Shelton church hosts Republican fundraiser

Washington state Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) and anti-tax activist and former gubernatorial candidate Tim Eyman are the keynote speakers at the Mason County Republicans' Reagan Day reception at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Beginning Christian Church at 123 W. C St. in Shelton.

Admission is $30. The fundraiser will feature beer, wine and hors d'ouevres. For more information, call Alice Wells at 360-463-9382.

Walsh represents the 19th District, which includes parts of Grays Harbor, Lewis, Cowlitz, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. He was elected in 2016.

Walsh is the ranking member on the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, assistant ranking member on both the Education and State Government and Tribal Relations committees, and is a member on the Transportation Committee.

On his website, Walsh wrote, "My legislative priorities are creating family-wage jobs, adequately funding schools, and protecting taxpayers, property rights and gun rights."

Eyman is a Yakima native who since 1997 has sponsored 17 statewide initiatives.

In 2019, voters approved Eyman's ballot measure, Initiative 976, to reduce fees for car registration to $30. The state Supreme Court unanimously struck it down as unconstitutional.

In February, a judge ruled that Eyman is no longer allowed to have any financial control over political committees. Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon also ordered Eyman to pay $2.6 million in penalties.

The ruling came in a 2017 lawsuit by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson that accused Eyman of soliciting kickbacks, laundering donations and flouting campaign finance law to enrich himself.

On Thursday, Eyman announced a new ballot initiative that would seek to invalidate the state's recently passed capital gains tax and prevent the state, and individual cities, from imposing any future excise, income or payroll taxes. Initiative 1373 would invalidate Seattle's JumpStart tax, which levies a tax on corporations with payrolls more than $7 million.

The Mason County Republican Women will host Shelton Police Chief Carole Beason at its meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 22 at Railway Station. She will talk about recent changes in law enforcement state laws. For more information, contact Leslie Peterson at 360-426-1528 or [email protected].