Thanks! Yesterday’s decision fast-forwards the case so it moves directly from King County Superior Court to the Supreme Court without a transfer to the Court of Appeals. It is important to remember that Initiative 776 was first overturned at the superior court level based on the single-subject rule, including sections that mentioned Sound Transit’s bond contracts, but this was later reversed by the state Supreme Court. In contrast, when Initiative 695 was struck down in 2000, Governor Locke called a news conference within hours of the ruling, “demanding the legislature act in special session to remove any doubt in voters’ minds” that their will would not be carried out. The Mayor, City Attorney, SDOT and City Council President have already sent out press releases this morning celebrating the overturning of I-976. Wordy and nerdy. Much ink has been expended over the years by attorneys and judges debating the finer points of what it means to be “germane.” Likewise for the accuracy of a bill’s title; in the past courts have ruled that the title doesn’t need to exhaustively list every detail in the bill as “an index to its contents,” but it needs to represent the topics covered well and accurately enough to “give notice that would lead to an inquiry into the body of the act.”. They also found that, based upon the title, the average voter would not think that the initiative eliminates the mechanism for voters to approve future vehicle taxes (which it does). The Court found specifically that section 12, which dealt with Sound Transit’s bonds, was a separate subject and thus its inclusion in the bill unconstitutionally violated the “single subject” requirement. The Washington Supreme Court ruled Initiative 976 unconstitutional On Oct. 15, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Initiative 976 (I-976) unconstitutional. Rather than admitting error and working to restore public trust, Sound Transit has dug in its heels, refusing to be accountable to the public. I-976 was approved by voters in November 2019. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. The Washington Supreme Court wants the constitutionality question for Initiative 976 settled for good and sooner rather than later. They based their decision on their prior ruling on Initiative 776, which had similar language but didn’t make paying off the bonds mandatory — thus making it “policy fluff” and not a separate subject. When Initiative 976 was struck down, Governor Inslee said he was “open to changes on the state’s portion of car tabs” but has not indicated any support for a special session to carry out the will of voters. Once the revenue is bonded, there is nothing the legislature or the people through initiative can do to require defeasement of bonds to lower the revenue. Rather than making empty statements, Governor Inslee should be clear and honest about what he will or won’t do so people are not left wondering. Director, Coles Center for Transportation, © 2021 Washington Policy Center   All Rights Reserved   Terms of Use, Delaying road projects is totally unnecessary, other solutions are available, $5 billion in cost overruns is “not catastrophic” to Sound Transit, but car tab relief is a “nightmare”, New Seattle minimum wage law forces Uber and Lyft to raise prices, Transportation officials hope to substitute agency control and values for legislative control of projects, Governor wants to delay critical projects, while funding electric ferries and high-speed rail, Officials pitch wishful thinking as fact in state plan to reduce driving. This includes his decision to not provide car tab relief during the COVID-19 emergency, while providing economic relief elsewhere. Since I-976’s section 12 is mandatory, the court found, it is a separate subject. Still, past experience with courts scrutinizing language regarding bond contracts should have been a clear indicator that a new approach was needed to address Sound Transit’s MVET in a more defensible and bulletproof way. When asked by reporters if he would consider providing car tab relief, the Governor said he would give it some thought, but ultimately the issue was brushed aside without any real policy analysis of the impact this relief could have for families. To prevent further erosion of public trust, it is critical that the Governor call the legislature into special session at this time to discuss how to implement the will of voters as expressed in Initiative 976. Sound Transit’s conduct over the years has shown the agency feels it is above the law. As Eyman’s previous initiatives were challenged and struck down by the court, there was some concern that this, too, would face a similar outcome. The second was that the initiative combined one-time required actions with broader systematic changes. This was done likely to comply with a previous legal decision made in Pierce County II, which held that Initiative 776 “unconstitutionally impaired contracts between Sound Transit and its bondholders by limiting MVETs that Sound Transit could collect.” To get around this, I-976 attempted to tackle the bond contracts directly in order to lower the MVET. All nine justices agreed that I-976 contains an impermissible second subject in section 12. A King County Superior Court judge has rejected most of a legal challenge to Tim Eyman's Initiative 976, but the measure remains on hold pending further