January 22nd, 2019

RE: Ensuring “balanced and fair” media coverage of Tim Eyman’s I-976

From the Campaign TrailRethinking and Reframing

This morning, Tim Eyman sent out an email grumbling about a story that KING5 ran on its website yesterday regarding the fiscal impact that his latest freedom of mobility destroying initiative would have on Sound Transit’s voter approved projects. Although the story was accompanied by a clip of an earlier KING5 segment that extensively featured Eyman and framed the issue in his favor, Eyman nevertheless cried foul.

Wrote Eyman: “Someone forwarded me a KING5 story after-the-fact about Sound Transit putting out something on our Initiative I-976. The story had nothing from the other side. That’s unfortunate. In the interests of balance and fairness, I would ask folks in the media to please call me and email me and allow me opportunity to respond.”

Actually, what’s truly unfortunate is that a not insignificant percentage of the coverage of I-976’s final signature turn in and qualification has lacked any opposition perspective at all, resulting in extremely favorable, one-sided stories benefiting Tim Eyman.

For example, this article, which appeared on the websites of many local newspapers around the state (Lake Chelan Mirror, Lewis County Chronicle, South Whidbey Record, Sequim Gazette, etc.) did not offer any opposition perspective or analysis of the impacts of I-976 whatsoever:

‘Bring Back Our $30 Car Tabs’ Initiative Could Be on November Ballot

By Emma Epperly, WNPA Olympia News Bureau

“Bring Back Our $30 Car Tabs,” an initiative that would limit annual motor-vehicle registration fees to $30 except for voter-approved charges, was sent to the Legislature for consideration by the Secretary of State.

Initiative 976 received enough signatures to potentially make it to the November 2019 ballot. The initiative can take three different pathways by either being approved as is by Legislators, by Legislators passing on the initiative and it being voted on by the public, or by Legislators passing an alternative, in which case voters would choose between the two versions in November.

I- 976 also would repeal, reduce, or remove the ability to impose a variety of vehicle taxes and fees except for those that are voter approved. It would also require the use of Kelley Blue Book values as a basis for vehicle taxes.

Tim Eyman is the lobbyist behind the initiative, who has been proposing and passing a variety of initiatives since 1999 with Initiative 695: Washington Voter Approval for Tax Increases. I 695 limited license tab fees to $30 and was overturned by the Washington Supreme Court in 2000 because it was not limited to one subject, a requirement of all initiatives.

Eyman wants I- 976 to pass “so that every vehicle owner in the state of Washington would write a check for 30 dollars each year to register their vehicle and cap it so that state government can’t jack it up and local government can’t jack it up,” he said.

According to Eyman, 61 cities in Washington have imposed vehicle fees.

Eyman has proposed a host of bills that all get at one issue. “Big picture, it’s less about the money and more about respecting the decisions voters make,” said Eyman.

Meanwhile, Tim Eyman’s friends on talk radio (like Dori Monson and John Carlson), have neglected to seek out an opposition perspective, even after having Eyman as their on-air guest many times to promote his initiative.

Monson and Carlson may be commentators as opposed to reporters striving for objectivity, but why not afford their listeners an opportunity to hear the case against Eyman’s proposal?

The public will never hear an accounting of the impacts from Eyman because his position is that there just wouldn’t be any.

Eyman’s “Chicken Little” sneers notwithstanding, I-976 would wipe out billions in funding for transportation projects at every level (state, regional, and local). All Washingtonians would be negatively affected.

Our one page, downloadable fact sheet summarizes the many essential services that would take a hit with implementation of I-976.

The team at the Northwest Progressive Institute and the NO on I-976 Coalition (which includes a growing list of organizations like All Aboard Washington, The Urbanist, and 350 Seattle) greatly appreciates all the reporters and media outlets who have tried to incorporate the perspectives of both sides into their reporting instead of just Eyman’s side… like Drew Mikkelsen and Kipp Robertson of KING5.

For Washingtonians to cast an informed vote on I-976 in the coming general election, they need to hear more than just Tim Eyman’s deceptive slogans and talking points.

