Washington Initiative 960, Supermajority Approval for Tax Increases Measure (2007)

Washington Initiative 960
Election date November 6, 2007
Topic Supermajority requirements and Taxes
Status Approved
Type Initiative to the People	Origin Citizens

Washington Initiative 960 was on the ballot as an initiative to the people in Washington on November 6, 2007. It was approved.

It was repealed by the state legislature in 2023, abolishing the requirement for advisory votes on tax measures.

A "yes" vote supported requiring a two-thirds vote in the legislature and a public ten-year cost projection for tax and fee increases, referendums for certain tax hikes, and non-binding advisory votes for legislative increases not subject to a referendum vote, alongside other modifications to the tax code.

A "no" vote opposed requiring a two-thirds vote in the legislature and a public ten-year cost projection for tax and fee increases, referendums for certain tax hikes, and non-binding advisory votes for legislative increases not subject to a referendum vote, alongside other modifications to the tax code.

Aftermath

Washington Senate Bill 5082 of 2023

See also: Changes in 2023 to laws governing ballot measures

Senate Bill 5082 repealed the requirement for statewide advisory vote requirement for tax increases established by Initiative 960.

SB 5082 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	30	18	1	54	43	1
Democratic	29	0	0	54	3	1
Republican	1	18	1	0	40	0

State Sen. Patty Kuderer (D-48) said, "Advisory votes are non-binding referendums that do not carry any legal weight. They have no real impact on policymaking. These votes only pollute our ballots with anti-tax propaganda specifically designed to instill distrust in government—and they do it on our most fundamental sanctuary of democracy, the ballot."

Washington Senate Republican Caucus issued a statement, which said, "The last time taxes were on the ballot in 2021, voters wanted them repealed. Proponents of taking away advisory votes argue that they are confusing or that voters get frustrated because the taxes they disapprove of aren’t reversed. Maybe the answer is to actually listen to the voters instead of taking their voice away? Democracy in on the ballot when it comes to advisory votes and the will of the people."

Brown v. Owen

On February 29, 2008, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Democratic lawmakers initiated a legal challenge to the initiative's two-thirds majority requirement for tax increases as unconstitutional and undemocratic. Republican State Senator Joseph Zarelli challenged the assertion that the requirement was unconstitutional or undemocratic, stating, "The people clearly supported it. This is what they wanted. Do we honor the democratic process, or do we get to pick and choose?"

On September 9, 2008, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of "Lisa Brown v. Brad Owen." On March 5, 2009, the Supreme Court denied Brown's petition, stating that issuing the wit requested would violate the separation of powers doctrine. Justice Barbara Madsen, when the case was heard, signaled this outcome by saying, "The court plunging headfirst into the legislative process, that's a concern I have."

Suspension of Initiative 960

See also: Legislative alteration

By 2010, Initiative 960 passed the two-year threshold before which legislators were restricted from amending or repealing the initiative's provisions. Tim Eyman proposed Initiative 1053 which was designed to implement a permanent two-thirds supermajority requirement for all tax raises in the future. The initiative was approved, but later overturned.

In January 2010, Democrats, who were in the majority in the legislature, said they planned to suspend Initiative 960 "to make way for tax increases to help close a $2.6 billion state budget gap and stave off severe cuts to state services." On February 4, State Senator Margarita Prentice introduced Senate Bill 6843, which was written to repeal the initiative. On February 17, 2010, the House approved the temporary suspension of the initiative after a 51-47 vote. Shortly thereafter the Senate voted 26-21 in favor of suspending the initiative. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the 16-month suspension of some provisions of Initiative 960 on February 25, 2010.

2013 Washington Supreme Court ruling

On February 28, 2013, the Washington Supreme Court issued its ruling on League of Educ. Voters v. State and, in doing so, declared legislation requiring a supermajority vote for tax legislation unconstitutional. The challenge was initially filed against Initiative 1053, but is part of a larger issue concerning similar initiatives beginning in 1993 with Initiative 601.

The court found such supermajority requirements to be in violation of Washington Constitution, Article II, Section 22, which states that no bill shall become law unless a majority of each chamber votes in favor of it. The court's ruling concludes with,

“	Our holding today is not a judgment on the wisdom of requiring a supermajority for the passage of tax legislation. Such judgment is left to the legislative branch of our government. Should the people and the legislature still wish to require a supermajority vote for tax legislation, they must do so through constitutional amendment, not through legislation.	”
—Washington Supreme Court

Election results

Washington Initiative 960
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		816,792	51.24%
No		777,125	48.76%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Initiative 960 was as follows:

“

Initiative Measure No. 960 concerns tax and fee increases imposed by state government. This measure would require two-thirds legislative approval or voter approval for tax increases, legislative approval of fee increases, certain published information on tax-increasing bills, and advisory votes on taxes enacted without voter approval. Should this measure be enacted into law?

