Washington - Business groups form PAC to support I-920

Brad Shannon
The Olympian


OLYMPIA - Two leading business groups have joined to form a political action committee that will promote Initiative 920's repeal of the state estate tax.

The Association of Washington Business and National Federation of Independent Business/Washington plan to run their PAC separate from that of Dennis Falk, sponsor of I-920, NFIB spokeswoman Carolyn Logue said Thursday.

Logue, state director for the group, declined to comment on Falk, a controversial former police officer whose background includes work with the conservative John Birch Society and a failed campaign to overturn Seattle's anti-discrimination protections for gays.

"We did it to put a little more emphasis on family business," Logue said.

She said the business groups believe their PAC, "Yes on 920: Keeping Washington Family Business Alive," would be a more effective way to get the message out.

The business groups claim that the state does not need the tax, which exempts the first $2 million of an estate and hits about 200 families a year. They say that together with the federal estate tax, the full tax bill could slice 70 percent off large inheritances.

Opponents of I-920 say estate tax funds are needed for state education programs, and they made light of the decision to start a new PAC. They suggested in a news release that the business groups were "desperately scrambling to disassociate themselves from Dennis Falk and his sordid history of radical fringe politics."

"They are trying to clean themselves up for the big local and national donors they hope will contribute to the estate tax repeal effort, but the taint is not going to be so easy to wash off," wrote spokesman Sandeep Kaushik with the No on 920 campaign, also known as the Committee to Protect Our Children's Legacy.

Funding

Logue said she expects to see little national money. Asked whether she thought wealthy developer Martin Selig, who donated $807,500 of the more than

$1 million Falk raised so far, would switch to the new PAC, Logue said: "That would be totally up to Martin Selig."

"We're hoping to raise between $1.5 million and $2 million. This is going to be a big campaign. We need to be ready," Logue said. "The Washington voters have said they didn't like this tax. We think they need to be reminded of the importance of small business to our economy and job creation."

Falk, who leads the Committee to Abolish the Washington Estate Tax, was unavailable for comment Thursday.


Brad Shannon is political editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.