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A tougher road ahead for I-695 opponents
A tougher road ahead for I-695 opponents
GOP's support raises stakes in ballot plan
Monday, September 20, 1999
By ROBERT GAVINSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT
OLYMPIA -- Opponents of Initiative 695 never had an easy job. They started
with an unenviable political task: convincing voters that saving hundreds of
dollars in license tab fees is bad for them.
They had trouble finding people to lead the fight. And once they did, they
confronted poll after poll showing I-695 favored by voters by ratios of 2-1
or better.
Well, the job of I-695 opponents got harder over the weekend. The state Republican
Party overwhelmingly endorsed the proposal to replace the state's motor vehicle
excise tax with a flat $30 fee, ignoring threats by The Boeing Co. and other
corporations that they would withhold financial support to the party if it supported
the initiative.
The endorsement not only means financial and organizational support for the
volunteers pushing I-695, but also dashes opponents hopes of cementing a broad-based
coalition that already includes big business, organized labor and elected officials
from both parties.
"In some ways, (the endorsement) legitimizes the initiative: You just can't
say it's a bunch of right-wing kooks anymore," said Lance LeLoup, a political
science professor at Washington State University. "If you have Democrats and
Republicans coming out against it, that might have given (opponents) a better
chance.
"It was going to be a tough sell, anyway, and it's going to be a tougher sell
now to beat this thing," he said.
If passed by voters, I-695 would replace the excise tax -- which is based
on a formula that can cost a car owner hundreds of dollars a year depending
on the value of the car -- and replace it with an annual $30 flat fee. The change
is estimated to cost the state more than $1 billion in the first two years.
I-695 would also require state and local governments to seek referendum approval
of any tax or fee increase, from property taxes to library fines.
But opponents dismissed the endorsement as another example of the capture
of the GOP by its right wing. Mark Funk, a spokesman for the No on I-695 Committee,
said the campaign's polling shows moderate Republicans, especially women, turning
against the measure as they learn more about its effect on state and local services.
The endorsement, Funk said, will only serve to fragment the GOP, further alienating
moderates, the party's business constituency, and Republican officeholders.
One group of GOP moderates, the Republican Mainstream Committee, Sunday released
a statement criticizing the endorsement as "pandering," and reiterated its opposition
to the ballot measure.
"I-695 supporters call themselves 'kamikazes,'" Funk said. "I think one of
their planes hit the Republican Party."
Saturday's endorsement culminated months of internal debate among Republicans.
I-695 has proved a particularly difficult test for the party because, as chairman
Dale Foreman said last week, "Our friends are on different sides."
It has pitted grass-roots activists against elected officials; conservatives
against moderates, and populists against the establishment. I-695 has also created
a conflict between two of the party's most cherished initiatives: tax cuts and
transportation improvements.
Referendum 49, the multibillion-dollar highway construction program championed
last year by the GOP, relies on the motor vehicle excise tax that I-695 would
eliminate.
The 53-8 vote in Spokane Saturday marked a dramatic change from only a few
months ago, when, after a heated debate, a divided Republican State Committee
withheld its endorsement. Foreman said party members drove the turnaround.
"There was a lot of grass-roots lobbying, saying . . . 'I don't understand
why you don't support this. This is a tax cut for us little guys,'" said Foreman,
who supports the initiative.
Foreman said the endorsement means the party will crank up its machinery on
behalf of I-695, starting with a fund-raising letter to the thousands of GOP
contributors.
"This brings what we've never had," said Tim Eyman, the I-695 sponsor. "Resources."
Eyman said the party's help will allow his all-volunteer organization to compete
with an opposition backed by some of the biggest political contributors in the
state. Eyman said he believes his campaign can raise about $500,000, money needed
to fight what I-695 opponents predicted would be a $2 million advertising blitz.
Beth Jensen, a state committeewoman from Pierce County, said she was among
those who first believed the party should not endorse I-695. She cited the same
concerns voiced by opponents: It would hurt services, hamstring government,
and derail transportation improvements.
But, said Jensen, a 42-year-old Tacoma lawyer, she became convinced the doom-and-gloom
predictions were just "scare tactics." She said she believes government can
adjust, maintain important programs and give people a much-needed tax break.
Nearly as important, she said, the endorsement will help the party.
"We need our grass roots and this will energize us," she said. "It will give
us something that will differentiate us from the Democrats."
Funk said he believes Republicans miscalculated. He said the No campaign's
polls show support for the measure slipping, and the party's attempt to grab
hold of popular issue will backfire in November -- and in the next one.
Foreman, however, said the endorsement is worth the risk.
"This is an issue that people care about," he said. "Even if it loses, the
motor vehicle excise tax will be cut. If not in November, then when Legislature
comes back. If not then, when there's a new Legislature."
