Tim Eyman Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Washington Initiative Promoter Tim Eyman Fined $2.6M, Barred From Political Committees In Lawsuit

By NWPB News February 10, 2021

Initiative sponsor Tim Eyman spoke outside the Washington State Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3

Tim Eyman, the watch salesman-turned-antitax folk hero whose initiative campaigns have bedeviled state and local governments across Washington for decades, will no longer be allowed to have any financial control over political committees, under a judge’s ruling Wednesday that blasted him for using donor’s contributions to line his own pocket.Read More

Washington Supreme Court Unanimously Strikes Down I-976, Tim Eyman’s $30 Car Tab Initiative

By NWPB News October 15, 2020

Professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman, right, holds a photo from his first successful $30 car tabs initiative in 1999. Eyman says he has collected almost enough signatures to qualify a 2019 car tabs rollback initiative to the 2019 Legislature. CREDIT: AUSTIN JENKINS/N3

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court struck down Initiative 976, a measure Washington voters approved last November to reduce the cost of annual vehicle licensing fees. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year as legal challenges worked their way through the court system.Read More

Breaking Down Dynamics Of Washington’s Aug. 4 Primary, With A Crowded Race For Governor

By Austin Jenkins August 3, 2020

Washington state primary election ballot for the Aug. 4, 2020 all-vote-by-mail election. CREDIT: Scott Leadingham/NWPB

While turnout in November could easily top 80 percent, Washington’s August primary typically draws 40 percent or less of the electorate. We break down the dynamics of this year's unusual election season during the coronavirus pandemic.Read More

A Presidential Year Without A Statewide Ballot Initiative: A First Since 1928 In Washington

By Austin Jenkins July 3, 2020

A review of Washington’s initiative history reveals that not since 1928 has the November ballot been bereft of an initiative to the people in a year when voters were electing a president. Read More

‘Let Us Fish’ Protest One Of Two In Spokane To Question Stay-Home Measures

By Nicholas Deshais April 22, 2020

Demonstrators in Spokane's Franklin Park April 22 said they wanted to fish, saying it's one of the most socially distant and isolating activities possible. CREDIT: Nick Deshais/N3

Protesters took to the streets and parks in Spokane Wednesday in two events to push back against statewide stay-home measures. One was largely a Tim Eyman campaign event. The other focused on people wanting to be allowed to fish.Read More

From Olympia To Richland To Moscow, Protesters Demonstrate Against Coronavirus Safety Measures

By NWPB News April 20, 2020

Protesters rally against social-distancing measures at the Washington state Capitol on April 19, 2020. CREDIT: Will James / KNKX

Demonstrations from Olympia to Richland in Washington, to Sandpoint to Moscow to Boise in Idaho, have been organized by people flouting social distancing measures put in place for public health and to slow the spread of coronavirus.Read More

Jay Inslee Is Running For A 3rd Term. Here’s What His Opponents Think Of His Coronavirus Response

By Nicholas Deshais April 17, 2020

Last year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was running for president. Then he declared a 3rd-term run for governor. Then the coronavirus hit. Now his opponents have a lot to say about how he's handled it.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has been called “an example of effective crisis leadership.” Not all Washingtonians agree that Inslee has done well — especially the people who want his job.Read More

Judge: Tim Eyman Concealed More Than $750K In Campaign Contributions For Ballot Measures

By Austin Jenkins February 21, 2020

In November, anti-tax activist Tim Eyman announced he's running for governor. On Friday, Feb. 21, a Thurston County Judge found that Eyman has repeatedly concealed contributions related to his initiative campaigns. CREDIT: Austin Jenkins/N3

A judge has found that anti-tax activist and Republican candidate for governor Tim Eyman concealed more than $700,000 in campaign contributions related to his initiative work over a six-year period. The finding comes as Eyman mounts a first-ever run for public office and faces trial this summer over an alleged campaign finance kick-back scheme.Read More

Tim Eyman Promises ‘Aggressive’ Run For Governor, Switches From Independent To Republican Bid

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa February 13, 2020

Tim Eyman addresses a crowd of supporters in his home town of Yakima Wednesday, Feb. 12. He announced he’s running for governor of Washington as a Republican, not an independent, as he previously said in November. CREDIT: Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB

