Senator's thoughts on why I-960 should be amended

To The Eagle:

In 1912 some simple language amended our State’s constitution and created the initiative process. Ninety-eight years later, the process has rendered our state almost ungovernable by shifting power to a narrow spectrum of people whose aim is not to govern, but to strangle government altogether.

Initiatives are a big business in Washington. Since 2002, nearly $7.2 million has been paid to companies whose only business is gathering signatures to put measures on the ballot – and these measures always promise lower taxes. Sometimes they fail but when a measure passes, it ties the hands of your elected representatives. Of course, whether they pass or fail, these companies still make money.

At times, the results are absurd. In 2007, voters approved I-960 limiting the state’s ability to raise revenue by requiring a two-thirds vote by the Legislature – the same supermajority that is required to amend the constitution – or a vote by the people. But voters are concerned with more than just lowering their tax bills. They also approved I-728 to require smaller class sizes in schools. They also upheld the estate tax, dedicating its revenue to education. In the same year they passed I-960, they approved a measure that requires new levels of training for homecare workers that carried a $49 million price tag.

The combination of popular demand for policy mandates and initiatives that restrict revenue is crippling. Tying the hands of public officials threatens the very existence of programs approved by voters. Like all Washington voters you want better schools for your children, access to health care and the social services that make our communities strong, and you consistently vote for representatives who work for these ends. But these days there’s always someone telling you, in effect, that you shouldn’t have to pay for it.

For several years, I’ve introduced a constitutional amendment to end these initiatives. My ongoing efforts are not about taking the power away from the voters. In fact, I have always trusted voters to make their opinions known every November. What I don’t trust is the profit-making dynamic that has hijacked and mutated our initiative process.

The I-960 process undermines our constitutional right to a representative democracy by giving the minority the ability to determine policy. It also prevents logical and fair changes to our tax system as we work to address our state’s $2.6 billion shortfall. The initiative is so broad that it makes it nearly impossible to end tax loopholes that serve very narrow special interest groups to the detriment of our broader community. The value of some tax credits has evaporated over time, yet they continue to waste taxpayer dollars but are virtually impossible to eliminate after they have become obsolete. A return to majority rule with minority rights will reaffirm the rule of law as established by our state’s Constitution. Let your representatives do the job you elected them to do. Let them make the sometimes difficult decisions necessary to preserve your quality of life.

Amending I-960 is the first common-sense step.

Sen. Ken Jacobsen

D-Seattle