Morning Fizz
A Reality Check on Slashing Government
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz.
1. Late last week , a Thurston County Superior Court judge threw out Tim Eyman's complaint against the Office of Financial Management's fiscal note—to be included in voters' pamphlet—that says I-1185, Eyman's latest initiative, could cost the state between $22 million and $33 million.
I-1185 is Eyman's latest call to mandate a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature to raise taxes and require the legislature to vote (with a simple majority only) on agency fee increases. It's impossible to estimate the cost of the two-thirds rule; you can't guess what tax proposals won' t happen in the future. But you can calculate how the rule will squash fee increases by forcing agencies to go back to the legislature for re-authorization—because that's exactly what happened after Eyman's last two-thirds rule, I-1053, passed in 2010.
Looking for a concrete example of what got left on the cutting room floor? Not only did the state lose money---it also fell behind in the fight against global warming. The Department of Ecology's fee on greenhouse gas reporting, once cued up by the legislature, was slashed from the budget after Eyman's previous 1185-style initiative, I-1053, forced agencies to get "re-set" authority from the legislature.
It's that sort of concrete example that OFM used to put a price tag Eyman's latest initiative.
2. Speaking of a reality check on slashing government: As a kind of protest against the city's Republican library hours (due to the ongoing city budget shortfall, all of the city's libraries are closed this week), a group of local book lovers has opened an outdoor "People's Library" outside the Douglass-Truth Library (2300 E. Yesler), with free books, music, kids' story time, and free wifi.
According to the library, the systemwide closure will save the city just over $600,000.
3. And speaking of the Republicans, Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner is filing good on-the-ground coverage (Washington State Republicans love Citizens United) and tweeting (Eyman sighting) regularly from the GOP convention in Tampa.
Also tweeting from Tampa—including tweets about his breakfast at Chick-fil-A ("we need some of these back home")—is Washington State Republican Party Chair Kirby Wilbur.
4. And speaking of the GOP convention, here's a sneak peek at our daily "On Other Blogs Today" roundup with this over-the-top column from New York Times columnist David Brooks—a Mitt Romney biography, with caustic lines such as: "He bought a mood ring, but it remained permanently transparent;" and "He once canceled a corporate retreat at which Abba had been hired to play, saying he found the band’s music 'too angry';" and "He barely won the 2012 Republican primaries after a grueling nine-month campaign, running unopposed;" and "At the convention, ... his Secret Service nickname is Mannequin."
Yes, David Brooks.
1. Late last week , a Thurston County Superior Court judge threw out Tim Eyman's complaint against the Office of Financial Management's fiscal note—to be included in voters' pamphlet—that says I-1185, Eyman's latest initiative, could cost the state between $22 million and $33 million.
I-1185 is Eyman's latest call to mandate a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature to raise taxes and require the legislature to vote (with a simple majority only) on agency fee increases. It's impossible to estimate the cost of the two-thirds rule; you can't guess what tax proposals won' t happen in the future. But you can calculate how the rule will squash fee increases by forcing agencies to go back to the legislature for re-authorization—because that's exactly what happened after Eyman's last two-thirds rule, I-1053, passed in 2010.
Looking for a concrete example of what got left on the cutting room floor? Not only did the state lose money---it also fell behind in the fight against global warming. The Department of Ecology's fee on greenhouse gas reporting, once cued up by the legislature, was slashed from the budget after Eyman's previous 1185-style initiative, I-1053, forced agencies to get "re-set" authority from the legislature.
It's that sort of concrete example that OFM used to put a price tag Eyman's latest initiative.
2. Speaking of a reality check on slashing government: As a kind of protest against the city's Republican library hours (due to the ongoing city budget shortfall, all of the city's libraries are closed this week), a group of local book lovers has opened an outdoor "People's Library" outside the Douglass-Truth Library (2300 E. Yesler), with free books, music, kids' story time, and free wifi.
According to the library, the systemwide closure will save the city just over $600,000.
3. And speaking of the Republicans, Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner is filing good on-the-ground coverage (Washington State Republicans love Citizens United) and tweeting (Eyman sighting) regularly from the GOP convention in Tampa.
Also tweeting from Tampa—including tweets about his breakfast at Chick-fil-A ("we need some of these back home")—is Washington State Republican Party Chair Kirby Wilbur.
4. And speaking of the GOP convention, here's a sneak peek at our daily "On Other Blogs Today" roundup with this over-the-top column from New York Times columnist David Brooks—a Mitt Romney biography, with caustic lines such as: "He bought a mood ring, but it remained permanently transparent;" and "He once canceled a corporate retreat at which Abba had been hired to play, saying he found the band’s music 'too angry';" and "He barely won the 2012 Republican primaries after a grueling nine-month campaign, running unopposed;" and "At the convention, ... his Secret Service nickname is Mannequin."
Yes, David Brooks.
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