PTA opposes Initiative 985
The Washington State Parent Teacher Association is taking a stand against Initiative 985 because of its harmful impact to our state’s public schools.
Here’s an excerpt from their news release last Friday:
According to the Office of Financial Management, the initiative could result in as much as $665 million being diverted from the general fund over a five-year period…While some of the 18 board members were empathetic to the need to improve transportation, a significant majority voted to oppose the initiative because of concerns that the diversion of general fund moneys would result in unacceptable cuts to other programs, particularly K-12 education, health care and other programs that are important to children.
Initiative 985 actually does nothing to improve our transportation system. Instead, it makes traffic worse by opening HOV lanes during rush hour and forcing the state to spend a significant amount money on new highway lanes only. Vote NO on 985 and protect your community from the More Traffic Measure.
Raiding the general fund
I-985 raids the state “general fund” of about $575 million through the end of 2013.
What’s the general fund used for? This document (pdf) has the answers. In round numbers:
52 percent goes to education
30 percent goes to social and health services
6 percent goes to corrections
5 percent services bond debt
Less than 2 percent each go to government operations and natural resources
3.5 percent goes to “everything else”Â
Take a look:
So assuming the debt service is off limits, I-985 will mostly steal money from education, health, and law enforcement, to pay for pet transportation projects in the Puget Sound. Is this what taxpayers really want?