Tim Eyman, who led the initiative drives that gave us $30 car tabs and limited property taxes, no sooner filed his Taxpayer Protection Initiative of 2007, making it tougher to raise taxes, then the Legislature struck back with a bill banning payment of signature gatherers per name for initiatives and referendums.

Both propositions are just out of the starting gate, of course.

Eyman has to collect 224,880 signatures by the Fourth of July to qualify his initiative for the ballot this fall, and the 2007 Legislature has to pass the ban bill through both houses, get the governor to sign it and have it survive any referendum attempt to repeal it.

While Eyman will have his usual struggle with the lawmakers and the media, most of whom hate it when the citizens attempt to do a little lawmaking on their own, the ban bill is not a sure thing. The Seattle Times, among other newspapers, editorialized that it would weaken the people’s right of initiative and referendum.

Eyman’s initiative requires any tax increases, but not fees, to achieve two-thirds approval of both houses of the Legislature or voter approval. If the Legislature bypasses voter approval by putting an emergency clause on a bill, short-circuiting any referendum attempt, an advisory public vote still would be taken. It wouldn’t be law, but if the voters really clobbered it. lawmakers might be compelled to rethink what they did.

For tax and fee increases, the state budget office would be required to do a 10-year cost projection with announcements sent to the news media of the costs, hearing dates, legislative votes and information on how to contact the bill sponsors.

Makes too much work and costs too much money, complained the taxers, but Eyman said it was “a small price for the public to know what’s going on.” With the Democrats in control in Olympia, he said, “our wallets have never been in more danger.”

The ban bill, sponsored by Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo and Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, would make paying signature gatherers per signature for ballot measures a misdemeanor. Signature gatherers could be paid by the hour but not by the name, which is the way it’s done now and which, say the taxers, “increases the possibility of fraud.”

The usually liberal Seattle Times, however, points out that the system filters out false signatures and what the bill really does is raise the cost of getting anything on the ballot.

Most gatherers are paid $1 for each name, but hourly pay would break the bank for volunteers like Eyman, even with the financial support of Mike Dunmire of Woodinville who has ponied up plenty for past Eyman efforts and pledged $250,000 this time.

But any ban that reduces the rights of the people to speak on political issues and to petition the government will probably fail, said The Times. “Banning piece-rate signature gathering has a restrictive effect that can be proved. That is precisely why certain legislators like it and why, if they pass it, the courts should eventually kill it.”

If this bill became law, it would greatly diminish volunteer initiative drives as it did when Oregon passed a ban. Big businesses and large groups like the Washington Education Assn. can just put the arm on their employees and members for signatures. Not every citizen initiative proposer is lucky enough to have a Mike Dunmire in the wings.

I am disappointed that the ban bill is supported by Secretary of State Sam Reed, who is one of the more liberal Republicans in the GOP. I had hoped he would realize that in this attempt by legislators to slap down their nemesis, Tim Eyman, the ones who are really being slapped down are the people.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, WA., 98340.).