Revenue Cap Initiative Loses Badly In Wash. State

CURT WOODWARD

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The most sweeping plan yet from anti-tax activist Tim Eyman was soundly rejected Tuesday as Washington state voters appeared unwilling to put government on a forced diet of limited revenue.

Initiative 1033 — the latest in a long line of measures sponsored by Eyman since the 1990s — proposed a growth cap on revenue flowing into the main checking accounts of city, county and state government.

Eyman acknowledged defeat Tuesday night as unofficial returns showed I-1033 being defeated by about 55 percent to 45 percent, with 48 percent of the expected vote counted.

The opposition campaign declared victory, saying voters already had seen government make significant service cuts in the face of a brutal recession.

"I think people looked at the recession's impact in their communities — be it fewer teachers in schools, or more potholes in their road — and they asked themselves if Initiative 1033 would make those impacts better or worse," No on 1033 spokesman Scott Whiteaker said.

The opposition campaign featured a broad coalition of establishment figures — including elected officials, labor unions and big business — arguing that Eyman's measure would lock governments in a "permanent recession."