It is absolutely essential that everyone understand that Eyman’s intent with I-976 is to wipe out funding for transit, local roads, ferries, freight mobility, and multimodal infrastructure… not save drivers money.

Consider that Eyman could have chosen to target tolls or fuel taxes with his latest initiative, which many drivers pay every week or even every weekday. He didn’t. Instead, he’s focused on vehicle fees. Why? Because vehicle fees are a major revenue source for non-highway transportation projects in Washington… projects Eyman (a zealous “road warrior”) doesn’t believe in since they don’t give him more pavement to drive his car on.

Then consider Eyman has been trying to qualify I-976 for three years running now. Sound Transit is, by Eyman’s own admission, his white whale. He’s obsessed with its destruction.

He’s openly admitted this when speaking in front of friendly audiences. For instance, in a March 1st, 2016 appearance before the Eastside Republican Club in Bellevue, Eyman said:

“I love the idea of every voter in the state being able to register their vehicle for a flat-rate, easy to understand $30, but what gets me giddy is the idea of ripping the heart out of Sound Transit. This agency is so unaccountable, so rogue, so completely devoid of any reality that this is our one chance to be able to gut them like a pig, and that’s what I really love about this initiative.”

Emphasis is ours.

Eyman was unable to qualify an initiative in 2016 or 2017 to rip the heart of Sound Transit, but he didn’t stop trying.

With I-976 destined for the November ballot, it’s imperative that we have a substantive conversation about the impacts so everyone understands how our communities will lose if this measure is implemented. We encourage reporters, editors, and producers to study the measure carefully and ensure that audiences are aware of the damage I-976 will inflict in places that are far away from Sound Transit’s jurisdiction, especially communities in central, eastern, and southwest Washington.

January 15th, 2019

Statement in response to qualification of Tim Eyman’s I-976

From the Campaign Trail

This afternoon, Secretary of State Kim Wyman announced that Tim Eyman’s Initiative 976 has qualified as an initiative to the Legislature for 2019. According to Wyman’s office, 19,738 petition sheets were submitted for I-976 bearing 352,093 signatures. (The current requirement for qualification is 259,622 valid signatures; sponsors are advised to submit at least 325,000 signatures to offset duplicate and invalid signatures.)

I-976 seeks to repeal vehicle fees at the state, regional, and local levels, which would devastate funding for essential services like Amtrak Cascades (a joint service funded by the people of the States of Washington and Oregon, which provides Washington’s only rail link with Vancouver, British Columbia) and freight mobility.

I-976 also attempts to imperil Sound Transit’s voter-approved ST3 system expansion package by repealing one of ST3’s three funding sources. This could result in light rail, commuter rail, express bus, and bus rapid transit projects being reduced or scaled back.

The destruction wouldn’t stop there, I-976 further seeks to repeal the statutes that allow ferry districts and transportation benefit districts to levy vehicle fees for local projects. Sixty cities of all sizes on both sides of the Cascades currently rely on vehicle fees for projects our communities need.

Most of those cities (for example, Battle Ground) use their vehicle fee revenue to fund road maintenance and street improvements. Seattle, the state’s largest city, uses its voter-approved fee revenue to fund King County Metro service hours that are helping riders cope with the current closure of State Route 99 through the city’s downtown core.

Northwest Progressive Institute Founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve — who has seventeen years of experience organizing opposition to Eyman initiatives — issued the following statement in response to the announcement that I-976 has qualified as an initiative to the Legislature for 2019.

“Tim Eyman’s I-976 is a recipe for horrific highway gridlock, derelict roads, and stranded travelers,” said Villeneuve. “It would eliminate essential services that Washingtonians depend on, especially in rural areas, jeopardizing freedom of mobility and eliminating good paying jobs in construction and the building trades. This initiative is a wrecking ball aimed squarely at the vital multimodal transportation infrastructure we’ve been working hard to build.”

“If we don’t stop I-976, then the bipartisan progress we’ve made over the last decade and a half towards better connecting Washington will be halted and reversed. We simply cannot afford this destructive initiative.”

