Despite Olympia’s scheme to block the vote, voters in November get to vote on the Legislature’s “emergency” tax increases
Our state Constitution gives the people the absolute guaranteed right to referendum which means the citizens are allowed to collect voter signatures and put on the ballot any bill that the Legislature passes into law. It gives the voters the right to veto any bill. Nonetheless, the Legislature has mastered the art of negating the people’s constitutional right to referendum by slapping “emergency clauses” on bills. Emergency clauses make the bills “referendum proof.” The most consistent example of this abuse involves bills raising taxes. This year’s Legislature declared that it was a “threat to the public health and safety” to fail to impose higher death taxes, phone taxes, hospital bed taxes, and others. By slapping an emergency clause onto each of them, the people were robbed of their constitutional right to referendum these tax increases.
It is a gross injustice that the Legislature routinely gets away with.
But in 2007, the voters passed into law Initiative 960 and one of its taxpayer protection policies was the citizens’ attempt to address this egregious violation of our rights. The initiative requires tax increases “blocked” from a citizen referendum to be put on the November ballot for a public vote.
Our first experience with I-960’s tax advisory votes happened last year. The 2012 Legislature imposed 2 tax increases; one on out-of-state banks and another on oil companies. Advisory Vote #1 showed 57% of voters rejected the bank tax (http://vote.wa.gov/results/20121106/Advisory-Vote-No-1-Engrossed-Senate-Bill-6635-Concerns-a-B&O-tax-deduction-for-certain-financial-institutions’-interest-on-residential-loans.html) and Advisory Vote #2 showed 55% of voters rejected the oil company tax (http://vote.wa.gov/results/20121106/Advisory-Vote-No-2-Substitute-House-Bill-2590-Concerns-expiration-of-a-tax-on-possession-of-petroleum-products.html).
Initiative 1185 renewed the advisory vote requirement for tax increases. Since there were several tax hikes imposed by this year’s Legislature and blocked from a citizen referendum, there will be Advisory Vote #3, #4, #5, #6, etc. in November. We’ll know the exact quantity of tax advisory votes by the end of this month.
What are the best things about this policy? First and foremost, I-1185’s tax advisory votes educate the voters on which taxes were increased and how much they’ll cost, allowing the voters pamphlet to serve as a tax increase report card. Next, they give the voters the chance to tell legislators whether the people support or oppose each tax increase. And best of all, each tax advisory vote requires 2 pages in the voters pamphlet listing how each legislator voted on each tax increase and their contact information. For example, here’s what appeared in the November, 2012 voters pamphlet on Advisory Vote #1: https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/press_and_research/PreviousElections/2012/General-Election/Documents/ESB6635Votes.pdf
We wish the Legislature hadn’t imposed any tax increases this year. And we wish they had respected our constitutional right to referendum and not slapped emergency clauses on their tax increase bills to make them “referendum proof.” But at least with I-1185’s tax advisory votes, the voters will learn which taxes were increased, how much they’ll cost, identify which legislators voted yay and nay, and let the people express their support or opposition to each tax increase.
We’re moving full steam ahead on our new initiative: LET THE VOTERS DECIDE ON A 2/3-FOR-TAXES CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Our measure ensures permanent protection from Olympia’s propensity to raise taxes.