Eyman’s anti-tax initiative passes

OLYMPIA – Washington voters have approved Initiative 960, making it harder for the Legislature to pass tax increases.

With about 81 percent of the vote counted Friday night, the measure that appeared on Tuesday’s ballot had garnered about a 52 percent yes vote. It won in all but five of the 39 counties.

I-960 reasserts a two-thirds approval requirement for tax hikes and requires legislative approval of state fees. Taxes passed with only a simple majority would have to go to the ballot for ratification.

It also requires a flood of information on tax bills, and requires a nonbinding public vote on taxes passed in Olympia with an emergency clause – a tactic that precludes a referendum campaign to overturn the tax.

“There’s no more impactful decision that Olympia makes than the decision to take more of the people’s money,” said Tim Eyman, the professional initiative promoter and longtime anti-tax activist who brought I-960 to the ballot. “The voters were crystal clear that they want to make sure the Legislature follows the law, abides by the constitution, doesn’t slap an emergency clause on every bill and keeps the people informed. That’s not too much to ask.”

The state budget office estimated that the additional disclosure requirements and election costs would average about $1.8 million a year.

Environmental groups, education advocates and others opposed the measure and helped finance a $1.2 million opposition campaign, while Eyman relied on free media coverage.

Christian Sinderman, a spokesman for the opposition campaign, said he was disappointed with the result and believed the measure would end up in court.

“This initiative is so confusing and has so many parts to it, that it’s going to require a court to sort out which parts of it are legal and are not,” he said.

If it stands, “it means longer, more complicated ballots and it means less-efficient government.”

Eyman said he was confident it would survive any legal challenges.

“We knew where all the land mines were and made sure we didn’t step on any of them,” he said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and other leaders have said the initiative undermines representative government. Gregoire has described I-960 as unnecessary, costly and counterproductive.

Meanwhile, an effort to make passing school levies easier was trailing, but still too close to call, with nearly 51 percent opposed to it and 49 percent voting yes, with more than 140,000 ballots still to be counted in King County.