July 31st, 2005

Eyman fundraising update

Eye on Money: Developments

The latest figures, from The Olympian’s Brad Shannon:

Eyman’s I-900, which proposes an expansion of performance audits for state and local agencies, raised about $617,000. Of that, $489,494 came from a retired Woodinville investment executive, Michael Dunmire, and his wife, Phyllis Dunmire.

Again, this is nothing but one man’s pet project. Dunmire has provided roughly 80% of Eyman’s financial support (up from 76.5% in figures that appeared in a Spokesman-Review article). Dunmire is pumping Eyman’s committee up like a balloon with donation after donation.

July 28th, 2005

July Relaunch 2005 goes live

Announcements

Permanent Defense has been working hard to improve the experience of our visitors. We’ve made the following recent improvements to our site.

Connection & Access

Getting to Permanent Defense and viewing its content has never been easier!

  • Faster loading. Some elements that often failed to load on the old homepage are gone. The homepage has less elements, so it loads more quickly.
  • Simplified home page. The home page is less cluttered and there’s more empty space to ease the strain on your eyes. Accessibility has been improved.
  • More accessible archives. The archives have been completely rebuilt – hundreds of broken links were repaired in an effort to make the Archives work smoothly. Additionally, all the pages in the archives had their navigation button system replaced to allow for a return to the to the archive homepage.

Design & Content

Permanent Defense content is completely revamped and more appealing.

  • Permanent Defense Journal. We’re excited to introduce the new Permanent Defense Journal – an integrated news blog providing instant updates to visitors. It covers everything – from announcing new website content to discussing newspaper editorials to bringing you breaking news stories.
  • Menu Center Update. Two year ago, we pioneered “menu centers” on our website to present important information to site visitors and help you get around faster. The Breaking News Center and the Front Page Release Center remain, but we’ve also added a Campaign Headquarters to help you find more content related to Initiative 900. Menu Centers remain clearly identified by clear, streamlined colored bars and Tahoma font at the top to improve navigation and clutter.
  • More Tahoma. Visitors have repeatedly told us that they wanted more of the Tahoma font because it was clearer to read and looked more high-tech. We’ve done our best to incorporate more Tahoma into the website. You’ll find that almost all PD sections and pages are now in Tahoma font or have Tahoma on them.
  • Better color. Thanks to feedback from site visitors, you’ll find that on every page, and our blue backgrounds lighter and softer, so it’s easier for you to read and navigate Permanent Defense. Our classic red text remains the same hue as before.
  • Reasons to Oppose I-900. Fully updated, Reasons to Oppose I-900 has all the information you need to know about why Initiative 900 is bad for Washington State. It also has resources and additional information.
  • Revamped Action Center. Our new Action Center is cleaner, easier to use, and has more tools and options available to take action.
  • About Us Update. The About Us page recieved a major facelift, including an updated history of Permanent Defense and a more appealing design.
  • New Advocacy Sections. Our new advocacy sections detail good policy that we’re fighting for. There are currently four advocacy sections: Voters Want Better Choices, Growth Management, The Initiative Process, and Supporting Sound Transit. You can access each via our link menu – they’re the blue buttons in the middle.
  • Essays: Our Arguments. With four new essays, and a fifth coming out next week, we’ve got Initiative 900 covered. Read why you should vote no on the initiative and why Eyman is now more reliant than ever on wealthy backers.
  • Press Box. The Press Box has received a major facelift. New stories are now automatically pulled off our newswires to give you the latest news. The Press Box also now includes editorials and commentary.
  • Release Center. From the updated Release Center, you can read Permanent Defense statements, content that appeared in our e-newsletter, Extra!, download PDFs and other files from our Document Library, and access links to resources on current topics.

We hope you enjoy the new site as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

POSTSCRIPT: In conjunction with Permanent Defense’s eighth anniversary in 2010, the project received a major overhaul. The above-mentioned advocacy sections were incorporated into NPI’s website, while the Press Box, Release Center, and Journal were merged together to create the Newsroom. Previous releases and journal entries dating back to 2002 can now be found in the Newsroom.

July 27th, 2005

Welcome to the new Permanent Defense Journal

Announcements

The Permanent Defense Journal was designed to be an integrated news blog providing instant updates to members, site visitors, and supporters.

It covers everything – from announcing new website content to discussing newspaper editorials to bringing you breaking news stories. It’s built right into our main page, and offers traditional features such as commenting and an RSS feed. It’s your campaign link to Permanent Defense.

