High court overturns supermajority for taxes
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The Washington Supreme Court, in a bombshell decision handed down just days before Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers tackle a multibillion-dollar budget gap, invalidated a popular voter-approved requirement of a two-thirds supermajority for taxes raised in Olympia.
The court, in a decisive 6-3 ruling, said the state Constitution clearly says a bill becomes a law by gaining a majority in each house. The justices noted that this is the first time the court directly answers the question of whether the voters violated the constitution by requiring a two-thirds vote in both houses to pass taxes in Olympia.
Justice Susan Owens, writing for the majority, said the court is taking no position on whether the supermajority idea makes good policy sense, but said if voters or the legislators want to depart from the age-old concept of simple majority rule, they'll have to amend the constitution. Ironically, that would take a two-thirds vote in both houses -- plus voter approval.
The majority, which also included Chief Justice Barbara Madsen and Justices Tom Chambers, Mary Fairhurst, Charles Wiggins and Stephen Gonzalez, gave a long defense of the concept of simple majority and noted that the founders worried about a "tyranny of the minority" blocking the wishes of the majority.
Justices Charles Johnson and James Johnson penned separate dissents, rapping the majority for wading into the political arena in "unwise and unprecedented" fashion, misreading the constitution and overriding case law and the clear wishes of the electorate.
Reaction came quickly. Inslee and many Democrats welcomed the court's ruling. Democrats said the opinion doesn't open the floodgates, but allows an open discussion of simple-majority extension of expiring taxes, closing tax preferences, and considering new revenue for transportation and for addressing the high court's mandate for billions in new K-12 support.
Republicans and leaders of the Senate majority coalition of 23 Republicans and two Democrats, said they would hold the line on taxes. Although it was previously scheduled, the Senate budget panel's passage of a supermajority constitutional amendment took on new currency, coming just hours after the court's opinion hit the electronic spindle Thursday morning.
Tim Eyman, co-sponsor of a string of successful initiatives to require the supermajority, was muted in his reaction, mostly weighing in on the idea of a constitutional amendment.
Leaders said it is not clear what the full impact will be as Inslee and lawmakers propose their budget plans later this month. The state revenue Forecast Council updates the state's revenue picture on March 20. The 105-day regular session must end by April 28.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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