“Fortunately, a broad and diverse coalition is forming to give Eyman’s I-976 the vigorous opposition it deserves. We invite Washingtonians of all political affiliations who value freedom of mobility and good roads to join us in working for the defeat of I-976. Every day, we hear from more people and organizations who are gravely concerned about the impact I-976 would have, and are ready to take action to protect the essential services it seeks to harm. We’re encouraged by this response and believe that by working together, we the people of Washington can defeat I-976.”

For additional information, please visit no976.org.

January 3rd, 2019

NO on I-976 effort ramps up with campaign launch in Olympia

From the Campaign Trail

This morning in Olympia, representatives from the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) and All Aboard Washington stood together at the Washington State Capitol in opposition to Tim Eyman’s latest destructive initiative, I-976, which would wipe out billions in funding for bipartisan, voter-approved transportation investments in every part of the state.

“We are here today to announce that we will be building a strong, broad, diverse coalition in opposition to Tim Eyman’s I-976 throughout 2019,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, a veteran of many successful campaigns against Eyman measures, including four campaigns that beat Eyman at the ballot in the last ten years: I-985 (2008), I-1033 (2009), I-1125 (2011) and I-517 (2013).

“In the coming weeks and months, our coalition will bring together businesses, labor unions, environmental organizations, civic groups, and concerned citizens to unite Washingtonians in opposition to this initiative and to uphold Evergreen State values like mutual responsibility and stewardship.”

“We rise or fall together as a state, which is why it is so important we continue to pool our resources so we can afford the things we need. This measure gravely threatens our state’s business climate, freedom of mobility, and future prosperity. It does so by gutting funding for many current and planned services: Amtrak Cascades, freight mobility projects, Sound Transit Link light rail, King County Metro bus service, and local roads.”

“Washington has suffered greatly over the past two decades from destructive Tim Eyman initiatives like I-695 and I-747. We simply can’t afford any more.”

“Legendary U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn once said that any fool can kick down a barn, but it takes a real carpenter to build one.”

“Here in Washington, we have real carpenters, ironworkers, pipefitters, crane operators, and other skilled laborers working to implement transportation investments that will move people and freight between our communities. Tim Eyman wants to put these people out of work and cancel these investments… all because he is ideologically opposed to any transportation mode that doesn’t involve an automobile. That’s wrong.”

“I-976 deserves to be emphatically rejected. We’re ready to get to work to make sure it is.”

Luis Moscoso, Government Affairs Director for All Aboard Washington, a rail advocacy organization, explained that I-976 threatens more than just Sound Transit’s projects, which tend to get all the attention. Were I-976 to be implemented, much of the funding that supports Amtrak Cascades and freight mobility would be repealed.

The loss of Cascades would be a particularly devastating blow… not just to Washington, but to the entire region. Cascades is the only rail service linking Seattle with Vancouver, British Columbia. It is supported by the people of the states of Washington and Oregon, and is a shining example of cross-Columbia cooperation.

Cascades has a northern route and a southern route, each of which terminate at Seattle’s King Street Station. Its southern route connects Seattle with Oregon’s two largest cities, Portland and Eugene, and many points in between, like Centralia in Lewis County, or Kelso/Longview in Cowlitz County.

Many of these cities are also served by Amtrak’s Coast Starlight route, but the Coast Starlight does not offer frequent service. Cascades is different. It offers multiple trips a day to and from Portland. And because its Talgo-built trains utilize technology that allows the cars to passively tilt into curves, Cascades can run at very high speeds between Olympia and Portland… faster, in fact, than vehicles on I-5 are legally permitted to travel.

For transit to be an attractive option for people who own cars, it must be reliable, frequent, and fast. Thanks to joint federal, state, and regional investments (like the Point Defiance Bypass), Cascades service has been improving on all of those fronts.

Implementation of Positive Train Control by Amtrak and its partners has also made Cascades safer following last year’s tragic derailment near Mounts Road.

But if I-976 goes into effect, Cascades would be gutted, reversing years of progress.

