Gambling measure failing in Eyman defeat

By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The slot-machine initiative appeared headed to a resounding defeat last night, losing in most counties and marking sponsor Tim Eyman's first defeat on a tax-cut measure at the ballot box.

Tribal leaders gathered at a restaurant in Seattle's International District said the defeat of Initiative 892 was a victory not only for tribes that bitterly opposed the measure, but for communities across Washington.

"I don't believe it was a tribal issue, it was a community issue," said John Daniels Jr., chairman of the Muckleshoot Tribe of Indians. "This wasn't about property taxes. It was about an expansion of gambling."

Darrell Hillaire, chairman of the Lummi Nation, said he was relieved but not surprised by the outcome. "People don't want gambling in their neighborhoods. It just didn't seem like the right thing to do, it's about values."

Eyman said voters liked parts of the initiative, but "Clearly — understatement of a lifetime — voters had some concerns about it. The idea of having these (machines) in bars and restaurants and bowling alleys gave people heartburn. Clearly people had a problem with the number of locations."

The hard-fought slot-machine initiative pitched the state's tribes against gambling interests that have tried before to boost their profits by breaking the tribes' lock on the electronic machines.

Tribes poured more than $5 million into their campaign against I-892, the most ever spent in Washington to defeat an initiative. The pro-I-892 campaign spent more than $1 million.

Tribes, which fund their governments with slot proceeds, fought the initiative as an attack on their future. Gambling interests argued that I-892 was about fairness, giving them a crack at the lucrative machines, too.

The initiative would have put 18,225 slots in neighborhood bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, charities, bingo halls and card rooms across Washington.
 
Gambling is booming in Washington, generating more than $1.5 billion this year in net receipts. Slots generate more than 70 percent of the money in any casino.

The measure would have given 65 percent of net slot-machine proceeds to gambling interests. One percent of the rest, after deducting state administrative costs for running the non-tribal slot-machine network, would go to programs for problem gamblers. The remainder would have paid for an annual tax cut.

How much money the measure would have raised for tax cuts was disputed from the outset.

Eyman promised the initiative would generate $400 million a year for a state property tax cut and "not cost government a penny."

State budget and gambling experts warned the measure would cut into Lottery revenues as well as local tax receipts as players turned to electronic slots instead of other types of gambling.

They also said Eyman relied on overly optimistic predictions of how much money the machines would take in. Eyman assumed each machine would bring in $175 in net revenues per day. Officials in the state gambling commission estimated $115, generating $267 million for tax cuts.

Hanford waste

initiative winning

Voters across the state appeared ready to block the Department of Energy from sending more waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until the existing material is cleaned up.

Initiative 297 was winning handily nearly everywhere last night. A citizens' petition sent the I-297 to the Legislature this year. Lawmakers declined to act, sending the measure to the ballot.

Supporters called the initiative common sense, while opponents worried about interfering with the federal plan for waste disposal, especially if other states also banned Hanford waste.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com