The announcement was met with jubilant cheers from supporters at a campaign event at Yakima’s McCormick Air Center. Eyman said he initially considered running as an independent because initiatives he sponsored in the past — from $30 car-tabs to a ban on affirmative action in 1998 — were nonpartisan. Read More

Washington’s $30 Car Tabs Initiative On Hold, And Tim Eyman Calls For People Not To Pay Anything

By Tom Banse December 5, 2019

Thursday was supposed to be the day that a Washington state ballot measure to lower car registration fees took effect. But the state Supreme Court has let an injunction stand against what is known as the $30 car tabs initiative. That means hundreds of thousands of drivers will get full price bills in the coming months that they thought they had voted to reduce.Read More

Washington’s $30 Car Tabs On Hold As Judge Puts Injunction On I-976 As Legal Challenge Unfolds

By NWPB News November 27, 2019

A King County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that opponents had adequately argued that the measure's ballot title was misleading, and he issued an injunction. The challenge could eventually make its way to the state Supreme Court.Read More

Garfield County Is Washington’s Least Populous. It’s Joining A Suit To Stop I-976’s $30 Car Tabs

By NWPB News November 25, 2019

Garfield County Transportation Authority driver Gene Smith helps 96-year-old resident Louise Munday board a commuter bus on Nov. 15, 2019. Munday uses local transit five days a week and, with her limited mobility, the service to her door is necessary. CREDIT: Emily McCarty/Crosscut

As expected, the initiative’s passage prompted legal action, led by Seattle-area governments and public transit supporters protesting a projected $4.2 billion cut in revenue for transportation and transit projects over the next six years. But there has been an unexpected addition to that Puget Sound-centric group: the Garfield County Transportation Authority.Read More

Anti-Tax Ballot Initiative Sponsor Tim Eyman Says He Is Running For Governor Of Washington

By Austin Jenkins November 21, 2019

Eyman says his decision to run is motivated in part by legal efforts to overturn Initiative 976, his car tabs measure that voters just approved.Read More

Seattle And King County Will Sue To Block Initiative 976, The $30 Car Tab Measure

By NWPB News November 8, 2019

Sound Transit light rail train and tunnel in Seattle

If fully implemented, Initiative 976 would force the city to cut more than 100,000 bus hours and would hamper her program to provide free bus access for high school students and low-income residents, Seattle's mayor said in a news conference. She also emphasized that voters in King County, which is home to Seattle, firmly voted against the measure sponsored by Tim Eyman.Read More

I-976, Washington’s $30 Car Tabs Measure From Tim Eyman, Passing As Of Tuesday Night

By NWPB News November 5, 2019

Sponsored by Tim Eyman, the measure would cap most taxes paid through annual vehicle registration at $30 and largely revoke the authority of state and local governments to add new taxes and fees without voter approval.Read More

Washington Anti-Tax Activist Tim Eyman Tries To Return The Office Chair He Is Accused Of Stealing

By Austin Jenkins February 22, 2019

In this file photo, Tim Eyman sits in a legislative committee hearing. AUSTIN JENKINS / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

First, he was caught on store surveillance allegedly stealing a $70 office chair. Now Washington anti-tax activist Tim Eyman has produced his own video. It shows him returning to the scene of the alleged crime.Read More

Professional Initiative Sponsor Tim Eyman Is Back With Another Proposed $30 Car Tabs Measure

By Austin Jenkins November 14, 2018

Nearly 20 years after Washington voters passed Initiative 695, which repealed Washington's motor vehicle excise tax, anti-tax activist Tim Eyman says he's close to qualifying a new initiative to repeal taxes to support Sound Transit and restrict car tabs to $30. Read More

Washington Initiative Activist Tim Eyman Demands Public Vote On Police Deadly Force Law Change

By Tom Banse March 12, 2018

On the final day of the Washington legislative session last week, lawmakers passed a bill to make it easier to prosecute police for negligent shootings. It was a compromise agreed to by groups on all sides to keep a potentially divisive initiative off the November ballot.Read More

Eyman To File Another $30 Car Tabs Initiative, Would Repeal Sound Transit Taxes

By Austin Jenkins July 10, 2017

File photo. Professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman plans to file another $30 car tabs measure to the Washington state Legislature Tuesday. KEVIN MOONEY / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK Listen For Tim […]Read More