Democrats Have the Votes to Suspend I-960, It Appears
Posted by Amber Gunn - January 18, 2010Rumblings out of Olympia indicate that the Legislature will soon move to gut Initiative 960, paving the way for tax increases and removing our ability to track the cost of proposed tax hikes. Passed by a majority of voters in November 2007, I-960 sets a two-thirds threshold for the Legislature to raise taxes and requires the Office of Financial Management to calculate the 10-year cost of every revenue-raising bill introduced.
If legislators straight-up suspend I-960, then taxpayers will no longer have a means of determining the cost of proposed tax and fee increase bills. Our Big Spender publication will also disappear, much to the delight of certain chagrined legislators, as we will no longer have the information to compile the list.
Since it's a pretty big deal to undo the will of the people, we think legislators should go on record. If they have to be public about it, some legislators may re-think their position. We sent each legislator the following two questions:
1) Do you support informing taxpayers about the cost of proposed legislation, and if so, will you vote to uphold I-960’s transparency provisions?2) Do you agree with I-960 that two-thirds of the Legislature should agree before passing tax increases?
We will record their answers and post them for the public to see.
Six legislators have already answered by saying “yes” publicly to both questions: Sen. Jerome Delvin, Sen. Jim Honeyford, Sen Bob McCaslin, Rep. Larry Haler, Rep. Mike Hope and Rep. Ed Orcutt. We applaud them for their commitment to transparency and accountability.
You can help battle the big spenders in Olympia by signing the Freedom Foundation’s petition against new taxes here. We’re attempting to gather at least 20,000 signatures by January 24. This will help combat Rebuilding Our Economic Future, a coalition of more than 80 state and national left-of-center groups, which has already collected 20,000 signatures in favor of raising taxes. Help us
Thoughts? Add Comment -
PatrickF said on Jan 19 2010 at 1:12pm
It will be tough to get very many signatures if the link stays broken...
Amber Gunn said on Jan 19 2010 at 1:46pm
PatrickF,
The link worked for me, but I rechecked it and posted a new one anyway. Is it working for you now?
Works! said on Jan 19 2010 at 4:48pm
Thanks. It works and I signed. It may well have been my connection but better safe sorry..