Voters were turning down Tim Eyman’s latest measure by a narrow margin Tuesday, opting to give state government leeway in how it raises and spends transportation money.
If early returns hold up and Initiative 1125 fails, it may be because voters were swayed by opponents’ advertising that focused on Eyman’s role and warned road projects would be stalled by the measure.
They spent at least $2.4 million, twice as much as supporters, who had a benefactor in Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman Jr., but whose money was spent getting on the ballot, not on ads.
Opponents, who gathered a coalition of labor, business and environmentalists to fight the measure, were buoyed by a large margin of victory in early King County returns and a slimmer 51-49 lead statewide.
“We’re optimistic that the voters have turned this down and we can get on with building transportation projects,” said Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable, a business group. As for the focus on Eyman in ads, Mullin said it was natural to bring up the most prominent supporter: “He’s had a whole long history of transportation initiatives that have been problematic for getting projects built.”
Eyman said he had everything going against him and declared that his measure succeeded in drawing attention to tolling practices.
“For six months we put the establishment on the hot seat, and that doesn’t happen a lot,” he said.
Initiative 1125 would put roadblocks in the way of several of the state’s plans. It would:
• Ban variable-rate tolls that change with the day and time – more expensive during rush hour, cheaper or free at other times – as they do on state Route 167 in the Kent area now and will on the SR 520 bridge over Lake Washington.
• Require toll revenue to pay only for the project being tolled. State officials would like to toll Interstate 90 to help pay for construction of a new SR 520 bridge. More preliminary ideas call for tolling sections of I-5, for example, to help fund an extension of Route 167 to the Port of Tacoma.
• Make sure tolls end when a project is finished.
• Limit toll money to highway purposes, not other forms of transportation. It also would tighten similar restrictions for gas-tax money, stymieing a voter-approved plan to convert I-90 bridge lanes to light rail.
• Require toll rates to be set by state lawmakers, who prefer to delegate that authority to an appointed board.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826 jordan.schrader@thenews tribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/politics Twitter: @Jordan_Schrader
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