Tim Eyman borrows another $250,000 against his home to fund I-1033 signature drive

It seems that Tim Eyman is desperate for cash to bankroll his latest scheme to wreck Washington's common wealth.

Im a message to his supporters this morning, the initiative profiteer acknowledged he's taken out another $250,000 against his home to pay for Initiative 1033's signature drive. Apparently, he's having a hard time convincing his wealthy financier Michael Dunmire to write him another check. (Dunmire donated $300,000 to Eyman's campaign coffers in March). Here's an excerpt from the message.

I jumped off a steep $250,000 cliff -- please help catch me.

To date, we've raised a total of $649,553 (which includes my $250,000 loan). When the required number of signatures was 225,000 (from 2005 through 2008), the average cost to qualify for the ballot turned out to be $700,588. Now that the number of needed sigs has increased to 241,000 starting this year, that average cost to qualify will no doubt increase also. So we've still got a ways to go in fundraising before the fast approaching July 3rd deadline.

Back in January, Eyman said he was borrowing $50,000 against his home to get started on I-1033, even though he hadn't repaid a loan he took out last year to boost I-985. However, it looks like Eyman has since repaid a big chunk of the loan he took out last year for I-985. PDC reports for February of 2009 show loan payments from Eyman's I-985 campaign committee to Eyman, totaling $175,000, before the committee was shut down. That would explain how he's able to borrow $250,000 for Initiative 1033 now.

How did Eyman manage to pay off the loans in February?

He got two big checks from Michael Dunmire totaling $280,000 on February 6th, 2009. The checks were written to Eyman's I-985 campaign committee and were apparently intended to cover the loan Eyman took out last year.

If Dunmire is willing to repay Eyman's loans, why is he forcing him to take them out in the first place? Is this just an Eyman publicity stunt?

Or does Dunmire really have limits, and is only willing to give Eyman so much at a time? Since Eyman doesn't actually have the huge grassroots base he claims to have, he would have no choice but to find the money himself if Dunmire refused to help him when he needed a boost. Unlike Dunmire, he doesn't have a ton of cash lying around, so he's going into debt. But perhaps only temporarily.

If Eyman's financial troubles lead to him being unable to get an initiative on the ballot next year, that would be a great blessing for Washington State. So long as Michael Dunmire is willing to repay Eyman's loans, however, he remains a threat.