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Hinkle and Holmquist vote
against bill that guts I-601
Rep.
Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, and Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake,
voted today against a bill that would repeal the two-thirds vote
requirement for legislators to raise taxes and increase the state’s
future spending limit. Senate Bill 6078, which passed the House today,
essentially guts Initiative 601, passed by voters in 1993.
The purpose of Initiative 601 was to prevent the Legislature from
raising taxes easily and keep spending in line with growth. It has saved
taxpayers more than $4 billion since voters put its spending and tax
increase limits in place.
“When voters passed Initiative 601, they said they want a stronger voice
in how their money is spent,” Holmquist said. “Instead, this measure
silences the loud, consistent plea of the citizens asking us to hold the
line on taxes. Make no mistake, the majority party needs this bill to
raise your taxes, they need this bill for their budget. This is the
epitome of fiscal irresponsibility.”
Senate Bill 6078 would suspend for two years the I-601 two-thirds vote
requirement for the Legislature to enact tax hikes. Democrats, which
control both houses of the Legislature but do not have a two-thirds
majority in either the House or Senate, have built new taxes into their
budget proposals. The governor’s budget proposal also contains take
increases. Therefore majority Democrats needed to pass SB 6078 in order
to be able to pay for their budget.
“It’s only been a few months since voters rejected Initiative 884, which
would have raised taxes for education,” Hinkle said. “They told us that
they didn’t want new taxes, even for the best of causes. Passing this
bill, and making it easier to raise taxes, tells voters we didn’t hear
them when they passed I-601 or even a few months ago when they rejected
I-884. This goes against the will of the people, and citizens will not
forget what happened here today.”
Senate Bill 6078, which passed by a vote of 50 to 43, also contained an
emergency clause, which prevents citizens from filing a referendum to
put it on the ballot before it takes effect.
Since the House amended the Senate bill significantly, it now goes back
to the Senate for concurrence.
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For more information, contact:
John Handy, Assistant
Communications Director - (360) 786-5758
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