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| Washington State Government Overthrows The People |
| 2005-07-15 |
| The state Supreme Court today struck down an attempt to force a voter referendum on the Legislature's overhaul of voter-approved tax-and-spending limits, with one justice writing in dissent that the majority betrayed "the sacred trust" of the people. In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that an emergency clause slapped on the move by lawmakers was valid. Opponents have argued lawmakers were purposely trying to evade the possibility of a public vote. "The Washington State Constitution and our jurisprudence dictate that the Legislature may suspend the right of the people to order a referendum on a bill where the bill is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or in support of state government and its existing public institutions," Justice Charles W. Johnson wrote for the majority. Secretary of State Sam Reed refused to accept the "Saving I-601" referendum because the Legislature had declared its spending revision measure off-limits to a citizen vote. Referendum 60 sponsors rushed to the high court, seeking an 11th-hour ruling that lawmakers erred in slapping an "emergency clause" on the bill to make it take effect immediately, foreclosing a vote by the people. The challengers included the Washington Farm Bureau, Washington State Grange, state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, the Building Industry Association of Washington and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. All are fiscally conservative groups. In a sharply written dissent, Justice Richard B. Sanders wrote that the majority betrayed "the sacred trust the people of this state place in this court." "A legislature determined to inoculate itself from referendum, a secretary of state determined to violate his statutory and constitutional duty to allow a referendum petition to at least circulate, combined with a supreme court openly hostile to the people's check on the legislature, brews a potent poison to the people's constitutional role in the legislative process," Sanders wrote. In 1993, voters approved Initiative 601, requiring a two-thirds vote of both houses to raise taxes. The initiative also limited state spending growth to inflation plus population growth. Over the years, lawmakers have adjusted the measure to allow additional spending. This year, the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed Senate Bill 6078, revising the spending limits and allowing a simple majority vote on tax and fee hikes this year and next. The bill included an emergency clause to put it into effect the minute Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire signed it. Democrats then quickly passed a $500 million package of revenue bills to balance the $26 billion, two-year state budget. Without the emergency clause, which says the legislation was necessary for support of public institutions and safety, the bill wouldn't have taken effect until 90 days after the session ended and citizens could have tried to gather enough signatures to force a statewide vote in November. In addition to asking the court to force Reed to process the referendum, the groups had asked the court to authorize a new 90-day signature-gathering window, since the deadline to collect about 112,000 signatures would be July 23. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |