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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

Initiative 1033 - No: Resulting cuts would be devastating to communities

By Bill Williams and Leo Greenwalt, Special to the Herald

We have a strong tradition of local control in Washington - a tradition Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033 would replace.

I-1033 would impose an arbitrary cap and one-size-fits-all formula on every city and county in the state, with no exceptions. This would leave cities and counties unable to respond to local emergencies and without the means to pursue the priorities of local residents. Unsurprisingly, the local level is where I-1033's cuts would be felt the most in cuts to schools and health care.

I-1033's cap would lock in cuts to health care that have reduced nursing home and health services for seniors. Cuts to the Basic Health Plan mean 35,000 people will lose health insurance. In Franklin and Benton counties, 3,000 people get low-cost health insurance through Basic Health. Hospitals, community clinics and health centers for the elderly and disabled are all cutting back.

I-1033 also would lock in cuts that have left schools underfunded and classrooms overcrowded.

Washington's classrooms, teachers and students would also be hurt by I-1033. This year, $1.5 billion was cut from public education. As a result, public schools are laying off teachers and librarians, cutting bus routes and increasing class sizes. An additional $500 million was cut from Washington's colleges and universities. College students are paying up to 28 percent more in tuition, even as their course offerings are shrinking, and staff vacancies are being left open.

But I-1033 wouldn't stop there. According to a study by the nonpartisan Office of Financial Management, I-1033's cap and formula would reduce city and county revenues by $2.8 billion over the next five years. The same study found that its formula would reduce state revenues that support education, health care and other services by $5.9 billion by 2015.

Eyman calls the facts about his initiative's impacts "scare tactics," but we know I-1033 is a proven failure. It's based on a very similar law from Colorado that wrecked the state's schools, economy and heath care system.

After this law was passed, the portion of low-income children without health insurance doubled. Support for education plummeted to 49th in the nation. Colorado still ranks near the bottom in high school graduation rates. College students pay higher tuition because support for higher education also ranks 49th in the nation. Things got so bad Colorado suspended the requirement that children be fully immunized before enrolling in school, because there were not enough state funds to buy vaccines.

Do we have any reason to think the impacts of I-1033 would be any different in Washington? No. Eyman's initiative is fundamentally the same as Colorado's law. I-1033 would bring home the rigid spending limit and arbitrary formula behind Colorado's decline.

Just like in Colorado, ground zero for Eyman's latest initiative, 1033, will not be the state's capital. I-1033's negative impacts would be felt most acutely in the communities, hospitals, schools and businesses across Washington.

It's not hard to see why 250 businesses, education organizations, chambers of commerce, environmental groups, health care leaders and labor unions have come together to oppose I-1033. The negative impacts of Eyman's initiative will extend far beyond the state capital and deep into every community, hospital, school and business.

I-1033 is a proven failure our communities, students, seniors and businesses can't afford.

We urge you to vote no onI-1033.

* Bill Williams is executive director of the Washington State PTA. Leo Greenawalt is president of the Washington State Hospital Association.

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