arguments. First, the legislature granted Sound Transit authority to tax and collect motor vehicle excise taxes (MVET) using an outdated depreciation schedule. I-976, the $30 car tab measure approved by voters in 2019 has been struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court. OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Initiative 976 unconstitutional, striking down a measure approved by voters … Yesterday, the Washington State Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by King County and others to I-976, the initiative approved by statewide voters last November to remove car tabs. Copyright (C) 2014-2020, Kevin Schofield. It didn’t matter how the law was written, or how the tax is assessed, or whether the public can verify how the tax is paid. The Court did not rule on any of the other issues raised in the appeal. UPDATE 12-4-19: The state Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a voter-approved $30 car tab measure will remain on hold while a legal fight over the initiative's constitutionality plays out. The state Supreme Court held a hearing Tuesday on I-976, the voter-approved $30 car tab initiative backed by Tim Eyman. The court’s ruling is a final straw in what is clearly a failure of government at every level in respecting voters – the legislative branch to start – followed by the initiative process, the Supreme Court, the office of the Governor, the office of the Attorney General, and of course – Sound Transit. This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Initiative 976, Tim Eyman’s most recent “$30 car tabs” effort, is unconstitutional. Instead, Eyman ignored better options, including legislation from lawmakers that addressed defeasement of bonds by placing restrictions on the Department of Licensing’s ability to collect the tax for Sound Transit, and therefore not directly impinging on Sound Transit’s bond contracts. Eight of the justices — all except Justice Madsen — also agreed that the initiative’s title is deceptive and misleading. AunanimousstateSupremeCourtstruckdownthe$30car-tabinitiativepassedbyvotersin2019. While the plaintiffs argued that there were several other potential separate subjects, the Court did not take up those issues, as they didn’t need to: one impermissible extra subject is enough to invalidate the entire initiative. There was a near-solution in 2020 in the form of Senate Bill 6606, sponsored by Senator Marko Liias (D-Lynnwood), which would have replaced the unfair vehicle depreciation schedule Sound Transit currently uses with a newer schedule in state law that runs fairly close to Kelley Blue Book values. Today they kicked off the arguments, with an emergency motion to stay Ferguson's ruling until their appeal is resolved. As we are being told every five minutes that our votes and elections matter – it is incumbent upon elected officials to demonstrate that they believe this to be true. On Oct. 15, justices ruled that Initiative 976 violated provisions of the state Constitution which limit the scope of ballot measures to no more than one topic. The accelerated review means a decision is … The court’s ruling on this and past car tab initiatives appears to have one major implication. To isolate votes in Sound Transit’s taxing district or in King County suggests those votes matter more than those made by residents in Eastern Washington or elsewhere. The ruling could have significant financial consequences for transit agencies such as Sound Transit that rely on motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) revenue. Last week the parties challenging the constitutionality of Initiative 976 filed notice that they intended to appeal Judge Marshall Ferguson's recent ruling directly to the state Supreme Court. Sound Transit has always had the ability to be fair and honest, and to correct car tab overcharges on their own. Therefore, the provisions of the initiative will not be implemented. Senator Steve O’Ban (R-Lakewood) proposed multiple bills year after year to try to fix this problem, but the bills were never moved. To be sure, lawmakers were misled by Sound Transit in 2015 when Sound Transit officials repeatedly said they were seeking $15 billion in “full” taxing authority, which would be more than enough to cover the expansion they wanted. When confronted in a separate class action lawsuit about their unfair use of a depreciation schedule that they are not legally authorized to use – Sound Transit simply said it didn’t matter. In its opinion overturning I-976, the court’s decision surprisingly didn’t hinge on the impairment of contracts as it did in I-776, but instead argued that Section 12 of the bill (the language regarding Sound Transit defeasing bonds) rendered the law unconstitutional because it violated the single-subject rule by creating a separate subject from the main subject of the initiative (“limiting vehicle taxes and fees”). People were right to be outraged, and lawmakers were right to step up to try to fix this mistake. However, the Seattle Transit Benefit District, which previously relied heavily on car-tab fees, is up for renewal in three weeks but with a proposal that also assumed I-976 would be upheld and substituted more regressive sales tax for the ca-tab fees. The state Supreme Court will decide the fate of Initiative 976 sponsored by Tim Eyman, following oral arguments at a June 30 hearing and