Defend the Homeland!

INITIATIVE 884

Increase the sales tax; fund education

There are two major problems with this measure, which would increase the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent, raising it in some local jurisdictions, including Seattle, to nearly 10 percent. First, the sales tax is a regressive tax, meaning those who are least well-off devote a disproportionate share of their assets to funding education. Second, the measure is unwieldy. At first blush, raising $1 billion a year for preschool, K-12, and higher education by simply charging an extra round penny for every dollar of commerce and putting it in a trust fund seems like a no-brainer. Many of the benefits of this tax are clearly justified: giving teachers a raise they were promised then denied, reducing class sizes, getting more disadvantaged kids into early learning programs, creating 25,000 more slots at state universities, and providing more financial aid, among other things. But the fine print troubles us. For example, I-884 would raise hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of years for "high priority research" at state universities. But no one can tell us what this means or who will allocate it. A board of 11, appointed by the governor, would govern the entire trust fund, essentially bypassing our elected representatives in the state Legislature and the superintendent of public instruction, who have jurisdiction over education. This new board is tasked with detailed oversight and reporting, and the result will be, essentially, another state agency. This measure raises revenue unfairly and complicates education funding. There has to be a better way. Vote no.

INITIATIVE 892

Expand gambling; cut taxes

This is an odious proposal that would allow what for all intents and purposes are slot machines in existing non-Indian gambling establishments. A small part of the revenue these machines raise would be used to offset property taxes. Proponents say it's only fair that non-Indian casinos offer the same popular games their Native American brothers and sisters have in their casinos. But unfairness is the whole point. Indians have exclusive rights to offer gambling on their reservations because of generations of horrific injustice. Gambling revenue is sending their kids to college. Let's not take that away from them. Besides, do we really want the state to be more dependent on gambling revenues? Vote no.

REFERENDUM 55

Create charter schools

Approval of this referendum would allow the establishment of up to 45 charter schools over six years. Charter schools would be publicly funded but managed separately from the public school district in which they reside, unhampered by the bureaucratic baggage of the public school system. Their purpose is to teach kids in new ways and offer public school parents more choice. Opponents say charter schools will suck money from public school districts and have performed poorly elsewhere. But there also are successes elsewhere, and unlike vouchers, charters keep funds and students within the public system. We think this modest experiment is worth trying in Washington. Vote yes.

King County BALLOT MEASURES

KING COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENTS 1A AND 1B

Reduce the King County Council from 13 members to nine

We recommend you vote no on Question 1 because it would reduce the political representation of all of King County's residents, to little or no benefit. A second question asks how soon such a reduction should take place, should Question 1 prevail. We recommend you vote for 1b, because it has a longer, more reasonable time line to accomplish the complicated process of redistricting the entire county.

KING COUNTY ADVISORY MEASURE No. 1

Locally funded transportation plan

Do we want to vote on a proposal next year? Maybe, maybe not. Why do they ask? Why is this question on the ballot? Vote no to protest this ridiculous question.

KING COUNTY ADVISORY MEASURE No. 2 Tax source to support a locally funded transportation plan

Here we are asked to choose our preferred method of transportation funding. Again, it's a ridiculous question. As the sponsors of this measure know: None of these taxes by itself is sufficient to actually fund meaningful transportation improvements. And no one's going to approve a tax increase without seeing what they're buying. If you must choose, however, we think the best available revenue source offered here is an increase in the local gas tax.

SEATTLE BALLOT MEASURE

INITIATIVE 83

Monorail recall

If passed, I-83 would essentially monkey wrench and perhaps kill the Seattle Monorail Project—unless or until we the people, or the City Council, have a change of heart and reverse this ban in the future. (See "Monorail Q&A,") But from the very beginning, this monorail project has presented itself as the people's alternative to clumsy megaprojects like Sound Transit and asked for voters' approval and oversight every step of the way. Now that we know much more about the plan, we recommend you vote yes, not because monorail is a bad idea, but because there is every indication that the project is off track and will fall short of what voters intended when they approved it in 2002. A yes vote, we think, could either prevent a flawed plan from sinking us further into a transportation money pit or, at the very least, return some leverage to the skeptics to ensure that a better plan is developed and put forward before any bonds are sold. Of course, without being able to see the final, single bid to design, build, operate, and maintain the system, we're flying a little blind. But what we've seen so far—a scaled-back project, questionable routing decisions, unknown operating costs, and a lack of details of how the built-out system would work and what it would cost—makes us cautious. Indeed, we weren't on board with the original vote, and nothing we've seen has convinced us this is a better project today than it was when we voted on it two years ago.

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