Also harmed under I-976 would be the dozens of cities that levy vehicle fees to pay for road resurfacing projects, traffic calming measures, and road maintenance, like Bainbridge Island and Zillah. Eyman’s I-976 repeals the authority of city-established transportation benefit districts to levy vehicle fees to meet their transportation needs.

Ferry districts would also lose their authority to levy vehicle fees.

NPI is preparing a fact sheet that explains the costs and consequences of I-976, which will be published tomorrow.

The teams at NPI and All Aboard Washington look forward to growing the NO on I-976 Coalition in the weeks and months ahead.

For additional information, please visit no976.org.

November 29th, 2018

A reminder that Tim Eyman’s problems are self-inflicted

In the CourtsStatements & Advisories

This morning, Tim Eyman announced in an email to his followers that his marriage is ending and he intends to file for bankruptcy. The disgraced initiative promoter blamed Attorney General Bob Ferguson for his personal problems, characterizing the state’s attempt to hold him accountable for his lawbreaking as “the most intense, soul-crushing government litigation against a private individual in state history.”

Northwest Progressive Institute Founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve — who has almost seventeen years of experience organizing opposition to Eyman’s initiatives — noted that Eyman’s problems are all self-inflicted.

“Tim Eyman has been in politics long enough to understand our system of public disclosure, which was created when the people of Washington approved Initiative 276 back in the 1970s,” said Villeneuve.

“Even after getting into trouble early on in his career as a purveyor of destructive initiatives, he has continued to willfully and repeatedly violate our public disclosure laws… including in 2012, when he used money donated for one initiative to qualify another without asking his donors’ permission or even telling them what he was doing.”

“And he doesn’t appear to feel any remorse over this. He’s only sorry that he got caught.”

“It’s bizarre that Eyman is complaining about this case taking so long, because his opposition is equally frustrated that we haven’t gotten to the trial yet. What he is not telling his followers or the press is that his actions are the reason for the long timeframe. It was his choice to make stonewalling in the extreme his legal defense strategy.”

“Read the many briefs filed by the state’s attorneys over the past few years, which describe in excruciating detail their repeated and patient efforts to obtain documents from Eyman. Getting Eyman to turn over any records at all has been extremely difficult, both before and since the lawsuit was filed. To compel Eyman’s cooperation, the courts have held him in contempt, but even that hasn’t prompted Eyman and his co-defendants to produce records in a timely fashion.”

“Eyman has chosen to resist accountability at all costs. Today, it’s apparent those costs are very high and very painful indeed. Eyman would like us all to feel sorry for him, but he still won’t accept responsibility for his own behavior.”

“Thankfully, Attorney General Ferguson is committed to seeing this case through despite Eyman’s stonewalling, and we appreciated that. Justice needs to be served.”

November 21st, 2018

Unscientific KOMO Facebook poll finds clear majority would rather have Sound Transit projects than lower car tabs

Poll WatchRethinking and Reframing

A clear majority of participants in an unscientific, weeklong Facebook poll of KOMO viewers say they would rather have Sound Transit projects than lower car tabs — a result that will probably come as a nasty shock to disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman.

Why? Because for nearly eighteen months, Eyman has been circulating this image from a July 2017 KOMO broadcast to argue that his scheme to gut transit funding is popular:

Screen capture created by Tim Eyman of a KOMO viewer poll

As best we can tell, this is a photo Eyman took while his DVR (digital video recorder) was paused. The photo shows the results of an unscientific audience poll KOMO ran at some point with an unknown number of participants, which lamely asked whether viewers supported capping vehicle fees at thirty dollars — without mentioning the trade-offs.

Eyman, a serial liar, has repeatedly included this image in the emails he sends out under the caption “The people are clearly on our side” — even though he knows perfectly well that unscientific polls created by television stations are not valid evidence of public opinion.

And this new KOMO viewer poll nicely proves that point, since it contradicts the one above that Eyman won’t stop citing. The new poll, launched last Wednesday evening by the Sinclair-owned television station, was open for a week. It closed only this evening. While voting was open, more than 1,500 Facebook accounts participated.

