To hear some in Olympia talk, tax increases will be part of how lawmakers close a $2.6 billion budget deficit this session. That would create another inevitability: They’ll have to change or do away with Initiative 960, approved by voters two years ago.
I-960’s best-known provision requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for tax increases — a barrier voters had demanded in a prior initiative, and lawmakers had twice suspended. I-960 allows tax increases by a simple legislative majority — if submitted to a binding public vote.
In a preemptive move, I-960 author Tim Eyman on Monday filed an initiative putting the two-thirds requirement back in place. Unlike many citizens, Eyman’s job security appears solid. Lawmakers keep handing him work.
In fairness, few legislative Democrats are speaking out for major tax hikes, such as a general increase in the sales tax rate, or in property or business levies. Most discussions include combining cuts with something more limited, like repealing exemptions that aren’t contributing to employment or extending the sales tax to things like candy, soda and bottled water.
Doing any of that, though, will require doing away with I-960’s two-thirds vote provision, because Democrats don’t have that kind of majority and Republicans aren’t likely to go along with any tax hikes. Democrats aren’t likely to take the gamble of a public vote, either.
They don’t, however, need to erase I-960’s sunshine provisions, which are designed to spell out the true cost of tax increases over time and make lawmakers think twice about proposing them. Those should be kept in force.
Since I-960 took effect, more than 2,000 citizens have signed up to receive e-mail alerts each time a tax-raising proposal reaches a critical point in the legislative process. They, and lawmakers, have benefitted from seeing the 10-year cost of such moves, because it helps illustrate how they can limit other priorities — including economic growth.
I-960 also requires lawmakers to vote on all increases in fees, and gives the public easy access to a record of how their lawmakers voted on tax bills.
Tax increases of any kind should be considered a last resort, not a fait accompli. Congress might still come through with $500 million or more in help with Medicaid payments, although Sen. Patty Murray told us last week that’s no sure thing. A report on Monday showed state revenues taking a modest but welcome upturn, perhaps lessening the pressure to look for additional taxes.
Going that route, though, and suspending I-960’s supermajority requirement, must not become an excuse for killing the measure’s other useful parts.
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