By CHRIS DUGOVICH

Chris Dugovich
Council 2 President/Executive Director

Look at the impacts of two significant initiatives from Tim Eyman:

According to the state Office of Financial Management, the loss to Washington’s general fund as a result of Initiative 695 in the 2003 biennium is $1.7 billion. Add to that the estimated $30 million in property tax revenue lost following passage of Initiative 747 and the state’s $2.4 billion budget deficit shrinks by more than 80 percent — to a “manageable” $400 million.
These lost revenues have a real impact on our lives: highway gridlock, dangerous intersections, crowded classrooms, loss of ferry services, shuttered parks, health care cuts and layoffs of the state and local government employees we depend on for essential services.

In the wake of dreary economic forecasts and paranoia about future tax revolts (the same paranoia that led the Legislature to hastily adopt I-695 despite its nullification by the courts), where are state leaders to turn for needed revenue?

Expanded gambling — allowing hundreds of neighborhood card rooms and mini casinos full access to video poker and other machines currently limited to tribal-owned casinos. Supporters optimistically predict up to $200 million annually for the state’s coffers, or about 10 percent of the current shortfall.

Clearly, every dime is needed to maintain critical services. But just as clear is the realization that gambling is not a cure-all for a budget in desperate need of stable, long-term funding solutions.

Still, who can blame lawmakers intent on saving the Basic Health Plan and funding education for considering a quick fix? Tim Eyman makes a living promoting “free lunch” initiatives that have put a couple hundred bucks a year back into the pockets of most Washington residents. Why shouldn’t these same residents give a little back down at the corner bar?

The problem is that taxes on “sins” such as gambling, alcohol and tobacco tend to be unstable and generate additional costs.
In Oregon, where limited gaming expansion has been allowed, revenues have steadily declined due to lack of disposable income and profits eroded due to the tremendous social costs associated with problem gambling.

Plus, sin taxes are very regressive. Does anyone think Bill Gates, who saved a bundle on his car tabs and even more on his property taxes following I-747, will soon be found at Freddie’s Club hunched over the video poker machines?

Think again. The burden of taxation in the Eyman era falls disproportionately on the guy who saved $40 this year on his license tabs but will now spend double that every week at the mini-casino — making the club owner rich and sending a few bucks to fill the hole in Olympia.

It’s a terrible way to pay taxes and an unsustainable way to run a state.

But that’s what Eyman wanted, right?

Let’s think about it. We know two things about Eyman: He lives in a big house and he drives a Lexus. So why wouldn’t he want a huge tax cut for his house and his car and make the rest of us pay for it?

He pockets $200,000 from contributors by running initiative campaigns out of his garage; he doesn’t need good highways or reliable ferry service to get to work like the rest of us. He uses roads, libraries, schools and emergency services, but he believes the rest of us should pay.

Regardless of what happens to the expansion of gambling in the future, it is clearly time to reject initiative gimmicks and look at genuine solutions that maintain critical services, create jobs and move Washington forward.