The question posed by KOMO to its viewers was as follows:

What’s more important to you?

Tim Eyman is pushing a new state initiative to cap car-tab fees at $30.

  • Lower car tab fees
  • [or] Sound Transit projects

KOMO viewer poll: 55% prefer Sound Transit projects

55% of poll takers voted for Sound Transit projects, while 45% voted for lower car tabs.

With this poll, KOMO did a much better job of coming up with a question for its viewers to answer than it did back in July 2017. The query this time is just as simple, but the answers are more meaningful: you can have what Eyman is trying to sell you, or you can keep projects to provide an alternative to gridlock — but you can’t have both.

Since this is an unscientific Facebook poll, it is not evidence that the public opposes Eyman’s I-976. Unless, that is, anyone cares to interpret the results using Tim Eyman’s logic. In that case, this poll result shows that the people are clearly on the side of Sound Transit, and firmly against the devastation of voter-approved projects Eyman is proposing.

November 15th, 2018

Say hello to our new NO on I-976 logo

From the Campaign Trail

As part of our efforts to shift into higher gear to defeat Tim Eyman’s incredibly destructive I-976 — a 2019 initiative to the Legislature that would sabotage projects to expand transit, build safer roads, and construct sidewalks — we have developed an initial visual identity for the NO on I-976 coalition. Take a look:

No on Tim Eyman's I-976

 

I-976 is as much of a threat to good roads in small towns as it is to transit in big cities — and our primary logo calls attention to this by showing a winding road next to the type. In keeping with the theme of protecting transportation investments, the “I-976” in the logo is rendered in a font that emulates highway signage.

The NO on I-976 website is now accepting submissions from individuals and organizations that would like to help send this ill-conceived measure to the dustbin of history. Visit no976.org to become a part of our coalition to protect Washingtonians’ freedom of mobility.

November 14th, 2018

NPI’s Permanent Defense shifting into higher gear to protect transit funding from I-976

Statements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

With the 2018 midterm elections disappearing into the rearview mirror and the 2019 legislative session approaching, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s Permanent Defense project will accelerate its efforts to organize a strong, diverse opposition coalition to Tim Eyman’s I-976, NPI founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve said today.

I-976 is Eyman’s latest attempt to gut funding for transportation — especially transit and freight mobility projects — at the city, regional, and state level. It attempts to choke off multiple revenue streams that can be used for multimodal projects, including Sound Transit’s voter-approved MVET, which the agency has already bonded against in order to fund light rail extensions to the north, south, east, and west.

Eyman has been trying for three years to force a vote on a scheme like I-976, but he has repeatedly failed due to a lack of money. The last Eyman initiative to qualify for the statewide ballot was I-1366 in 2015. Since then, Eyman has launched a long list of fake initiatives that he didn’t have resources to qualify.

To fund his comeback, Eyman said this spring he would cash out his retirement account, using the money to hire signature gatherers to fill I-976 petitions. He subsequently reported payments of $500,000 to his campaign coffers from himself. However, since Eyman has a long history of lying, we don’t know where that money really came from.

PDC reports have Eyman’s name on them as the contributor. However, if Eyman drained his retirement account to fund I-976 signature gathering and then replenished it with a gift from a wealthy benefactor wishing to be shielded from being associated with Eyman, that would make Eyman guilty of concealment.

Should I-976 qualify as an initiative to the Legislature, the House and Senate would have three options: adopt it, ignore it, or send it to the ballot with an alternative.

“Washington is a fast-growing state that needs a robust, multimodal transportation system to be successful,” said Villeneuve. “Tim Eyman’s I-976 threatens essential projects across our state that will make our communities more livable, including a large number of voter-approved transit projects in Central Puget Sound that he despises.”

“It is important for voters to understand that I-976 wouldn’t just hurt Sound Transit and wouldn’t merely affect light rail. Implementation of I-976 would cause catastrophic damage in every part of Washington — from small towns like Clarkston, East Wenatchee, and Battle Ground to large cities like Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett.”

