Citizens in Charge

Tim Eyman, an activist in Washington State, just sent out an email announcing his legal victory of Initiative 960, requiring the state legislature to have a 2/3 majority vote in order to increase taxes. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected challenges to I-960.

Many times initiatives which have passed at the ballot box are challenged in the court system. In this case, Mr. Eyman won the challenge and the taxpayer protection initiative will stand. He writes:

As sponsors of Initiative 960, approved by voters in 2007, we are very pleased that the State Supreme Court unanimously agreed with us that Democrat Senator Lisa Brown’s anti-taxpayer lawsuit was bogus. 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.

From today’s Spokesman Review: If the two-thirds requirement had been lifted off the Legislature, Eyman said, “I haven’t got a doubt in my mind that they would have jacked up taxes right there on the spot.”

Here’s a link to a short news story about the ruling.

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.

Eyman has used the initiative and referendum process to bring about citizen-led reform. Like many other activists he has faced challenges, but has worked with likeminded reformers to create change in their local governments. He states:

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.

For more information on Tim Eyman you can visit http://www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com