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COMMENTARY
 April 4, 2003 Contact: Jason Mercier, Budget
Research Analyst Senate passes budget with no new taxes And they said it couldn't be done! The Senate joined Governor Locke in writing a balanced budget without raising taxes and today passed their version. The four Democrats who cast their votes with the Senate Republican Caucus have shown that protecting the interests of taxpayers by prioritizing government spending is a bipartisan endeavor. The only question that remains: Is the House capable of doing the same, or will the desire for more money prompt some legislators to drag the state into a costly special session? Taxpayers can only hope fiscal discipline will prevail. After all, senators and the governor proved it can be done.
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
