The repeating themes of anti-tax initiatives

Plus a bid to block a gas pipeline expansion, some recommended reading, and you should give the Observer as a gift

When Paul showed up in Olympia to cover state government for The Associated Press way back in 2001, Tim Eyman’s signature achievement loomed large.

Eyman’s Initiative 695, which repealed the state motor vehicle excise tax, had passed in 1999. Even though the courts tossed it out for violating the single-subject rule, the Legislature, cowed by the measure’s 56-44 victory, went ahead and repealed the tax anyway in 2000, punching a $1.5 billion hole in the state’s biennial budget, prompting deep cuts that fell hardest on transit and the ferry system. In a sign of how much things have changed since, then-Gov. Gary Locke, a Seattle Democrat, signed the repeal.

Here’s why you should care about this: In a sign of how little things may have changed, we’re about to have a similar debate for the next year over Initiative 2117, which would repeal the Climate Commitment Act, the cap-and-trade system for major emitters of carbon, which is currently raking in hundreds of millions of dollars for the state’s coffers — much of which goes to the very same things the MVET used to pay for.

The Chetzemoka in drydock, where WSF’s aging vessels spend a great deal of time. (Image by Shutterstock.)