July 26th, 2005

Eyman’s phony view of reality

Rethinking and ReframingStatements & Advisories

In a email to supporters yesterday (copied to the media), Tim Eyman again extended his electronic tin can, asking supporters to make a contribution to his “Help Us Help Ourselves” compensation fund.

He also didn’t waste an opportunity to make a number of feel-good statements about his activities, presenting a phony view of reality.

So, therefore, we ask you to think carefully and consider the following:

Mr. Eyman claims that he and his supporters take on huge challenges every year. But how challenging is it to get an initiative on the ballot when you have one multimillionaire donor (Michael Dumire) who is willing to provide over $300,000 to pay signature gatherers for collecting signatures? Getting on the ballot is no challenge if you have deep pockets. A last look at PDC reports shows that Mr. Dunmire provided a whopping 76.5% of the funding for Eyman’s “signature drive”.

Eyman initiatives do not solve problems. They create problems or make them worse. Almost all have been designed to wreak havoc on government revenue without regard to any of the consequences. They result in budget crunches and cripple valuable local public services.

Initiative 900 does not and will not “end a 40 year prohibition against independent performance audits of state government.” The state legislature already did that with the passage of EHB 1064 earlier this year (the bill was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire). Eyman had absolutely nothing to do with the bill or its passage, either. State Democrats had previously passed such legislation, and with Democrats assuming control of the state Senate in 2005, the legislation finally made it through both houses.

Eyman also crowed about his involvement in 1998’s Initiative 200, which barred government sponsored remedies for minorities that have previously been the target of grave injustices. Mr. Eyman’s logic of “treating everyone the same” falls flat on its face, since everyone has not been treated the same in the past, and even today, not everyone is being treated the same.

Then it was on to Initiative 695. Initiative 695 was tossed out in court after it passed because it was found to be unconstitutional. The reason the state motor vehicle excise tax was subsequently repealed was because the Legislature and the Governor were afraid of another effort to take away funding. That plan didn’t work out  too well, as Eyman came back with another initiative anyway

In the 1999-2001 biennium, the state MVET was to have been distributed in three main ways: 47% to state transportation, 29% to local transits, and 24% to local governments. This funding was lost after the Legislature repealed the state MVET.

In terms of local distribution for counties and cities across the state, about $496,904,767 (in 2004) was projected to be lost because of Initiative 695 by the state Department of Revenue. The state Department of Revenue predicted that overall, counting both transportation and local distribution, up to $1,700,000,000 in funding for public services and transportation was lost for the 2001-2003 biennium, statewide. The bottom line is that I-695 blew a huge hole into our state’s transportation funding that has never been fully repaired.

Initiative 747, which passed in 2001, hurt local governments and has led to budget shortfalls across Washington State. Some cities are considering disincorporation because they no longer have the revenues to continue offering their citizens public services. The state loss from I-747 for 2004 alone was projected to be $48,753,000. Local municipalities lost $148,415,000 in 2004 alone – revenues that would have otherwise paid for valuable public services.

Ron Sims’ candidacy for governor of Washington State did NOT fail because of Sims’ tax reform proposals. It failed because his opponent, Christine Gregoire, had more money, support from the state labor council, more endorsements, and statewide name recognition (she had already served two terms as Attorney General).

Eyman loves to take credit for things he had nothing to do with, make political predictions (for instance, that I-912 will be approved this November), and play the role of amateur political scientist.

Eyman also likes to claim that he’s “keeping the political establishment on the defensive” but this is coming from a guy whose last four initiatives (I-267, I-807, I-864, I-892) have all ended in failure.

But Eyman lives in an Orwellian world, so nothing that anybody else says ever seems to matter. It’s the “Ministry of Truth” all over again.

July 23rd, 2005

Initiative 900 gives the auditor too much power

Threat Analysis

Close your eyes – and imagine for a moment that the state auditor isn’t Brian Sonntag. Imagine instead that the state auditor is Tim Eyman, with the power to harass agencies like Sound Transit and the Seattle Monorail Project (both of which Eyman hates). Do you like the idea of giving the state auditor the power to push around local governments? What if we got a “rogue auditor”? It’s a question we address in one of our new essays.

May 11th, 2005

Gov. Gregoire signs performance audit legislation

Legislation & Testimony

Today, in Olympia, Governor Christine Gregoire officially signed into law House Bill 1064, the landmark performance audit legislation long sought by state auditor Brian Sonntag and legislators who hope to improve accountability in government.

House Bill 1064 originally passed the state House of Representatives back in February. The Senate revised the bill and approved it on April 7th.

