Initiative 1033 certification seems likely

Staff and wire services | • Published July 03, 2009

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Professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman appears likely to get his latest campaign on the fall ballot. He turned in an estimated 314,000 petition signatures Thursday in Olympia from people who support Initiative 1033.

The initiative would put a yearly cap on money flowing into the general checking accounts of state, county and city governments. Any money over the cap would be used to reduce property taxes in the following year.

Voter-approved taxes would not be subject to the cap, which would be the rate of inflation plus population growth. It will take a few weeks for elections workers to certify the measure.

Opponents say Eyman’s measure would hurt the government’s ability to provide necessary public services, at a time when the economy still is in recession.

Backers of a separate initiative acknowledged Thursday that their effort had fallen short.

Craig Keller, the chairman of the Initiative 1043 campaign called “Respect Washington,” made the announcement in an e-mail to reporters Thursday afternoon. The initiative would have required employers to electronically verify the immigration status of new hires and put new limits on providing services to people who could not prove their citizenship status.

Initiative 1043 needed 241,153 signatures by Thursday’s 5 p.m. deadline to qualify for the Nov. ballot. The group apparently is shifting gears and will push for state legislation in 2010, supporters say.

The Associated Press and Olympian political editor Brad Shannon contributed to this report.