Court dismisses critics' lawsuit against I-960; Secretary of State confirms 314,000+ signatures turned in
14 July 2007
RE: I-960's opponents must be saying to themselves: "Ah, crap, now we've gotta convince the voters" -- judge delivers a devastating defeat to opponents of I-960 - people's right to vote affirmed by King County Superior Court -- Secretary of State confirms raw signature count at 314,504 WHICH GUARANTEES I-960 WILL BE ON THE NOV BALLOT
HERE IS TIM EYMAN'S STATEMENT FOLLOWING FRIDAY'S HEARING:
I-960 is a smart, balanced, reasonable proposal that closes loopholes the Legislature has put in I-601 over the years and ensures better public disclosure and cost analysis of bills proposing higher taxes.
Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? Justice occurred in King County today when Superior Court judge Catherine Shaffer, a Gary Locke appointee, rejected arguments by opponents of I-960 who sought to prohibit a vote of the people on the measure. Whacko lefty environmental group Futurewise (formerly 1000 Friends of Washington) and whacko lefty labor union SEIU argued that since they receive a lot of tax money from state government, they'd be harmed by I-960 because it may limit the flow of revenue to them. They also argued that if I-960 were on the ballot, they'd be "forced" to spend money to oppose it.
We're very excited that the initiative process survived the King County court system for a change. Opponents were originally assigned a different judge, got that one kicked off, and were reassigned to Judge Shaffer. So despite their attempted judicial manipulation and judge-shopping, opponents faced a devastating defeat today. They were counting on blocking a public vote on I-960 because they don't think the voters agree with them on this.
Before announcing her decision, Judge Shaffer quoted extensively from our state Constitution saying "The first power reserved to the people is the initiative" and from a 2005 unanimous Supreme Court ruling that said the people have First Amendment rights that should not be infringed upon by the courts. She said the people have a right to vote and she wasn't going to take that right to vote away.
During the hearing, Judge Shaffer contradicted opponents claim that I-960 introduces a "new" requirement of two-thirds legislative approval for tax increases. She pointed out the two-thirds requirement was instituted by voter-approved I-601 in 1993 and so it wasn't new. Attorney Knoll Lowney responded "With all due respect, judge, it is new because the Legislature isn't following that now." Amazing. After that, she focused on the two aspects of I-960 that are new: the public disclosure of costs and sponsorship of tax hike bills the advisory vote provisions for 'emergency' tax increases.
She asked the Attorney General and Knoll Lowney "Could the Legislature pass a law requiring an advisory vote on revenue increases in order to get constituent feedback?" Lowney said no, the Attorney General said "sure they could." The judge's point was the people have equal legislative power and if the Legislature could pass such a requirement, so could the people. And the judge is exactly right that this requirement is about giving legislators feedback from the people when Olympia takes more of the people's money.
This afternoon, we received an email from the Secretary of State's
office: "Mr. Eyman, We have finished the page and signature count on I-960. We have 18,182 petitions sheets, and 314,504 signatures. Sincerely, Teresa Glidden, Initiatives Supervisor, Elections Division Office of the Secretary of State."
Based on the percentage of "good signatures" from previous campaigns, any number higher than 275,000 signatures was enough. So with 314,504 signatures confirmed, it's certain that I-960 will be on the ballot in November.
We are currently installing our archives. Please bear with us
as we update our website. This page will provide access to
previous articles and newsletters. Please check back later.
Thank you very much.
|
