“Today’s decision from the Washington State Supreme Court may very well be the most significant decision in our state’s history. Today the court made clear that our constitution cannot be amended by the initiative process. This profound ruling means that profiteering initiative writers will not be able to take away protected freedoms and rights guaranteed to the people or the Legislature.“
“Following this 2/3rds case, it is now abundantly clear that we have to tackle our state’s structural revenue and budget failures in a bipartisan way here in Olympia. No more hiding behind corporate sponsored multi-million dollar initiatives- It is time for Democrats and Republicans to come together to take on our tax code to ensure that our state’s essential services, including basic education, are adequately funded.”
“We must move forward now with caution- carefully and thoughtfully crafting an equitable tax system will take time and sincere commitment from legislators and citizens. The restructuring process will take years, but we can and should begin this session by establishing a set of bipartisan taxing principles – fairness, stability, adequacy, and transparency are four key principles that will become the foundation for future transformation.”