“Thankfully, NPI now has almost seventeen years of experience organizing against destructive Tim Eyman initiatives. We will put all of that to work to ensure that I-976 receives the vigorous, effective opposition that it deserves now and throughout 2019.”

NPI invites people and organizations who care about Washington’s future to join the NO on I-976 Coalition and take a position opposing this incredibly destructive measure. More information is available at no976.org.

October 24th, 2018

Oh, the hypocrisy: Well paid politician Tim Eyman doesn’t want our elected representatives to get pay raises

Rethinking and ReframingStatements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

It’s hard to think of a politician who more powerfully epitomizes the word shameless than Tim Eyman, especially when it comes to matters of dollars and cents.

The fifty-two year old has been a full time politician for almost twenty years and is so obsessed with profiting from politics that he has orchestrated illegal schemes to steer more of his donors’ money into his own pockets without their knowledge.

But while Eyman loves helping himself to his donors’ money, he doesn’t think our elected representatives’ pay should be increased, declaring this week that he wants to subject the salary increases proposed by the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials to a statewide referendum and overturned.

Eyman’s mantra is “Give Them Nothing”, which implies our elected representatives shouldn’t be paid anything at all, let alone the increases the Commission has proposed.

“At NPI, we’ve lost track of how many times we’ve heard Republican candidates and right wingers like Eyman insist that government should be run like a business,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to destructive Eyman schemes for nearly seventeen years.

“It sure is a frequent refrain in their discourse. In the private sector, though, compensation is considered very important to the recruitment and retention of high caliber candidates for executive positions. If right wing Republicans like Eyman really want government run like a business, shouldn’t they be willing to pay top dollar to attract the very best people to serve in our Legislature, judiciary, and executive department? How do you get competent government if your mantra is ‘Give Them Nothing’?”

Eyman has some nerve railing against pay increases for politicians considering his own long-running obsession with profiting from politics.

Seventeen years ago, Eyman famously professed to be working on initiative campaigns for free, when he was in reality transferring large sums of money out of his campaign committees to pay himself, and then lying about it.

Northwest Passage Consulting principal Christian Sinderman and others suspected what Eyman was up to, and in early 2002, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an investigate report about Eyman’s suspicious money transfers. Eyman continued to deny what he’d done until his guilty conscience caught up with him. He called up The Associated Press’ David Ammons and confessed, saying “it was the biggest lie of my life”.

“The fact is, it is true that I made money in past campaigns and planned to make money on future campaigns,” Eyman told Ammons in a rambling confession. “This entire charade was set up so I could maintain a moral superiority over our opposition, so I could say our opponents make money from politics and I don’t.”

“I want to continue to advocate issues and I want to make a lot of money doing it,” Eyman added. Seventeen years later, it’s quite apparent that this particular statement is one of the few Eyman has made that can be called entirely truthful.

After he was caught lying in 2002, Eyman began openly paying himself a salary out of campaign funds and also raising money for what he called his “compensation fund”.

But that was not enough.

The ever-greedy Eyman concocted a scheme with one of his vendors to receive kickbacks from them that were not reported to the Public Disclosure Commission. Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office is trying to get to the bottom of this concealment scheme, but has been stymied by Eyman’s refusal to cooperate. Eyman remains in contempt of court and on the hook for $500 daily fines for refusing to turn over records in the case.

The Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials has a constitutional obligation to examine the salaries of our elected officials and propose adjustments to those salaries. Created by a vote of the people in 1986, it is one of the few commissions of its kind. Its salary changes can be overturned by referendum as provided for in Article XXVIII of the Washington State Constitution, but the pay increases the Commission has proposed for 2019-2020 are entirely reasonable.

“I have yet to hear Cougar alum Tim Eyman complain about how much Washington State University is paying Mike Leach to coach their football team,” said Villeneuve, who noted that Leach and UW head football coach Chris Petersen make far more than anyone serving the people of Washington in the statehouse.

