Initiatives may worsen state budget woes

3 billion in red ink? By CHRIS MULICK TRI-CITY HERALD OLYMPIA -- Two citizens initiatives likely to qualify for the November ballot would compound an already gloomy budget situation if approved by voters, possibly pushing the state's shortfall past $3 billion. Kate Lykins Brown, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Financial Management, said reports outlining initiative costs won't be completed before September. But preliminary estimates from the Department of Revenue indicate Tim Eyman's traffic congestion measure -- Initiative 985 -- would cost the state about $290 million during the next two-year budget cycle and the rest of the current one. Moreover, the campaign for Initiative 1029, a home care worker training measure backed by the powerful Service Employees International Union, believes its measure would cost at least... [read full story]