Times article focuses on upcoming I-912 fight

Andrew Garber of the Seattle Times has an article on Initiative 912 today:

Three months after patting themselves on the back for passing the biggest transportation tax package in state history, state lawmakers and their supporters now fear Initiative 912 will take it all away.

The initiative would repeal a 9.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax passed by the Legislature earlier this year, and likely pull the plug on hundreds of projects to improve roads around the state. The $8.5 billion package earmarks money to help replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Highway 520 floating bridge and pays for scores of other improvements across the state. The tax is phased in over four years; the first 3-cent increase took effect July 1.

We're glad to see that Garber mentioned that this investment "pays for scores of other improvements across the state" because it does. Moving on:

[I-912] could spell the end of efforts to tackle major transportation projects in the state for years, Democratic leaders in the Legislature said.

Brett Bader, a spokesman for the I-912 campaign, disagreed and said the Legislature has only itself to blame for the initiative.

Ridiculous, Brett. The Legislature is trying to make an investment in the future of the state. There isn't an accountability problem. There is a problem, however, with you and your cronies preying on peoples' fears to stir up mistrust of government.

Again, moving on:

Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable, said it's not clear yet how major corporations will deal with I-912. The Roundtable includes high-profile companies such as Boeing and Microsoft and endorsed the transportation tax package passed by the Legislature. "We're still in the early stages of mobilizing," Mullin said.

Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said I-912 can be beat. "I don't take it for granted that it's going to pass," he said. "I think if a campaign is run that's county by county that shows people at the local level the roads that they're getting, it has a chance" of being defeated.

And we will continue to organize and mobilize. Ed Murray is right. Initiative 912 can be beaten. It's a challenge, but it's also an opportunity. Moving on again:

Donna Ireland, owner of Donna's Cafe in the small town of Pomeroy in Garfield County, said she quickly filled two petitions with signatures, "no sweat." If the petitions hadn't arrived late, "we would have filled up more."

"We've got so many taxes that it's just about to tax me out of business. Gas is just one more tax on top of it," Ireland said, adding that a lot of her customers feel the same way. "We know where it's always spent, and that's over on I-5."

This comment just shows you how ignorant the people in Eastern Washington are. They've under the wrong impression of how transportation spending works. Their minds are being manipulated for political gain by people who don't want Washington to invest in safe roads.

Washington Defense has a page showing which projects in rural counties will be jeopardized or outright eliminated if the initiative passes.

In fact, over three fourths of the money is NOT being spent on Interstate 5. Who makes up these assumptions?

The article also discusses the thinking that the monorail might cause Seattle voters to favor I-912. We think that's rubbish. Seattle voters aren't going to rush to support I-912 because of monorail woes.

The gas tax deals with roads, not monorails, and there are few in Seattle who aren't concerned about the viaduct and the floating bridge.

Bader said I-912 is intended to send a message to lawmakers to come back with a better transportation plan.

"We've got to solve the congestion problem. I'd hope they get right back to work. Our goal is to send them back to the drawing board, not to scare them away from ever doing anything," Bader said

Brett, you're an idiot.

We've got news for you, Brett: INITIATIVE 912 SCARES THE LEGISLATURE AWAY FROM EVER DOING ANYTHING!

Rep. Ed Murray and Lance LeLoup get it right:

Rep. Murray said lawmakers would be unlikely to take risky gas-tax votes again anytime soon if the initiative is approved by voters. "If this thing passes, I think it's probably over for transportation for a long time."

Washington State University political scientist Lance LeLoup agreed.

"What is the point of doing a politically courageous thing ... and approve an unpopular gas tax to improve transportation if it's going to be repealed and your opponent in the next election is going to beat you with it?" he said.

We don't know where Brett gets his logic from. He probably pulls it out of his rear end.

Again, leaders in the state legislature are toying with the idea of keeping funds where they're generated if the initiative should pass:

One consequence of I-912's passing could be an effort in the Legislature to break state transportation funding into geographic regions that are responsible for roads in their own area, said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.

Historically, urban areas of the state, with their dense populations, have subsidized road work in more rural areas with smaller tax bases.

"The public apparently is not interested in our policies. We could form a new policy that has everybody responsible for their own areas," she said. "That would lead to people having to tax themselves to get a bridge repaired or road paved."

Remember what we said weeks ago? Eastern Washingtonians - and that includes you, Donna Ireland - you are being fairly warned. Support I-912 at your own peril. When we keep the money here in central Puget Sound, it'll be you guys that end up paying the price.

It's only fair. If Eastern Washingtonians aren't interested in taking advantage of a policy that benefits everyone, they can lose out and pay for their own road repairs - by themselves.