor Tim Eyman, politicians would risk voter revolt if they didn't approve the legislation.

"For every action, there's a reaction," Eyman said. "If you want to incite discontentment, just say, 'Let's go back to business as usual.'"

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-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), March 08, 2000.

Amen, brother!

Wednesday, March 8, 2000, 09:33 p.m. Pacific

Legislator: Let voters decide on budget

by Dionne Searcey Seattle Times Olympia bureau OLYMPIA - Budget talks in the Legislature are so gummed up that a top Democratic budget writer wants to let the voters decide how to spend the state's money.

Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, planned to spend last night writing a budget proposal that includes asking voters to spend "big chunks of money" for roads, ferries and transit systems, which all lost funding when Initiative 695 passed.

Lawmakers are scrambling to put together a budget before tomorrow's midnight deadline and squeeze in time to pass other important bills.

But the House of Representatives is split 49-49 along party lines, and back-room bickering about the state's spending limit has stalled negotiations.

For three months, lawmakers have said repeatedly that their main job this year is to address I-695, which replaced the state's motor- vehicle excise tax with an annual $30 fee.

Sommers, a respected politician and co-chairwoman of the most powerful committee in the House, says her plan would involve passing an incomplete budget, then asking voters to approve the rest in a referendum.

She doesn't have the details worked out. She said the budget would need to offer money for ferries, for example, to get through the summer and have some cash on hand in case the referendum failed.

The plan would work like this: House Democrats would try to persuade at least one Republican to approve their partial budget and then force the Senate Democrats, who hold the majority in the upper chamber, to approve their plan for a referendum.

"People who are concerned about amending I-601 (spending limits) or I- 695 or whatever feel more comfortable with this," Sommers said.

Gov. Gary Locke weighed in yesterday to try to help resolve the disputes. He walked the halls of the Capitol, meeting personally with Republican and Democratic leaders.

Sommers' plan shocked Sen. Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco, who is itching to get support in the House for her own budget, which already passed in the Senate. "We need to stand up and buck up and take a vote," Loveland said.

But a referendum could be the only way to get anything done, said Rep. Ruth Fisher, Democratic co-chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee.

"As long as we can't get agreement here, and we have to agree in a 49- 49 tie, if this is one mechanism we can use we should do it," she said.

Rep. Maryann Mitchell, Republican co-chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said she hopes lawmakers can come to a bipartisan agreement without relying on the voters.

"The people expect us to deal with it," she said.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), March 08, 2000.