New Year, New Initiative

And that's the last "new x, new y" theme I'll use.

Chris Mulick reports on Tim Eyman's latest transportation initiative.

Tim Eyman plans to push an initiative this year that once again will focus on spending more of the state's transportation dollars on congestion relief....

Eyman said the measure:

"* Opens carpool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours (midday and evenings on weekdays and all day and all night on weekends -- peak hours defined as Mon-Fri 6-9 am, 3-6 pm) -- which reduces traffic congestion and increases traffic flow;

* Requires cities and counties to synchronize traffic lights on heavily-traveled arterials -- which reduces traffic congestion and increases traffic flow; and

* Increases funding for emergency roadside assistance (to clear out accidents faster) -- which reduces traffic congestion and increases traffic flow."

I'm on Eyman's email list as well (not that I'm suggesting it's a small and exclusive club). Here's more from his morning missive.

ReduceCongestion.org, the official campaign name (C1PC will be filed with the Public Disclosure Commission this week) for the Reduce Traffic Congestion Initiative, will be filed with the Secretary of State's office in the Capitol Dome in Olympia at 10 am, January 14th, the first day of the 2008 legislative session and the first day initiatives to the people can be filed.  Petitions for ReduceCongestion.org will be sent out to everyone in mid-February.  We'll then have until early July to raise the funds and gather the 224,880 voter signatures to qualify ReduceCongestion.org for the November 10th, 2008 ballot.

And they're off.

UPDATE No need to wait for the 14th. This just in from Eyman.

It turns out that unlike previous years, the first day to file initiatives to the people is DIFFERENT than the first day of the legislative session.  So day after tomorrow -- Friday, January 4th -- at 11 am (NOT 10 am as indicated below), Jack, Mike, and I will be filing our 2008 initiative described below.  It'll be at the Secretary of State's office in the Capitol Dome in Olympia.

And Joe Turner at The News Tribune has this on the initiative.

Here's the poison pill that will align almost all of officialdom against Eyman: He wants to divert existing state sales tax into a special anti-congestion account.

That, of course, means money that now goes to public schools and welfare moms and prison operations would be used to pay for traffic stuff. Most legislators and governors don't like that.

Establishment opposition hasn't hurt Eyman much in the past, though.

Comments

[Daniel K]

Doesn't this violate the one initiative, one issue rule?