The revised bill authorizes the state auditor, in collaboration with a Citizen Oversight Board, to develop and implement a plan for performance audits of state government.

The Legislature found that the performance audit activities of the joint legislative audit and review committee (JLARC) should be supplemented by making fuller use of the state auditor’s resources and capabilities.

Thanks to this morning’s signing in the Governor’s Conference Room, the state auditor will have the power to conduct performance audits of state agencies.

Permanent Defense Chair Andrew Villeneuve said of the signing: “This is a clear win for Washington State taxpayers. The Governor and the state legislature have done their job and acted on this important issue.”

The signing of the legislation shows that ill-conceived Initiative 900 from Tim Eyman is not needed. And unlike House Bill 1064, Initiative 900 was not drafted with public input.

Initiative 900 overloads Washington State with audits. It requires every government agency and program in the state, including local governments, to be audited. The state auditor’s office says implementing I-900 would cost $90 million every two years.

The office also says the initiative will require the auditor’s office to expand four times its current size and will take a decade or longer to fully implement.

“Thanks to the Legislature’s action on this issue, and the Governor’s approval, Washington State can move forward,” Villeneuve added. “Initiative 900 doesn’t solve anything. Instead of fixing a problem, this initiative will only create new problems.”

April 19th, 2005

Performance audits bill clears state Legislature

Legislation & Testimony

Yesterday, in Olympia, the Washington State House of Representatives concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 1064, approving the revised bill with 75 voting yes and 22 voting no. The action sends the performance audit legislation to the desk of Governor Christine Gregoire. The original House Bill 1064 passed back in February. The Senate revised the bill and approved it on April 7th.

The revised bill orders the elected state auditor to hire independent contractors to do annual performance audits of state agencies. A panel of citizens will work with the auditor and produce a yearly report card grading state agencies.

Yesterday, the House gave its consent to those revisions and cleared the legislation to be signed into state law.

Permanent Defense Chair Andrew Villeneuve said of the vote: “This is a clear win for Washington State taxpayers. The state Legislature has acted on this important issue and passed legislation for the governor to sign.”

The passage of the legislation shows that ill-conceived Initiative 900 from Tim Eyman is not needed. And unlike House Bill 1064, Initiative 900 was not drafted with public input.

Initiative 900 overloads Washington State with audits. It requires every government agency and program in the state, including local governments, to be audited. The state auditor’s office says implementing I-900 would cost $90 million every two years.

The office also says the initiative will require the auditor’s office to expand four times its current size and will take a decade or longer to fully implement.

“Thanks to the Legislature’s action on this issue, Washington State can move forward,” Villeneuve added. “Initiative 900 doesn’t solve anything. It’s like enlarging a wound instead of applying a bandage.”

March 14th, 2005

Eyman initiatives have real consequences

Election PostmortemRethinking and Reframing

Years after their passage, the aftershocks of Tim Eyman’s dangerous initiatives are still being felt.

In an article published in the Everett Herald yesterday, the story of the struggling town of Gold Bar is told. Ever since the passage of Initiative 695 in 1999, Gold Bar has been in trouble. And now, the city is in danger of having to disincorporate.

The city’s troubles are indeed the result of Eyman initiatives, as the article notes:

The reason Gold Bar and numerous other cities around the state are struggling financially can be traced to the passage of the car tab initiative in 1999, which lowered licensing fees to a flat $30 rate.

Since then, Gold Bar has lost about $707,000 in revenue, according to the Association of Washington Cities. That loss is bigger than the city’s 2005 general fund of about $508,000. The city already has tightened its belt, cutting expenses on staff training, laying off staff and restructuring the police service contract with the county, which has saved the city about $194,000, said Hester Gilleland, the city’s clerk and treasurer.

The reality is that cities need money to operate. It costs us money to live in a society – something that Tim Eyman has never been intelligent enough to recognize. There comes a point when there is simply nothing left to cut and no belt-tightening left to do: the government simply stops functioning.

Public services, such as police and fire protection, swimming pools and libraries, roads, parks and public schools – aren’t free. Without money to operate those services, the government has no choice but to stop providing them. This seriously endangers the health of Washington state’s communities.

Gold Bar is unfortunately at the end of its string. But the city’s residents haven’t got anybody to blame except themselves.

Hawkins [mayor of Gold Bar] said she finds it ironic that even she voted for Initiative 695 – the major cause of the city’s financial headaches.

The town’s registered voters supported the initiative by a vote of 354-138. Courts eventually struck down the measure, but state lawmakers heeded the will of the people and adopted $30 license tab fees anyway.

