Court tosses latest Eyman initiative
May 26, 2016, 9:49 AM | Updated: 11:25 am
I-976 sponsor Tim Eyman. (AP)
(AP)
Tim Eyman’s latest voter-approved initiative was tossed by the Washington State Supreme Court Thursday morning.
I-1366 is void in its entirety, according to Daily Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield.
Just in: Wa Sup Ct tosses Eyman measure: 'We affirm the trial court and hold that I -1366…is void in its entirety."
— Jerry Cornfield (@dospueblos)
The measure, approved by voters, called for a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to raise taxes. However, it “It is impossible to determine how many people voted for this initiative because they desired adoption of the constitutional amendment at its heart and how many voted for it because they desired the short-term relief of the immediate reduction in sales tax.”
It was the second time I-1366 has gone before the court.
The initiative was criticized by Gov. Jay Inslee in the past.
鈥淚f we were all offered a bowl of ice cream for nothing, we would take it,鈥� Inslee said, noting that he has noticed this sort of behavior with Democrats and Republicans. 鈥淚f we could vote for something that would seem to give us an impression that we could have a bowl of ice cream at zero cost, we probably would take it. But then we would eventually have to figure out how to pay for it.鈥�
Eyman played off the ice cream comment controversy by standing at Inslee鈥檚 office, and leaving a bowl of the dessert out for the governor.
鈥淎nd we had a bowl of ice cream for the governor, and we had a spoon, and we had the whole bit, and we were highlighting the fact that voters voting six times is not a sign that voters are children,鈥� Eyman said. 鈥淭his is a sign that voters are sick and tired of having politicians like Jay Inslee say he鈥檚 going to veto taxes while running for office, but then become the greatest cheerleader for tax increases that our state has ever seen.鈥�
