BREAKING: Supreme Court rules against Sen. Lisa Brown in I-601 challenge
Sen. Lisa Brown brought a lawsuit to invalidate the state's two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases, which was adopted by Initiative 601 in 1993. The case started in 2008 when Sen. Brown filed a writ of mandamus against Lt. Gov. Brad Owen after he declined to approve a tax increase bill that did not receive the required two-thirds vote. Sen. Brown argued the supermajority vote requirement was unconstitutional under Art. II, Sec. 22 of the Washington Constitution.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Sen. Brown today in an opinion by Justice Mary Fairhurst, saying that the judiciary cannot interfere in an internal legislative process. The court declined to address the constitutionality of the supermajority vote requirement.
The unanimous decision is especially significant considering previous statements by Chief Justice Alexander and Justice Chambers (he of the "elephant in the court" opinion) that revealed their dislike of I-601. I would have expected at least a dissent or concurring opinion in the Brown case.
Case documents and timeline can be found here.
(Note: Publishers of this blog filed an amicus brief in support of the state in this action.)
UPDATE: Kris Tefft at AWB applauds the ruling, Jason Mercier at WPC wishes he had put down money on his predicted outcome, and Andrew Villeneuve at NPI suggests that the legislature and Gov. Gregoire could force the constitutionality issue with an act of "cooperative civil disobedience." The Amateur Law Prof calls it a "stunning punt." My own analysis can be found here.
Here was our 'take' on it:
RE: Supreme Court unanimously rejects Democrat Senator Lisa Brown's lawsuit against I-960's 2/3's for tax hikes requirement
As sponsors of Initiative 960, approved by voters in 2007, we are very pleased that the State Supreme Court unanimously agreed with us that Senator Brown's anti-taxpayer lawsuit was bogus. http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/812870.opn.pdf. The voters have repeatedly expressed their support for making it tougher to raise taxes and the Court properly stayed on the sidelines in this dispute. This is a political tug-of-war between the people and the politicians and any judicial intervention would usurp the power of the people to pull the rope in favor of taxpayer protection.
Taking the lead for her Democrat colleagues, especially Governor Gregoire, Senator Lisa Brown tried to get the Court to take away critical taxpayer protections approved by the people. The state Constitution rightly protects voter-approved initiatives from legislative interference within their first two years to respect the will of the people. But because I-960's policies have been repeatedly approved by the people, and on several occasions been revalidated by the Legislature itself, I-960's policies should remain untouched for all time. There is simply no reason for Olympia to make it easier to raise taxes.
Tax increases must always be an absolute last resort and must always be put to a vote of the people for final passage. That's what the voters have said over and over and over again and our representatives should and must respect the people's decision on this.
But to put an exclamation mark on the people's previous taxpayer protection decisions, we are vigorously pursuing the qualification of this year's Initiative 1033 which protects taxpayers even more. I-1033 substantially reduces property taxes by controlling the growth of government. For decades, citizens have told their elected representatives that property taxes were out-of-control - and yet there's never been any substantive legislative action by Olympia to reduce our state's crushing property tax burden.
The Lower Property Taxes Initiative I-1033 is the initiative that our supporters have waited 10 years for us to sponsor. We are working super hard to give the voters the opportunity to vote on it this November.
Every initiative we've done since 2002 has survived court challenges - it's clear that we've learned from our earlier efforts and hired more experienced attorneys to help draft our measures. But it's also undeniable that the Court is realizing that these political disputes are best resolved legislatively, not judicially. And that's the way it should be.
We will continue to work very hard to provide the voters with more choices at the ballot box with our taxpayer protection initiatives.
Regards, Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, & Mike Fagan, Lower Property Taxes Initiative co-sponsors, ph: 425-493-9127, email: tim_eyman@comcast.net, http://www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com