after legislative proposals to codify the initiative into state law failed during this year’s session.. You may recall that on March 12 Judge Ferguson ruled on the two motions for … It was struck down unanimously by the Supreme Court primarily on the basis that it violated the single-subject rule in the state constitution’s Article II Section 19, which forbids a bill to contain more than one subject, and requires the subject to be expressed in the title. Justices said Initiative 976 violated provisions of the state Constitution which limit the scope of ballot measures to no more than one topic. Once a government body receives authority to create revenue and bonds it, the public is forever stuck with that revenue source. The initiative included several provisions, some of which represented good policy and some of which did not. Although the Supreme Court reversed the previous decision and upheld the initiative, the court later partially invalidated the initiative on the basis that it impaired contracts. This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Initiative 976, Tim Eyman’s most recent “$30 car tabs” effort, is unconstitutional. These problems could have been fixed through bipartisan collaboration and amendments, and the bill could have been passed. In practice, the courts have said that this means two things:  all the sections of a bill must be germane to each other and to the title of the bill, and the title of the bill must accurately reflect its contents. One was that the initiative contains unrelated local and statewide effects. Article II Section 19 of the Washington State Constitution declares that no bill “shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in its title.” It applies to both bills passed by the state Legislature, and those approved by voters through the initiative process. The agency has chosen to ignore public outcry because it benefits from the unfair overvaluation. The initiative is preceded by a long, 20-year history of voters asking for $30 car tabs. The state Supreme Court has overturned Initiative 976, which was approved by voters in 2019 to lower annual vehicle registration renewals to $30 per year. OLYMPIA — A unanimous state Supreme Court on Thursday (Oct. 15) struck down the $30 car-tab initiative passed by voters in 2019. The state Supreme Court heard virtual oral arguments Tuesdayabout the constitutionality of the initiative to lower the cost of car tabs that voters passed last year. Thus, it is understandable why Eyman may have thought single-subject would not be an issue with I-976 (especially since the King County Superior Court, when considering I-976 earlier this year, ruled that it did not violate the single-subject rule). Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. I hope you found this article valuable. Initiative 976. Washington’s Supreme Court takes up Initiative 976 The Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on I-976, the so-called “$30 car tab fee” initiative run by Tim Eyman. Mark Twain is purported to have said that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” The ruling today is extremely disappointing and indicative of a much larger, systemic problem. It was found to be unconstitutional for violating the … For the court to effectively validate that line of reasoning is absurd and wrong. Washington state Supreme Court justices will decide whether a measure to cap car tab fees at $30 is unconstitutional. Rather than taking up legislation from Senator O’Ban or Senator Liias, which had already been vetted by committees, Eyman chose to run I-976, which included a controversial provision that Sound Transit defease (or retire early) its bonds that are backed by MVET revenue, conditioned on the agency’s ability to do so. Supreme Court justices announced Wednesday they will hear arguments on Initiative 976 in May and June. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year as legal challenges worked their way through the court system. The ruling leaves all affected taxes, fees, and … The state Supreme Court has overturned Initiative 976, which was approved by voters in 2019 to lower annual vehicle registration renewals to $30 per year. Democrats proposed legislation as well, but most of it was watered down and protected Sound Transit rather than taxpayers. Independent news and analysis of the Seattle City Council. As such, they said, the title is deceptive and misleading — also unconstitutional under Article II Section 19. The Court found that the initiative contained multiple subjects and that its title was “deceptive and misleading.” It overturned a lower court ruling that largely upheld the initiative. The initiative was brought to the state legislature by a petition sponsored by Tim Eyman. 976 ( I-976) is a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Washington that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2019. This set the stage for Tim Eyman to run Initiative 976 in 2019. The Court found that the initiative contained multiple subjects and that its title was “deceptive and misleading.” It overturned a lower court ruling that largely upheld the initiative. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court struck down Initiative 976, a measure Washington voters approved last November to reduce the cost of annual vehicle licensing fees. 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