Another Green Monday: Initiative 1107
This is the third entry in my election series. (Read my endorsements of Referendum-52 and Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager.) For every Another Green Monday leading up to November 2nd, I will write about what’s on your ballot. There are so many initiatives this year and this being Down To Earth, your local resource for sustainability, I decided to pick on Initiative 1107. Rightly so.
This measure wants to repeal taxes on soda, candy, and bottled water. To play devil’s advocate, that sales tax might seem like part of Washington’s regressive system. Wrong. The reason the tax exists is because of the state budget shortfall. It was either this or cut health care, public school funding, and essential services for vulnerable seniors and children. In fact, it produces $130 million annually to help low-income folks.
Who are the brain-trust behind I-1107? The American Beverage Association. They're as honest as tobacco lobbyists. They represent the world's biggest soda companies and they’ve dumped $16.7 million into the campaign - the most expensive for any measure in state history - and have fraudulently attempted to convince Washington voters this is ALSO repealing a tax on food. But this is not a tax on food. It’s like my mom told me: Soda and candy aren’t food. Besides, 99 percent of the funding behind I-1107 comes from the American Beverage Association and they included a preferential tax loophole for a small number of manufacturers of processed foods to deploy the ruse. Soda, candy and the processors in question contribute to obesity; bottled water production is a climate change culprit. Not to mention, discarded bottles clog streams, rivers, and other natural habitats. In an ironic development, I-1107 would also severely cut funding for DOE’s Water Quality Program, Air Quality Program, and the 5930 Program (named after Senate Bill 5930 enacted in 2007). Department of Health receives about $20 million per biennium for this program in order to develop and implement strategies to reduce obesity and other chronic diseases, increase vaccinations, prevent the spread of communicable diseases like E. coli or Salmonella, and improve public health via other initiatives. In an era when government is scraped to the bone, these health and environment programs are all on the chopping block. For more information, check out the Budget and Policy Center’s important brief on 2010 Initiatives Could Impact Public Services- they believe eliminate this tax could add $250-300 million to the fiscal gap faced by the state over the next three years.
Whenever I drink soda, I get a headache. Compounded with these figures and the cash pouring in, I want this to fizzle out before I blow my top. Vote no on I-1107. Cheers.
What do you want your transportation future to look like? With assistance from consulting firm MIG, Inc., the Spokane Regional Transportation Council has developed an online game that allows you to comment on transportation projects. Questions range from the completion of the North-South Corridor to rapid mass transit. “The player picks what level they want to be taxed at, and that dictates how much they have to spend,” said Staci Lehman, public information coordinator for SRTC in the Spokesman, and frequent contributor to DTE. A big part of this game is how you choose spending on priority projects. This will help determine the public view on potential tax increases. For example: The game posits a registration tab fee of $45 a year on vehicles up to 6,000 pounds would potentially bring $24 million a year. This is part of a broader effort to assess community sentiment and establish a “Unified Regional Vision” for Spokane transportation for the next 30 years. Full story HERE.
'Beavers just too dam busy." I love a good headline. Ah, but the saga continues as the beavers that land in the welcoming arms of the Lands Council always find a good home. They’ve been running amok near Tum Tum, much to the chagrin of neighbors. So The Lands Council trapped a few and relocated them near Priest River where they’ll be used for water storage and hopefully doing what they do best: Stream bank restoration. Full story HERE.
Bob Glatzer, R.I.P. Spokane lost one of my favorites over the weekend, film critic, KYRS host, and the always civically involved Bob Glatzer. He will be missed. Fully story HERE. 
Image courtesy of KPBX.
