2008 PRESS RELEASES

August 08, 2008

EFF files amicus brief in I-601 tax case

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation today filed a “friend of the court” brief with the Washington State Supreme Court supporting the constitutionality of Initiative 601, passed by the voters in 1993. The initiative requires supermajority legislative votes to raise taxes.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) filed the case after the Senate failed to get the supermajority required under the law to reimpose higher state liquor taxes.

The case, Brown v Owen, will be heard by the court on September 9.

“The state is looking at a budget deficit of at least $2.7 billion next year, and the lawsuit is a blatant effort to make it easier to raise taxes,” said Amber Gunn, Director of EFF’s Economic Policy Center. “The legislature should have held spending in check, but went on a feeding frenzy instead. The price will be paid in January.”

In the brief, EFF attorneys Mike Reitz and Jonathan Bechtle argue that there is plenty of historical and legal precedent indicating that requiring supermajorities in some instances is constitutional.

“The Washington Constitution does not prohibit a supermajority requirement for tax increases,” they wrote. “From the state’s earliest days, Washingtonians have sought to safeguard their personal rights and economic interests. The constitution emphasizes this from its opening line: ‘“governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”’

“Where the constitution is silent, however, the legislature (or the people) can impose additional restrictions upon itself. The constitution delegates viewed the legislative branch with great suspicion, which caused them to write numerous provisions that protect individual pocketbooks, and there is no evidence that our framers would have opposed requiring a higher degree of consensus for tax increases,” they said.

EFF’s brief was joined by Washington State Farm Bureau, Americans for Tax Reform, National Taxpayers Union, and National Federation of Independent Business.

AUDIO CLIPS

1) Jonathan Bechtle

2) Mike Reitz (pronounced “rights”)

3) 5 minute podcast with Reitz and Bechtle

Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any legislation or ballot measure.

Tom Henry

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Deputy Communications Director

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