The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the legality of Initiative 1366, the tax cut or tax-limiting measure approved by voters, is unclear on Thursday. The court hinted that the case is unprecedented, as it has “never before ruled on an initiative that had such alternatives.”
However, the liberal court did rule that opponents, including some lawmakers, have grounds t to challenge the initiative. Essentially, The case can be argued before a lower court judge. Via the Seattle Times,
“If the initiative called only for a reduction in the sales tax, there would be no pre-election issues,” Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote for the court. “If it called only for a two-thirds constitutional amendment, it would clearly be outside the scope of the people’s initiative power. This court has never decided a case in which an initiative offered contingent alternatives and, if so, whether one invalid purpose would prevent it from being on the ballot.”
The liberal organizations already gearing up to battle the initiative in court, since—once again—they have once again lost in the court of public opinion.
As Shift reported, rather than take the message of I-1366 for what it is—a vote against Democrats’ tax hike agenda—the Left prefers to deny voters’ will. Voters have repeatedly approved initiatives calling for the two-thirds rule only to have them ignored by Democrat legislatures or struck down by the state Supreme Court—no doubt, that’s what the Left is hoping will happen again.
Revolution may be the only answer.
Say when…
Will the People of Washington really need a vote to approve this a SEVENTH TIME? When will the leftists get a clue?
Please try reading our state’s constitution sometime. It clearly gives one way, and only one way, to amend it. Initiatives cannot do so, just as our Supreme Court so reminded us, in this very post.
Will the People of Washington really need a vote to approve this a SEVENTH TIME?
How many times would the “People of Washington … need a vote to approve” I-594 before you recognized it as legitimate? Seven? Seventeen? Seven times seven thousand?
You clearly know nothing about I-1366, other than the fact you were told to vote “no” on it because it isn’t a government program. It compels the legislature to clearly amend the state constitution the one and only way it can be amended or lose out on sales tax revenue. This puts big-government leftists (like you) in a quandary. Make it harder to raise taxes or lose out on existing tax revenue? There’s homeless camps and bike lanes to build, ya know. Got to have that spendin’ cabbage.
“How many times would the “People of Washington … need a vote to approve” I-594 before you recognized it as legitimate?”
It’s not that I don’t recognize I-594 as legitimate, it’s you don’t realize it’s not an effective success. It’s done nothing. How many prosecutions have there been? A handful? None? You still hear about shootings on daily basis. The emotional appeals of Weepy Woman promised it would save lives. Please point out I-594’s biggest impact, other than none.
It compels the legislature to clearly amend the state constitution the one and only way it can be amended or lose out on sales tax revenue.
Yes, it uses our Initiative process to amend our constitution. That’s not a power available to us via our Initiative process, as we’ve seen five (!) times in the recent past. You’re free to continue whining about how we liberals just won’t stop demanding you respect the rule of constitutional law.
This puts big-government leftists (like you) in a quandary. Make it harder to raise taxes or lose out on existing tax revenue?
No, it makes it easier for us liberals in King County to get more government services for less tax money. For every dollar we send to Olympia, we get sixty-five cents in state government services. We can just raise our local taxes to replace the state government services we’ll lose from the state-wide tax cut — and we’ll save thirty-five cents on the dollar! It’s the taxpayers in the thirty-plus counties which receive more money than they send to Olympia who will lose the government services they love. Too bad for them.
It’s not that I don’t recognize I-594 as legitimate, it’s you don’t realize it’s not an effective success. It’s done nothing.
Try citing some actual statistics sometime. Oh, wait, the policy went into force less than a year ago; there are no statistics yet. I guess you’ll just have to rely on rumors —
You still hear about shootings on daily basis.
— in the place of the facts you just don’t have.
“Yes, it uses our Initiative process to amend our constitution”
No, it compels the legislature to amend our constitution because they’re the only ones who can. This is the citizens of Washington who approved this initiative, not your unelected blowhard billionaire commissar who threatened the legislature with buying a “16 in 16” initiative if they didn’t raise the state maximum idiocy to $12
“Oh, wait, the policy went into force less than a year ago; there are no statistics yet”
That didn’t stop you from trotting out an obscure statistical blip in Missouri in the first year after background checks were eliminated. If there were any success’s, you’d be trumpeting them from the rooftops. You must be saving all the great stats on how many lives have been saved for the big reveal party on the one year anniversary in three weeks.
the language is clear, and these morons say its not because they don’t like it
it uses the initiative process to CALL FOR an amendment to raise taxes
it doesn’t AMEND the constitution.
…it uses the initiative process to CALL FOR an amendment to raise taxesit doesn’t AMEND the constitution.
Thank you. I-1366 mandates cuts to certain taxes and fees. Our legislature can respond to that however they please. I will advise my representatives and senator against any attempt to alter our constitution via Tim Eyeman’s shenanigans. Instead, I’ll advise them to reduce expenditures on non-educational spending — starting with that porkfest of a “transportation” bill, which is just oinking for a sharp budgetary axe.
If there were any success’s, you’d be trumpeting them from the rooftops.
I don’t usually brag about how my football team has won the game when there’s still five minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Please let me know if you need a detailed explanation for why not.
That didn’t stop you from trotting out an obscure statistical blip in Missouri in the first year after background checks were eliminated.
Those statistics covered an entire decade, and I cited them five years after the decade ended. You’re free to come up with your own theory as to why the elimination of background checks was immediately followed by a huge rise in the number of murders.
But hey, you want rumors and anecdotes? Ok, how about this one?
“Last year at this point, we had 10 people killed by gunfire. This year we have five.”
“You’re free to come up with your own theory as to why the elimination of
background checks was immediately followed by a huge rise in the number
of murders”
Go back and look at it again, comrade. It was a one year statistical blip, certainly not a “huge rise”, and it was back down the next year.
“Last year at this point, we had 10 people killed by gunfire. This year we have five”
You fail to mention (from the same link, no less) that last year there were 29 people wounded by gunfire, this year, 38. Anyway you stack it, shootings are up with I-594 in place, and by a far greater percentage than the statistical blip in Missouri. What happened? Weepy woman promised us unicorns and puppies. Are you now saying that all your unelected blowhard billionaire commissar’s purchased gun registry does is make people’s aim less accurate?
they just don’t get it do they?
The liberal, secular-progressives, what makes up the majority of the democrat party anymore, operate on their own agenda which has nothing whatsoever to do with what the voters want. Higher taxes, cramming the LGBTQ lifestyle down our throats or trying to undermine the 2nd Amendment in furtherance of their effort to seize all political power all that matters to them.