WA Supreme Court ruling blocks voter referendum on new income tax

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Washington state Supreme Court has denied a petition to allow a public vote on the state's new income tax.

The high-stakes ruling follows a lawsuit from "Let's Go Washington" trying to strike down the Democrats' so-called "millionaires tax."

The backstory:

Let's Go Washington’s founder Brian Heywood took issue with lawmakers using a tactic similar to an emergency clause when crafting the income tax. Heywood claims lawmakers shouldn't be in the practice of deeming a tax an emergency in order to bypass the vote of the people.

But the justices pointed out the legislation is a tax to support the government.

Even if there is no immediate crisis, the justices said they must trust the legislature unless there is obvious deception. With the tax raising revenue for the state, the justices are accepting the argument that it's necessary.

But the fight over the income tax is not over. Monday’s ruling focused on the issue of the referendum. There is a separate lawsuit arguing that the income tax is against the state constitution, which is still pending.

What they're saying:

Senator Jamie Pedersen, who was one of the lawmakers who played a big role in crafting the millionaire tax, released this statement:

"I was pleased but not surprised to see the Washington Supreme Court’s decision this morning.  The court upheld the plain language of the Washington constitution:  tax measures are not subject to referendum challenges.  As we have said all along, the proper way to challenge the Millionaires Tax is through the initiative process.  We assume that challenge is coming and welcome a robust conversation with the voters about fixing our broken, upside down tax system and funding public schools, health care, and other services that the people of our state depend on."

Heywood, in response, released this statement:

"We strongly disagree with this interpretation from the State Supreme Court. However, as they have relied so heavily on precedent in this ruling, for this court to be consistent, they should be expected to rely on precedent to reject the unconstitutional income tax as well. The income tax has 93 years of precedent and has been affirmed seven times. Not only have voters rejected it every time it’s been on the ballot, but our own court system has ruled it to be out of line with state law. 

"Governor Bob Ferguson and Senator Jamie Pedersen have said this challenge was all but guaranteed to fail because of prior precedent. They argue prior rulings are written in stone and should not be changed. At the same time, both career politicians are conspiring to rewrite the constitution and eliminate decades of precedent to get their income tax.

"This ruling states that the people cannot challenge via referendum any tax imposed by the legislature, removing any guardrails from the people on runaway spending. Governor Ferguson and Senator Pedersen now have a blank check to spend beyond their means and raise taxes later, and the people don’t get to weigh in."

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