Taxpayers sue Gov. Gregoire to invalidate executive order
Posted by Mike Reitz - July 21, 2010In 2009, the Washington Legislature considered a bill from Gov. Gregoire that addressed climate change issues—referred to by some as the “cap-and-tax” bill (SB 5735). Ultimately the bill did not pass out of the legislature. The governor then directed her staff to draft an executive order that would address some of the same issues that were in the bill. On May 21, 2009, Gov. Gregoire issued Executive Order 09-05, entitled “Washington’s Leadership on Climate Change.”
We are arguing that Gov. Gregoire violated the separation of powers by snatching a failed bill out of the legislature and issuing it in the form of an executive order. The Freedom Foundation filed the complaint in Thurston County Superior Court.
Thoughts? Add Comment -
my name is Ben said on Jul 23 2010 at 4:56pm
Hey if the rights of only six people is reason enough to sue Washington's Governor the I'm sure I can round up at least six people who would like to be taxed more. Will you get behind us too? After all, it looks like you are out for the good of everybody [wink, wink].
SouthernRoots said on Jul 25 2010 at 11:11am
If the governor exceeded her authority with this executive order; if she actually legislated, then she has infringed on the rights of over 6 million people in this state.
If she had the power all along to do what was proposed in SB 5735, then why did the legislature waste so much time and effort working on it? SB 5735 had 20 legislative dates, and over 30 amendments, so the legislature apparently thought that the topic was an appropriate one for them to address.
If she had the power all along, why didn't she just issue the EO in January and gain another five months on the process?
If she has exceeded her authority, then it should be exposed and stopped so that no executive will be able to do it in the future.