Leach is set to make $3.5 million alone this season… more than the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Public Lands, Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendent of Public Instruction combined. Petersen is making even more than Leach; he took home $4.125 million last season. The Huskies and Cougars each have many additional coaches who make more than what anyone serving in the statehouse makes.

Villeneuve noted that while statewide elected officials’ pay is enough to support a family on, Washington’s legislators are not well compensated for the jobs that they do.

“Most of our lawmakers currently receive a salary of $48,731,” Villeneuve pointed out. (Certain lawmakers receive higher salaries due to holding leadership positions.) This is below the 2014 median income of a Washington State household, which is $61,366.

“We, the people of Washington, are paying our lawmakers a part time salary while expecting them to do full-time work,” Villeneuve said.

“The Legislature may not be in session year-round, but being a well-informed lawmaker is nevertheless a full-time job. There is no ‘off season’ for lawmakers. When one session ends, the preparation for the next session begins. Lawmakers meet with constituents, conduct research, attend committee days, participate in work sessions, and go on fact finding trips during the months they aren’t in session.”

“These salary increases are overdue and entirely justified,” said Villeneuve. “For 2019, the Commission is proposing a base increase in legislator pay to $53,024, to be followed by another increase in 2020 to $57,425. These are good first steps, but we should be increasing legislator pay to an even greater extent to encourage more Washingtonians to consider running for office. Right now, legislative service simply isn’t a realistic option for many people because it doesn’t pay enough to raise a family on.”

“I believe we would get a Legislature that looks more like our diverse state if we provided a more appropriate level of compensation for our legislators. If red state Alaska can afford to pay their legislators a higher salary — and they do — then we certainly can, too.”

In the event Eyman or anyone else is serious about mounting a referendum campaign to overturn the Commission’s salary adjustments, which are entirely reasonable, NPI will work with other organizations to develop a campaign to educate the public about the need for appropriately-compensated elected officials.

FURTHER READING: How Much Should State Legislators Get Paid? by Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux for FiveThirtyEight

September 19th, 2018

Must-read editorial: “Tim Eyman is in a heap of big trouble”

In the CourtsStatements & Advisories

This morning, The Olympian published an outstanding editorial condemning Tim Eyman’s continued attempts to escape responsibility for his lawbreaking, and warning Washingtonians against contributing to his legal defense fund, which Eyman has been using to pay tens of thousands of dollars in recently accrued contempt penalties, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

Eyman was held in contempt of court over seven months ago for failing to turn over records sought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office in the main State of Washington v. Eyman case. A total of four campaign finance enforcement cases were filed by Ferguson’s office in 2016 and 2017 against Eyman and his associates. Three were filed two years ago in September of 2016; a fourth was filed in March of 2017.

The main State of Washington v. Eyman case concerns the initiative promoter’s illegal acts in support of his “initiative on initiative” (I-517) which voters overwhelmingly rejected five years ago. Eyman qualified I-517 in 2012 through a stealth signature drive with money he transferred from one of his other campaign committees through an out of state entity back to himself and his associates.

Donors to that other campaign did not know that Eyman was using their money to qualify an entirely different initiative.

“State law keeps tightening like a vice on Washington’s most prolific initiative promoter, Tim Eyman,” The Olympian noted. “This vice should tighten. Another quarter-turn or more is needed to force out the truth.”

The editorial goes on to point out that there’s little difference between giving money to one of Eyman’s political committees and giving money to his legal defense fund.

“In Eyman’s solicitations, he’s arguing that his future as an anti-tax initiative promoter is at stake. Which sounds a lot like a campaign solicitation,” the editorial board noted. “Indeed, Eyman has bills to pay. One one hand, he is pushing initiatives. But he could face fines of more than $2 million if AG [Attorney General Bob] Ferguson is successful with his lawsuit alleging wrongdoing.”

“It’s hard to believe that anyone who donates to Eyman’s Go Fund Me account for legal costs are different from those who donate to his political efforts,” the board added. “Absent court orders for Eyman to publicly release the identity of his defense-fund donors, we’ll never know which special-interest carve-outs or protections in future Eyman initiatives are not pay backs for the help they give in 2018 or 2019 to keep Eyman solvent and in the initiative business.”