In 2002, voters approved a second car-tab initiative, which eliminated a $15 license registration fee that Snohomish County and several other counties had been charging.

That money was earmarked for street repairs. As a result, the street fund in Gold Bar dropped from $17,200 in 2002 to nothing in 2004, Gilleland said.

“Even though these initiatives are appealing, they are giving a death warrant for local government,” Hawkins said.

Voters have been tricked into voting with their pocketbooks thanks to Tim Eyman and his sadistic rhetoric. Even mayors have been sold on the premise that they can have it all and not pay for it. By refusing to look at both sides of the equation, and refusing to acknowledge that tax cuts are equivalent to cuts in public services, Eyman and his cronies have distorted the truth and caused a lot of damage.

The Republican position that we must “live within our means” may sound appealing, but it is insane. Too many years of tax cuts are wreaking havoc on Washington State and its many local governments. If something isn’t done in the next few years, city halls across the state will be forced to close and some counties may even collapse into insolvency.

At a time when many rural citizens are angry about the lack of local control in their quest for “property rights”, they risk losing out and ceding more power to officials that are further away. Many of these people are the same folks that eagerly embraced Tim Eyman’s initiatives.

You get what you vote for, and they will pay dearly for their lack of vision and their self-centered thinking. If they’re upset about losing local control, then they should join the bandwagon in clamoring for the state Legislature to pass a budget that will plug the deficit with new revenues.

Cities and counties need money to operate. They’re out of funding. Without the state’s help or increased local revenue, there is no hope for them. And the state cannot possibly provide them funding when it faces its own budget shortfall.

It’s time for people who have been avoiding reality to acknowledge it. We cannot afford any more tax cuts. We need new revenues and real tax reform. We must fund public services or be forced to stop providing them.

February 16th, 2005

Permanent Defense’s founder testifies in support of HB 1744 before the House Finance Committee

Legislation & Testimony

Editor’s Note: The following are the remarks prepared by Permanent Defense founder Andrew Villeneuve in support of House Bill 1744, which received a public hearing before the House Finance Committee today.

Chairman McIntire, Members of the Committee:

Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Villeneuve. I’m a citizen activist and the founder of Permanent Defense and the Northwest Progressive Institute.

I’m here today to talk to you about a bill before you: HB 1744, an act providing for property tax fairness. I’ve spent a fair amount of time studying our state’s tax structure and the issue of affordable home ownership.

Having read the Washington State tax Structure Study, which was produced by a commission headed by William Gates, Sr. several years ago, I have come to agree with one of its main conclusions: Washington’s tax structure is deplorably regressive… and something needs to be done about it.

As the editorial board of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted a year ago, individuals earning less than $20,000 a year spend nearly sixteen percent of their income paying state and local taxes, while those earning more than $130,000 pay just over four percent.

HB 1744 would provide much-needed property tax fairness by creating a homestead exemption.

A homestead exemption would shield from all local property taxes a portion of a family’s primary residence, equal to twenty percent of the local county’s median property value, and from the state property tax an amount equal to twenty percent of median state property value.

Because this proposal is revenue neutral, the quality of public services would not be affected if it were to be implemented.

This gives the homestead exemption an advantage over other, more draconian proposals, which would cut taxes across the board and hurt local governments and vital public services by taking needed revenue away.

Under this proposal, the vast majority of homeowners in Washington State would see some reduction in their property taxes. Owners of less expensive homes would pay less, and owners of more expensive homes or non-residential property would pay only slight more than they do away.

Middle income Washington homeowners are already paying more than their fair share of income in property taxes. A homestead exemption would help reverse this trend and create a more progressive tax structure.

The issue of affordable home ownership is increasingly becoming more serious.

Yesterday, in an article from the Associated Press entitled “Housing affordability dropping in state”, Glenn Crellin, the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University, noted: “Affordability is going down, there is no question about it. When you’ve got prices rising as rapidly as they are… it’s hard for incomes to keep up that increase.”

As the article also notes:

The center’s housing affordability index, which measures the ability of a middle income family to purchase a median priced home using a 30 year mortgage at prevailing interest rates, slipped in the fourth quarter to 116.9. That was a 17.5 drop in the past year and the lowest reading since 2000, the report said.

A score of 100 means a typical family makes enough to buy the median home.

When the index is below 100, even repeat buyers face affordability constraints. King County, the state’s largest, has remained below 100 for the past two quarters the report said.

