Activist’s $4 Billion State Tax-Cut Drive Unites Business on ‘No’ (1)

Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp. and other top businesses in Washington state are galvanizing against a ballot measure that would slash the state’s budget by an estimated $4.24 billion over six years.

Initiative 976—sponsored by anti-tax activist Tim Eyman—would cut the budget in part by repealing the 0.3% sales tax on vehicle purchases and dropping weight fees for cars and light-duty trucks to a flat $30. It also would lower electric vehicle and snowmobile fees and reduce the motor vehicle excise tax provisions of public transportation agency Sound Transit, which is in the midst of a $54 billion ...