While state law requires that the identities of donors to campaigns be disclosed, Eyman is assuring prospective donors to his legal defense fund that they will remain anonymous.

“I’m asking everyone to match or exceed the amount you’ve given in past years (it’ll be anonymous and unreported since it’s going towards my legal bills),” Eyman says at the end of one of his fundraising letters.

“We wholeheartedly agree with The Olympian that state law should be changed to regulate legal defense funds established by individuals or entities facing allegations that they violated our campaign finance laws,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to Eyman’s initiative factory for over sixteen years.

“The status quo is untenable. Perhaps our state needs an independent inspector general with the authority to examine bank statements and other records to ensure that funds raised for legal defense are actually being spent on legal defense.”

Eyman is currently fundraising both for his legal defense fund and for his next con, Initiative 976. On one website, he asks his followers to give to the former; on another website, he asks his followers to give to the latter. And he’s using his mailing list to pitch each. It matters not that the money is ostensibly for different purposes and being raised through separate funnels, for ultimately it ends up in a bank account that Eyman controls.

Because Eyman pays himself out of his campaign coffers (and even gets kickbacks from his main vendor, Citizen Solutions), he’s always fundraising for himself, no matter what entity he’s asking people to make a check out to.

This isn’t the first time Eyman has fundraised in tandem like this.

Fifteen years ago, Eyman solicited donations for a legal defense fund at at the same time he was raising money for an initiative, I-807. Then, as now, Eyman was in heaps of trouble for violating our campaign finance laws.

After Eyman’s solicitations became public knowledge, founding NPI boardmember Steve Zemke, who remains involved today with NPI as a senior advisor, called on the Public Disclosure Commission to investigate Eyman’s personal fundraising.

“This seems to be a pretty transparent effort to allow campaign funds to be sent directly to him without being disclosed to the public,” Zemke wrote in a complaint filed with the Public Disclosure Commission.

“Because they wouldn’t be reported, the public would not know how much or who gave money to support Tim Eyman to allow him to donate his services to campaigns. Are there secret big donors supporting his campaigns like I-807 who do not want the public to know who they are or how much they are willing to give to allow Eyman to do ‘free’ consulting?”

The PDC ultimately declined to take action and dismissed Zemke’s complaint.

State lawmakers need to address this loophole in our public disclosure law when they return in January. As The Olympian said: “Let’s not look away and pretend there isn’t a behind-the-scenes maneuver under way here. Let’s hold political actors including lobbying interests and others accountable for the money they spend in politics. That includes politics-related legal skirmishes that could shield actual campaign contributions.”

September 17th, 2018

Washington State Democratic Party takes position opposing Eyman’s I-976

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Good news: The Washington State Democratic Party has formally declared its opposition to Tim Eyman’s latest attempt to wipe out transit funding at the state, regional, and local level. The party yesterday went on record against I-976 at its autumn meeting in Spokane.

The motion unanimously adopted by the party’s governing central committee — which consists principally of two individuals from each county and two individuals from each legislative district in the state — reads as follows:

RESOLVED: That the Washington State Democratic Party take a position opposing Tim Eyman’s I-976, an initiative to the Legislature for 2019, which seeks to wipe out funding for Amtrak Cascades and Sound Transit 3 plus transit service and multimodal projects at the city level, and urges all Washingtonians to decline to sign if approached by a petitioner.

I-976 is Eyman’s fourth attempt in three years to gut voter-approved transit projects he’s obsessed with destroying, chiefly Sound Transit’s Link light rail expansion. However, Eyman’s I-976 wouldn’t just hurt Sound Transit. It would also rip away funding for sidewalks, road improvements, and bus service at the city level. The state’s largest cities (Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma) all utilize vehicle fees for transportation improvements within their boundaries, and so do small cities like East Wenatchee and Clarkston.

Eyman has until January 4th, 2019 to collect and turn in signatures for the measure. NPI expects it to qualify and is working to ensure that it goes down to defeat should it appear before voters in October/November of 2019.

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