I-960 won’t fix real problems

Our views

The Olympian • Published September 23, 2007

Initiative 960 is the wrong solution to a real problem. The measure, which will appear on the Nov. 6, general election ballot, is murky, expensive, mired in bureaucracy and might be unconstitutional.

That’s not surprising given the fact that this is another Tim Eyman approach to governance. He has a reputation of drafting initiatives that cannot stand constitutional muster in the courts.

Initiative 960 attempts to tackle a huge challenge — bringing more fiscal accountability to state government. But Eyman goes about it all wrong.

• I-960 requires, for example, every single fee increase in all of state government to be approved by the Legislature.

• I-960 forces meaningless “advisory” elections.

• I-960 abandons representative democracy by requiring public votes on issues that are rightfully the province of our elected representatives.

• I-960 is clumsily written and will be challenged in the courts, costing taxpayers millions of dollars

Let’s address those issues one at a time.

Fee increases

Every single fee increase would require a vote of legislators. Here’s the problem. State officials cannot even tell the public how many fees are charged by the state. Nowhere is there a comprehensive list that includes every charge levied by state government — whether it’s the fee to renew a driver’s license or Ecology’s fee for processing a water right permit.

Yes, it’s an outrage that no one in state government can even list the hundreds, maybe thousands, of fees forced upon the public.

Eyman’s solution is to force lawmakers to vote on every single fee increase.

That’s beyond reason.

Yes, state government should be forced to compile a list of fees. And yes, those fees should be broadly distributed and notification made when those fees are increased. But how many days are legislators going to spend each session passing bills to approve every single fee increase? It’s a waste of valuable legislative time.

Multiple elections

Likewise, Eyman’s initiative tries to limit the number of times lawmakers use the so-called “emergency clause” to enact bills immediately. When they do that — 205 times since Gov. Chris Gregoire was elected — it robs citizens of their right to challenge the new law with a referendum vote.