March 17th, 2004
PDC Complaint filed against Eyman
Read the full Press Release.

Kelly Fox, Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, 360-943-3030
David Goldstein, TaxSanity.org, 206-774-6790
Contact: Steve Zemke, 206-366-0811, stevezemke@msn.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tim Eyman Once Again Flouts Public Disclosure Laws
Official complaint charges contributor names withheld, deadlines missed

Olympia, WA, March 17 -- Three organizations filed an official complaint today, asking the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) to enforce the law requiring Tim Eyman to reveal the names of his contributors to Initiative 864, and to register a new Political Action Committee on behalf of Initiative 885.

I-864 would slash 25 percent from local services like fire protection, hospitals, libraries and road maintenance, costing countless local jobs while providing little relief to the majority of taxpayers. I-885 is Mr. Eyman's new gambling industry-backed initiative to place nearly 19,000 pseudo-slot machines into neighborhood bars and bowling alleys.

The complaint charges that Mr. Eyman has willfully failed to report individual contributor names and amounts for the January and February reporting periods, for both his registered PACs -- Voters Want More Choices, and Help Us Help Taxpayers, his personal compensation fund. It goes on to charge that Mr. Eyman has ignored an important deadline for registering a new PAC in support of I-885.

The complaint, filed jointly by The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters (WSCFF,) Taxpayers for Washington's Future, and TaxSanity.org, asks the PDC to give Mr. Eyman ten days to comply, or face additional fines and penalties above those already warranted by the existing violations.

WSCFF President Kelly Fox said that the public has a right to know who is supporting Mr. Eyman's Initiative 864, which would cut many fire district budgets by 25 percent. "If I-864 passes, departments will be forced to layoff as much as a quarter of their fire fighters, putting lives and property at risk. We have a right to know who is paying for this dangerous initiative."

The PDC requires PACs to report the names and addresses of contributors, and the aggregate value of all contributions. Reports are to be filed by the 10th of each month for all contributions made or pledged during the prior month.

"Mr. Eyman has not reported the names of any of his contributors this year," said Steve Zemke of Taxpayers for Washington's Future. "Given his past history, we can't trust his accounting or his motives... and the law says we shouldn't have to."

On February 10, Mr. Eyman sent a letter to the PDC stating that his treasurer was sick and that the January reports would be filed in March. On March 10, he sent a similar letter stating his treasurer was still sick, and that the January and February reports would be filed in April.

"Mr. Eyman has been running initiatives for six years, and he understands the requirements," said Mr. Zemke. "It is his responsibility to comply with the law."

"Mr. Eyman claims he has 'thousands of supporters' but he has decided not to ask any of them to help. On March 1st he had $27,966.90 in the bank for Voters Want More Choices and $7,213.40 in Help Us Help Taxpayers. Surely if he wanted he could have paid someone else beside his treasurer to do data entry to bring him into compliance with the law. And nothing prevents him from doing data entry himself."

David Goldstein of TaxSanity.org likened Mr. Eyman's excuse to "my dog ate my homework," and called it part of a continuing pattern of flouting the public disclosure laws.

"The PDC was created by initiative in 1972, passing by 72 percent, a landslide margin compared to Mr. Eyman's initiatives," explained Mr. Goldstein. "But apparently, Mr. Eyman only reveres the will of the people when they express an anti-tax sentiment."

In February of 2002, after years of denying he received compensation for his political activities, Mr. Eyman confessed to secretly pocketing over $220,000 of campaign funds. The PDC and the State Attorney General's office investigated, and Mr. Eyman eventually agreed to pay a $55,000 fine, and to never again serve as a campaign Treasurer.

"I don't trust Tim Eyman." said Mr. Goldstein, "And with hundreds of thousands of dollars of gambling industry money -- possibly millions -- about to pour into his coffers, I don't trust the timing of his latest reporting lapse."

On March 1, Mr. Eyman filed I-885, an initiative that would dramatically expanded non-tribal gambling by putting video gaming machines into local bars and bowling alleys. The public disclosure laws require a PAC to register within fourteen days of its first "expectation" of receiving contributions or making expenditures. Mr. Eyman has yet to register his new PAC.

"According to Mr. Eyman's own numbers, I-885 would create a five-fold increase in gambling in this state to well over $5 billion annually," said Mr. Goldstein. "If he tells you he had no "expectation" of raising money from the gambling industry the day he filed his initiative, then he is telling you another lie."

Mr. Zemke said that the whole public disclosure system is at risk. "Unless the PDC shows some backbone, the public will be denied information about who is funding the campaigns that affect them. To not demand compliance is to give Eyman preferential treatment. He should be required to comply with state law the same as everyone else."

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