May 17, 2005 -- The Washington State Grange and a coalition of organizations seeking to protect the people’s right to a referendum filed a brief Friday with the Washington State Supreme Court arguing that the Legislature has violated the separation of powers doctrine by attempting “to shut out a co-equal legislative body, the people, who in this state constitute a fourth branch of the government.”

Joining the Grange are the Washington State Farm Bureau, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Building Industry Association of Washington and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

The coalition has filed a writ of mandamus asking the state Supreme Court to rule that lawmakers wrongly attached an emergency clause to Senate Bill 6078 suspending provisions of voter-approved Initiative 601, which required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise taxes. Because of the emergency clause, the bill went into effect when Governor Christine Gregoire signed it instead of the usual 90-day wait. The Legislature then proceeded to approve new or increased taxes by a simple majority vote.

An attempt by the Farm Bureau to file a referendum on the bill was rejected by the Secretary of State on the grounds the emergency clause trumps the right to a referendum. The coalition argues that no emergency existed; therefore the Legislature acted inappropriately when they attached the clause, so the right to a referendum still exists.

The petitioners also argue that changing the way the Legislature raises taxes is a policy issue, and the right to a referendum, as set forth in the state constitution, “was to enable people to vote on laws which affect public policies.” In this case, the bill removes a restraint on the Legislature’s power of taxation already specifically imposed by the people.

“The politicians in this state need to listen to the people, who approved Initiative 601 because they believe it should take a two-thirds majority vote by their elected officials to raise their taxes,” said Washington State Grange Master Terry Hunt. “The emergency clause to SB 6078 was basically a way for the Legislature to sidestep the wishes of the people it is supposed to represent.”

The coalition is asking for a speedy ruling by the court since more than 100,000 signatures need to be collected by July 23 to put a referendum on the November ballot. The court has scheduled a hearing for June 2.

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