The problem of unaffordable home ownership will not go away by itself. This Legislature, however, has an opportunity to do something.

By shifting tax obligations without hurting local governments, the implementation of a homestead exemption would help make home ownership more affordable for middle and lower income families without hurting the quality of life in communities across Washington State.

George W. Bush spoke of an “ownership society” in his second inaugural speech [read the full text of the address] when he said:

We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance — preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.

It’s hard to create an “ownership society” when present economic conditions discourage individuals and families from owning their own homes. The Washington State Legislature should send a signal to the citizens of Washington that it supports affordable home ownership by enacting HB 1744.

Thirty-seven states have some form of a homestead exemption to help middle and lower income families afford their own homes, but Washington State does not.

Last year, in an article in The Olympian, one of my state representatives, who was also a cosponsor of HB 1744 (Toby Nixon), said he hoped to start a discussion about property tax fairness. He said:

I have lived in states like Georgia that have a homestead exemption, and it’s worked well. I think it’s a way to help ensure that senior citizens, in particular, are not taxed out of their homes. I understand fully that it represents a shift of tax obligations to businesses that owners of large rental properties.

Washington needs to move forward and take action on this issue. We cannot afford to do nothing – we must do something. There is going to be criticism for any proposed remedy or solution. But this legislation has, I believe, strong advantages over other alternative proposals that purport to address this problem.

The Washington State Legislature has the opportunity to help the people of Washington by encouraging affordable home ownership.

It is my hope that you will seize this opportunity to improve tax fairness and send HB 1744 to the House floor so we can move forward.

I very much appreciate this opportunity to speak to you about this issue.

Thank you for your time.

February 13th, 2005

Three Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

This week and this month, Permanent Defense is proud to celebrate three years of political activism in Washington State – opposing Tim Eyman, fighting for real tax reform, and promoting the value of public services.

February 2005 marks the end of our third year of operation and the beginning of our fourth.

The last year has been Permanent Defense’s most successful year to date. Working together with our friends and allies, we have accomplished much of what we set out to do a year ago.

Last year, in this statement, I wrote about how imperative it was that we stop Tim Eyman and his initiative factory from causing further devastating harm to Washington State. Thanks to your hard work, and our cooperation with other groups opposed to Eyman, we successfully defeated both I-864 and I-892.

I’d like to reflect on some of the things we’ve accomplished this past year- from February 2004 to February 2005. I’m proud of what this project has been able to accomplish, and I’m confident that we will continue to be successful in our efforts to change Washington State for the better.

  • We defeated Initiative 864 in July of 2004, destroying a threat that would have brought certain disaster to local governments and public services across the state. We fought this issue for a year (June 2003 to July 2004) and won, dispelling Eyman’s myths and rumors about the tax climate.
  • We defeated Initiative 892 in November of 2004, with voters rejecting Eyman’s attempt to proliferate our state with slot machines by a landslide. We mailed flyers, distributed yard signs, appeared in the media, and attended community events to voice our opposition to I-892.
  • We debuted a new e-newsletter for the press – Permanent Defense Focus!, which has helped to counter the lies that Tim Eyman continually feeds the media.
  • We retooled our site through January Launch, July Relaunch, and December Update, with lots of new sections and features, especially the Release Center and the Permanent Defense Forum.
  • We had three times the traffic to our website this year of what we had in 2002 and 2003 combined, with thousands of visits to our site.

In the years since Permanent Defense was founded, Tim Eyman has had one initiative which passed at the polls:  Initiative 776. All of the others have been failures. Eyman is currently is in an 0 for 4 slump and is trying to break out of it by qualifying an initiative to the people that would overload our state with audits.

Eyman’s proposal would have the state shelling out around $90 million every biennium so we can pay to audit every single state agency, program, and account and would require the auditor’s office to expand by four times its current size over the next decade.

Fortunately, the state House and the state Senate are considering much more practical legislation that has the state auditor’s support.

We will continue to vigorously oppose Eyman on all the issues. And we will step up our efforts to fight for real tax reform, including pushing for a state homestead exemption.

We’ll talk about a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”. We’ll also talk about tackling the state’s current funding problems.

We will continue to roll out improvements and additions to our website during the next year. So, I hope you’ll stand with us as we embark on the beginning of another year of political activism, and take a moment to pause and reflect on our achievements and accomplishments from the last one.

Thanks for your involvement. Here’s to another successful year!

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Permanent Defense works to protect Washington by building a first line of defense against threats to the common wealth and Constitution of the Evergreen State — like Tim Eyman's initiative factory. Learn more.

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