The Associated Press/file
Tim Eyman is shown bounding on stage for a victory speech in November 1999 after passage of his initiative reducing car tab fees.

History of recent initiatives

- Initiative 695, approved in 1999 by 56 percent of Washington voters, sought to replace the value-based car-tab excise tax with a flat $30 fee, as well as require voter approval of all tax and fee increases. The state Supreme Court invalidated I-695 because it violated the state constitution's requirement that laws have a single subject, but state lawmakers still passed a drastic cut in car-tab rates.

- Initiative 722, passed in November 2000, would have limited property tax growth to 2 percent a year and rolled back some tax and fee increases. In September, the state Supreme Court threw out I-722 on grounds it violated the constitution's single-subject rule.

- Initiative 745, defeated in November 2000, would have required that 90 percent of transportation funding be spent on road construction and maintenance. Foes said the proposal would have decimated public transit systems.

- Initiative 747, approved in November by 56 percent of voters, limits property tax increases to 1 percent a year unless voters approve more at the ballot box. Opponents have filed a lawsuit claiming the measure was actually written by attorneys at a state agency, a claim the agency denies.

- For 2002, Eyman has proposed Initiative 776, which would roll back car-tab taxes to $30 a year by repealing the remaining piece of the state motor vehicle excise tax, a special motor vehicle excise tax in the Sound Transit area and a $15 registration fee paid by motorists in four counties. The measure would affect a large share of Sound Transit funding in central Puget Sound.

- Last week, Eyman said he planned to propose a ballot measure, to be filed in the next two weeks, that would limit cities and counties to revenue growth of 1 percent per year unless voters approve more. Any excess revenue would automatically be used to reduce property taxes. Eyman must gather the necessary 200,000 voter signatures by July for the new measure to go on the ballot in November.

Sound Off at TheOlympian.com: Is Mr. Eyman's political career over?

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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