I-985 would "compound an already gloomy budget situation"
The Tri-City Herald weighs in on I-985:
2 initiatives could bungle state budgetTwo citizens initiatives likely to qualify for the November ballot would compound an already gloomy budget situation if approved by voters, possibly pushing the state’s shortfall past $3 billion…
[P]reliminary estimates from the Department of Revenue indicate Tim Eyman’s traffic congestion measure — Initiative 985 — would cost the state about $290 million during the next two-year budget cycle and the rest of the current one.
$290 million for a bunch of pet transportation projects sure ain’t chump change — especially at a time when the state budget’s tight anyway. So much for fiscal discipline and protecting the taxpayer.