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State can't spend all of surplus
State can't spend all of surplus
By Ed Friedrich, Sun
staff
Initiative 695's sponsors say the state has a $1 billion surplus that could
fund all programs threatened by the initiative at current levels until next
biennium.
"If you call it a surplus, people will demand it back, so they've come up with
different terms to deflect the desire of taxpayers to take back what they've
been overcharged," said I-695 sponsor Tim Eyman of Mukilteo.
The state does have $1 billion - $600 million in emergency reserves and $400
million in an unrestricted fund. However, an earlier initiative - I-601 - set
a biennial spending limit. The budget for the two years that began in July is
just $73 million below the cap. That's all that can legally be spent from that
$1 billion "surplus."
The emergency reserve fund is limited to natural disasters. The unrestricted
fund is for when the economy goes sour and revenues can't sustain programs.
Both are subject to the I-601 spending limit, according to state Sen. Betti
Sheldon, D-Bremerton.
The Legislature could amend Initiative 601, but it would be politically risky.
I-601 also prevents tax money from being transferred out of the general fund
to another fund to avoid the spending limit. If there's a transfer, the limit
is reduced by the amount that's transferred.
Lawmakers last year proposed an exemption to I-601 to allow funds to be transferred
to the transportation budget. That was approved by voters in Referendum 49.
But the transportation projects envisioned in Referendum 49 won't go forward
if I-695 passes.
The bonds to support those projects were to be based on transportation revenues,
the gasoline tax and motor vehicle excise tax.
Published in The Sun: 09/28/1999
