Majority Overruled

          In the United States today, local and state government is generally more open and responsive to citizens than in the past.  Generally that is true, but not in Washington State.  Here in the northwest the Democrats, who have long controlled state government, want to push voters aside so they can rule as they wish.Governor Chris Gregoire

           “We the people,” those are the first three words of the Constitution, the highest law of this nation.  That document lays out the principle of a sovereign people establishing a limited government.  As a people, we have struggled to limit government while allowing freedom to flourish and grow. 

In Washington State, the initiative process has been an important tool of citizens in pushing back against expansive and intrusive government.  However, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, wants to challenge the clearly stated will of her constituents. 

          Several times in the last few years, Washington voters have said through the initiative and referendum process that they do not want increased taxes.  Less than a year ago voters passed, by a 63 percent majority, initiative 1053 requiring a two-thirds majority in the legislature to raise taxes.     

          Speaking about I-1053 Governor Gregoire was recently quoted in The Olympian as saying, “I think there is a real argument to be made that you can’t restrict the Legislature in that regard.”  In the same article she went on to say, “I don’t know what the court would say in the end, but I do think it is a legitimate legal challenge.”  Gregoire’s response to the initiative is not to find a way to implement the overwhelming will of the people, but to hope that it can be legally challenged.

          This pattern of ignoring the will of the people has a long history in the state.  In 2007 Washington State voters passed initiative 960, requiring a two-thirds majority to increase taxes.  Almost as soon as they could Democrats in the Washington legislature, along with Governor Gregoire, suspended the law.  The legislature then proposed a state income tax and raised various other taxes on food and beverages.  The voters overruled all of the legislature’s tax proposals in the next election.

          But, the voters didn’t stop there.  In November citizens passed I-1053,  reinstating the two-thirds requirement for legislative tax increases, by a 63 percent majority.  Clearly, the citizens of Washington State do not want higher taxes.   

          Earlier this year Democrats sponsored two bills, SB 5297 and HB 1668, that would require initiative signature gathers to register with the state for each initiative.  They would also be required to  sign, under oath, each petition sheet and include their name, address, city, state, zip code and date.  Any errors would invalidate the petition.  Sponsors claim these measures would limit fraud and forgery.  Both of the bills would make it much more difficult for citizens to get an initiative on the ballot.    

            In a letter to supporters political activist Tim Eyman stated, “From 1999 to 2009, there were 36 ballot measures that submitted a total of 10,516,645 voter signatures to the Secretary of State. Zero instances of verified forgeries or fraud. Last year in 2010, there were 6 ballot measures that submitted 2.2 million signatures, no verified forgeries or fraud except one SEIU official, not a paid petitioner, collecting for the income tax initiative I-1098 who is now being prosecuted under current law for several petition sheets. 12 years, 12.7 million signatures, 1 problem SEIU volunteer,”

             As I said in an earlier blogpost, clearly this is a solution not for the imagined initiative problem, but for the Democrats problem of how to raise taxes and spending.  The Democrat sponsors of this legislation did not want the citizens telling them what to do with initiatives like I-960 and I-1053.  Fortunately, SB 5297 and HB 1668 did not pass, but that left the Democrats wondering what to do. 

            Everyone I know has faced the situation of more bills than money.  Average American households know what they must do in that situation; pay what must be paid and cut what can be cut and keep cutting until the budget balances. 

          Governor Gregoire appears desperate to avoid the will of the people as expressed in I-960 and I-1053 and increase taxes, rather than reduce spending and would return the state to a sound financial foundation. 

          As I have said before, there is a way forward for state government even if our big spending governor may not want to look down that path.  The way forward is with a smaller, leaner, state government and prioritized funding of programs.  State hiring must stop.  Primary state functions such as education, law enforcement and courts should be fully funded, while money for Democrat pet projects such as light rail, tunnels and ferries for Seattle must be cut privatized or eliminated.