As Shift reported, a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the voter-approved Initiative 1366 is unconstitutional. Democrats – including Jay Inslee – applauded the judge’s decision despite the fact that, time and time again, Washingtonians have voiced their support for supermajority protection against tax increases.
Notably, an overwhelming 65% of respondents to a recent survey said legislators should give voters a chance to weigh in and vote on a constitutional amendment.
Well, the state Supreme Court has granted an expedited review for an appeal of the ruling. Oral arguments are scheduled to begin on March 15th. Conveniently, that’s five days after the state Legislature is supposed to adjourn.
The “expedited” hearing could be expedited for some time this month, but that would mean the court would have to justify why it will, again, strike down a voter-approved initiative while the state Legislature is still in session. This way, the court has six weeks to make-up something that sounds plausible and issue it without any chance of response from legislators.
