Washington: Tim Eyman

I don't usually cover Eastern Washington legislative races, but when I saw the name "Fagan" I thought it might be someone related to Jack Fagan or Mike Fagan, the father-son team who are the Eastern Washington partners of professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman of Mukilteo.

Susan Fagan, from Pullman, said she is NOT related to those other Fagans.

She is, however, one of the Republican precinct committee officers who selected former state Rep. Don Cox to replace the late Rep. Steve Hailey in the Legislature after Hailey's death. Now, she is running in the special election to select a permanent replacement. Primary will be in August; runoff in November this fall.

I'm told the House Finance Committee on Thursday will pass out 2nd Substitute House Bill 2029, a measure that will raise the monthly fee on telephone service for E-911 to 25 cents (from 20 cents) for the state share and to 70 cents (from 50 cents) for the counties' share.

Here's a bill report for HB 2029, but it isn't up to date. This 2nd substitute has only one increase.

The original bill called for a 3-stage phase-in, until it got to $1.50 a month in 2014.

It will give you the background on the E-911 taxes (which would changed to "fees" in this bill) and will show that Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT and the the Broadband Cable Association opposed the earler versions of the bill.

The blocked type below is what you get if you sign up on the ListServ for the Initiative 960 notices from the governor's budget office. The governor's folks are required to sent out notices that indicate how much money would be raised over 10 years from any tax or fee bill that is introduced in the Legislature.

(I added 2 years to the 10-year just to hit $1 billion in my headline.)

It also lists the sponsors and how to contact them so you can chew them out for daring to sponsor a tax or fee increase bill. That's what Tim Eyman, I-960's sponsor, wants you to do.

Please note the new number for Initiative 1033. Tim Eyman made a few more changes after the last story I wrote, and got a new number assigned to his measure.

He actually made a few changes after reading that cities and counties thought his initiative was way too rigid because it didn't take into account the growth in population, which is one of the things that drives up local government costs. They have to take care of more people.

So Eyman changed it.

The locals hate it when Eyman suddenly gets reasonable. Now they'll have to change their tactics in trying to defeat the measure, if it does get on the ballot.