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Background

History of advisory votes in Washington

See also: Washington Rules for Approving Tax Increases, Initiative 960 (2007)

Initiative 960, which was sponsored by Tim Eyman and approved by voters in 2007, requires statewide advisory questions whenever the legislature passes a bill that increases tax revenue.

Thirty-eight (38) advisory votes required by Initiative 960 have been on the statewide ballot in Washington from 2012 through 2021. A majority of voters were in favor of maintaining 10 of the tax increases. In the other 28 cases, a majority of voters were in favor of repealing the tax increases in question.

Washington tax advisory votes
Year	Measure	Topic	Maintain vote %	Repeal vote %
2021	Advisory Vote 38	Tax on the premiums of captive insurers	42.85%	57.15%
2021	Advisory Vote 37	Tax on capital gains above $250,000 to fund education and child services	38.95%	61.05%
2021	Advisory Vote 36	Telephone tax to fund behavioral health and suicide prevention services	46.11%	53.89%
2020	Advisory Vote 35	Business and occupation tax on commercial airplane manufacturers	45.53%	54.47%
2020	Advisory Vote 34	Business and occupation tax and surcharge	37.99%	62.01%
2020	Advisory Vote 33	Heavy equipment rental tax	40.40%	59.60%
2020	Advisory Vote 32	Carryout bag tax	38.77%	61.23%
2019	Advisory Vote 31	International investment management services tax	56.75%	43.25%
2019	Advisory Vote 30	Tour operator/travel agent tax	44.19%	55.81%
2019	Advisory Vote 29	Excise tax on real property	35.20%	64.80%
2019	Advisory Vote 28	Nonresident sales tax exemption limits	55.29%	44.71%
2019	Advisory Vote 27	Petroleum products tax	39.22%	60.78%
2019	Advisory Vote 26	Online retail sales tax	44.77%	55.23%
2019	Advisory Vote 25	Financial institution tax	44.62%	55.38%
2019	Advisory Vote 24	Business activities tax	37.35%	62.65%
2019	Advisory Vote 23	E-cig/vaping tax	66.91%%	33.09%
2019	Advisory Vote 22	Paint tax	37.97%	62.03%
2019	Advisory Vote 21	Surcharge on timber products	41.10%	58.90%
2019	Advisory Vote 20	Tax on wages	37.08%	62.92%
2018	Advisory Vote 19	Crude oil tax	46.47%	53.53%
2017	Advisory Vote 18	State property tax	40.95%	59.05%
2017	Advisory Vote 17	Business and occupation tax	37.66%	62.34%
2017	Advisory Vote 16	Commercial fishing fees	45.59%	54.41%
2016	Advisory Vote 15	Alternative fuel tax excemption	40.10%	59.90%
2016	Advisory Vote 14	Dental plan tax	30.86%	69.14%
2015	Advisory Vote 13	Manufacturer tax preferences	36.59%	63.41%
2015	Advisory Vote 12	Gas tax increase	35.63%	64.37%
2015	Advisory Vote 11	Medical marijuana fee	58.73%	41.27%
2015	Advisory Vote 10	Oil spill prevention tax	51.32%	48.68%
2014	Advisory Vote 9	Leasehold excise tax	55.27%	44.73%
2014	Advisory Vote 8	Agricultural tax on marijuana	54.41%	45.59%
2013	Advisory Vote 7	Estate tax	51.23%	48.77%
2013	Advisory Vote 6	Retaill sales tax exemption	47.74%	52.26%
2013	Advisory Vote 5	Insurance premium tax	39.52%	60.48%
2013	Advisory Vote 4	Aircraft excise tax	53.54%	46.46%
2013	Advisory Vote 3	Leasehold excise tax	52.47%	47.53%
2012	Advisory Vote 2	Pollution liability insurance	45.00%	55.00%
2012	Advisory Vote 1	Omnibus tax preference	43.10%	56.90%

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

In Washington, proponents needed to collect a number of signatures for an Initiative to the People.

Futurewise and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 775 went to court in June 2007 to block the measure from the ballot. On September 7, 2007, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Initiative 960 staying on the ballot.

See also

2007 Measures

• 2007 Measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• Supermajority requirements on the ballot
• 2007 legislative sessions

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Washington Voter Guide (2007)