Washington Policy Center to Publish Initiative 960 Voters' Pamphlet

By: John Barnes

In the wake of a bill on its way to Governor Gregoire implementing a two-year repeal of Initiative 960, Washington Policy Center today announced it will publish the public disclosure information that would have appeared in the voters pamphlet if Initiative 960 had remained in place.

Passed by voters in 2007, Initiative 960 required a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes. It also included several public information provisions. For each tax increase, the public was to receive:

1. A description of each tax increase.
2. A ten-year estimate of how much lawmakers increased the financial burden they place on taxpayers.
3. A list showing how each lawmaker voted.
4. Each legislators contact information.

Under Initiative 960, this information was to appear in the voters pamphlet for the November 2010 election.

Governor Gregoire says she will sign the repeal of the two-thirds requirement. She has not indicated whether she will use her line item veto to retain the public disclosure provisions.

The project will be conducted by researchers at Washington Policy Centers independent website WashingtonVotes.org.

"If lawmakers and the Governor will not be providing information about the tax increases they pass to the public, my research staff is more than willing to do the job," said Washington Policy Center President Dann Mead Smith.

"In this economy, we believe people have a right to know how much lawmakers are adding to their financial burden," he added.