Our Voice: Court decision on I-1366 needed

Initiative-1366 is a messy piece of legislation, and it is no wonder its legality is uncertain.

While voters approved this latest effort to limit the state Legislature’s ability to raise taxes, the language in the measure comes off as an extortion attempt rather than a solid, clear change in law.

It now appears to be headed for a court challenge, which would be a welcome step.

A judicial decision is necessary to determine whether this kind of approach to lawmaking is allowed under the state Constitution. It includes consequences if the Legislature fails to act, and that’s a new twist to typical initiative language.

Tim Eyman, political anti-tax activist, has tried several times to limit state tax increases through ballot measures, and Washington voters historically have supported these efforts.

But this latest attempt is manipulative and unsettling.

Currently, taxes now can be raised through a simple majority decision by the Legislature.

An earlier initiative that attempted to change that to a two-thirds supermajority vote was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2013 because constitutional amendments cannot be made through the initiative process.

So I-1366 forces state legislators to put it on the ballot instead.

If they don’t decide to put a constitutional amendment before voters by April 15 — asking them to once again decide on requiring a legislative, two-thirds vote for tax increases — then I-1366 says the state sales tax must be cut a penny from the current 6.5 cents per dollar.

State analysts say if that state sales tax reduction were to go into effect, it would result in a revenue loss of $8 billion over the next six years. Such a cut would devastate education and social service programs in this state.

Opponents who sought to block I-1366 from the ballot over the summer are now considering filing suit because the initiative violates the state’s single-subject rule for ballot measures, which says initiatives can only address one question. If they do, and a decision is not made before next year, lawmakers will reconvene in Olympia in January not knowing exactly how to proceed.

Initiatives are typically not the best way to make law, and this one certainly seems to be causing problems.

The uncertainty of the initiative’s ramifications and legality is a cause for headaches by budget writers and legislators.

Washington citizens have shown with their voting history that they support a legislative, two-thirds majority vote for state tax measures. There are 17 other states in the country with some kind of similar limitation to raising taxes, so the idea is fairly common.

But the way Eyman chose to get this accomplished this time around is disconcerting. The sooner the questions surrounding the legality of I-1366 are answered, the better.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Court decision on I-1366 needed."