Union leaders urge voters: Vote NO on Initiative 976

No on I-976 rally this Friday at IBEW 112 Hall in Kennewick

(Oct. 23, 2019) — The No On 976 campaign to reject Tim Eyman’s latest $30 car tabs initiative has released its latest television ad. For trade unionists, it has some familiar faces including April Sims, Secretary Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Dean Shelton, Vice President of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters; Monty Anderson, Executive secretary of the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council; and Evelyn Shapiro, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.

TAKE A STAND — Union members and others opposed to Initiative 976 are invited to a No on I-976 rally starting at 2 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 25 at IBEW Local 112’s hall, 114 N. Arthur in Kennewick. Wear your union colors and help spread the message about how harmful I-976 would be for Eastern Washington. Get more details.

Newspapers across the state are joining labor, business, environmental and community groups in strongly opposing I-976.

“Initiative 976 on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot imagines a fantasy world in which Washington’s highways, roads and bridges either come without cost or are already and forevermore complete,” writes The (Vancouver) Columbian. “Instead, an adequate and efficient transportation system that is the foundation of the state’s economy depends on funding from vehicle fees that would be gutted by I-976.”

“Pierce County residents would pay a steep long-term price that Eyman avoids talking about: Roads and bridges would fall deeper into disrepair,” writes The (Tacoma) News Tribune. “Arteries connecting industries to the Port of Tacoma would stay clogged. Unfinished transit projects would disrupt communities.”

“Approval of I-976 would save most vehicle owners some money each year when they renew their tabs,” writes The (Everett) Herald. “But that savings would quickly be eaten up by the cost of longer commutes, greater wear and tear from bad roads, lost jobs from delayed or canceled construction projects and lost economic opportunities from businesses unwilling to expose employees or their goods and services to more congestion. I-976 is not worth it. Vote no.”

“Nothing about I-976 is a good idea, in terms of responsible governance or prudent money management,” writes The Seattle Times. “Eyman asks voters to buy a falsity that there’s some miraculous way to fund our state’s backlog of bridge, road and transit needs. Because the courts cannot end this toxic nonsense quickly enough, voters must reject I-976 themselves.”