Locke drops plan to get Legislature’s blessing for 1-cent sales tax hike for schools

Gov. Gary Locke on Monday abandoned efforts to persuade state lawmakers to approve a $1 billion tax increase for education.

He said he”ll turn his efforts toward passing a citizen initiative — including the 1-cent sales tax increase contained in the package — this fall.

“It’s up to the voters now,” Locke told The Associated Press.

Locke’s withdrawal was no surprise to a veteran North Olympic Peninsula lawmaker who predicted the proposal’s demise when Locke broached it two weeks ago.

Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, said Monday from his Capitol office that he never saw any legislative support for Locke’s proposal — or any effort on the governor’s part to promote it.

“He had his news conference and said basically what he said,” Buck said.

“All I could see down here is people getting out of the way. Nobody down here was willing to support this thing.”

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The rest of the story appears in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News.

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