Initiative King Eyman At It Again

The Washington Secretary of State’s office Monday confirmed that the newest ballot measure from perennial issue advocate Tim Eyman has qualified for the ballot in November.

Initiative 1053 would make it more difficult to increase taxes, requiring lawmakers either to pass tax hikes with a two-thirds majority or to refer them to voters.

I-1053 would reinstate requirements that were imposed by another Eyman initiative, I-960, in 2007.

Lawmakers, battling a budget deficit, voted to suspend I-960’s provisions this year, before approving about $800 million of taxes on a majority vote.

The I-1053 campaign turned in nearly 338,000 signatures, far more than the 241,153 required. That was large enough to allow the measure to qualify for the ballot with a 3% random test, said Dave Ammons, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office.

Eyman’s ballot measures are election-year perennials in Washington; he claims credit for qualifying 12 state ballot measures over the years, many of them proposing limits in taxes or spending.

Voters have approved eight of his measures but have rejected four, including the last two.

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