Rankin Raises Money To Pay For Signatures

Anti-tax activist Ron Rankin was left out in the cold during a petition drive last year, and he is spending more than $36,000 to make sure it does not happen again.

Rankin is almost assured of getting his One Percent Initiative on the 1996 ballot.

Rankin plans to file the initiative before the next session of the Legislature convenes in January to pressure state lawmakers and Gov. Phil Batt into cutting taxes themselves.

In 1992, voters rejected the One Percent Initiative by a 2-1 ratio. The measure would limit property taxes to 1 percent of market value.

Looking ahead to 1996 - and the higher demands created by increased voter turnout - Rankin followed the lead of Idahoans for Term Limits.

Last year, that group raised more than $82,000, and spent most of it paying people to collect signatures.

Rankin has raised nearly $30,000. It’s gone toward a $36,720 contract with Rick Arnold, who operates National Voter Outreach.

Arnold is charging Rankin $1.02 each signature he collects in Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District, where Rankin has few volunteers.With the 16,127 verified signatures his volunteers have collected and the 21,811 signatures he’s already paid for, Rankin says he’s only 3,397 away from the ballot.

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Selling signatures Some states - including Colorado and Washington - have tried to stop professional signature collectors. But the U.S. Supreme Court has applied freedom of expression protections to the collectors.