To The Eagle:

Who should vote "no" on I-976? Nearly everyone. The argument in the voters pamphlet to vote in favor of I-976 primarily says that the state has too much money in this year's surplus, therefore vote "yes" to reduce taxes. This is short-sighted.

The Democrats in the state legislature have agreed with the Republicans that this year's extra money needs to be set aside for a rainy day. If this initiative passes we lose nearly two billion dollars over the next six years (per the fiscal impact summary statement).

In particular, with a "yes" vote our state patrol loses about 88 million dollars from its budget - you think that won't affect us where we have only about eight officers to patrol two counties?

Another detail: A "yes" vote would reduce the Multi-modal and Transportation accounts by about 1.7 billion dollars. Think of what little we get now - and how dependent we are on SR4 always being open.

So, who should vote "no"? Everyone who depends on our roads being open, everyone who rides Wahkiakum On the Move, everyone who believes in the awesome work of our Washington State Patrol, and every responsible citizen.

So please send in your ballots and vote no.

Deborah Lincoln

Vice-chair, Wahkiakum County Democratic Party