Arrogant Lawmakers Tread on Voters’ Wishes

Liberals in the Washington State legislature are ignoring voters’ wishes. Tax-and-spend lawmakers voted to set aside Initiative 601—a measure approved by Washingtonians that sets a supermajority requirement for tax hikes—in order to push through Governor Christine Gregoire’s $203 million tax increase. Moreover, the legislators are rejecting voter-enacted spending limits and independent audits. Instead of raising taxes, legislators should make government more efficient.

Excerpts from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

“The Legislature voted along party lines to set aside the requirement of voter-approved Initiative 601 that tax increases be approved by a supermajority of legislators for the 2005-07 biennium. This is an encore presentation of what they did for the last biennium.”

[…]

“Rep. Jim McIntire, D-Seattle, summed up the Legislature’s arrogance by referring to the set-aside as a ‘procedural motion that has no bearing’ and that I-601 was ‘a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside.’”

[…]

“The crowning insult occurred last week when the Legislature voted along party lines to reject meaningful independent and comprehensive performance audits. Instead of empowering the elected state auditor to review how these questionably acquired and freely spent tax dollars are used, the decision to audit or not to audit is left to a 10-member unelected citizens advisory board that decides the scope and schedule of audits.”

For the full article, click here.