Washingtonians are a step closer to seeing their taxes increased as a result of a vote yesterday in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Committee adopted the proposed suspension of the state's 2/3 requirement for tax increases.
Voting in favor of the suspension were Senators Prentice, Fraser, Tom, Fairley, Keiser, Kline, Kohl-Welles, McDermott, Murray, Oemig, Pridemore, Regala and Rockefeller.
Opposed were Senators Zarelli, Brandland, Carrell, Honeyford, Parlette and Schoesler.
If the full Senate follows suit, this will be the third time voter approved tax restrictions have been "temporarily" set aside by lawmakers. Previous suspensions occurred in 2002 and 2005 .
Though billed as a "temporary" suspension, the full effect of the proposal will result in the 2/3 vote restriction likely never being triggered. This means the Legislature will not have to vote to suspend the law again while not being restricted by the original intent of voters.
Consider Section 2 (D) (ii) of the bill: "Any action or combination of actions by the legislature that raises taxes may be taken with the approval of a majority of members elected to each house of the legislature if the revenue is for the purpose of funding a voter-approved initiative."
Rather than continue the current cycle of voters being forced to reenact the 2/3 vote restriction only to have it disregarded by lawmakers, the Legislature should put to rest this debate once and for all by referring the question to voters as a constitutional amendment.
Regardless of the outcome, the intent of voters will no longer be in question and the 2/3 vote protections will not be subject of legal debate or legislative shenanigans.
Of those states with a supermajority requirement for tax increases, Washington is the only one without constitutional protections.
Jason Mercier is the director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force and is a contributing editor of the Heartland Institute's Budget & Tax News. Mercier also serves as treasurer on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and was an adviser to the 2002 Washington State Tax Structure Committee.
