In November the people of Washington will vote on Initiative 960, a measure is sponsored by Tim Eyman that would re-affirm current law requiring state tax increases be adopted with a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, subject all fee increases to legislative approval, require non-binding public advisory votes on tax increases not sent to the voters for approval, and provide voters with a detailed cost analysis of all proposed tax and fee increases.

The initiative would not cover Seattle or King County governments.

Text of Initiative 960

The text of Initiative 960 runs 15 pages and consists of 19 sections. Initiative 960's official ballot measure summary reads:

"This measure would require either a two-thirds vote in each house of the Legislature or voter approval for all tax increases. New or increased fees would require prior legislative approval. An advisory vote would be required on any new or increased taxes enacted by the legislature without voter approval. The office of financial management would be required to publish cost information and information regarding legislators' voting records on bills imposing or increasing taxes or fees."

The intent section of Initiative 960 says (in part):

"With this measure, the people intend to protect taxpayers by creating a series of accountability procedures to ensure greater legislative transparency, broader public participation, and wider agreement before state government takes more of the people's money. This measure protects taxpayers and relates to tax and fee increases imposed by state government. This measure would require publication of cost projections, information on public hearings, and legislators' sponsorship and voting records on bills increasing taxes and fees, allow either two-thirds legislative approval or voter approval for tax increases, and require advisory votes on tax increases blocked from citizen referendum."

The two-third vote requirement for tax increases was previously enacted into law by the 1993 voter-approved Initiative 601 tax and spending limit. Ironically, using only a simple majority vote, the Legislature has suspended the two-third vote requirement in the past to enable tax increase to escape the two-third vote threshold. This occurred most recently during the 2005 Legislative Session.

By including this requirement in Initiative 960, if adopted by the voters, the Legislature would be prohibited for two years from suspending the two-thirds vote threshold with a simple majority vote due to the constitutional rules concerning amending voter-approved initiatives. Legislative changes to initiatives during the first two years of enactment require a two-thirds vote.

The major policy provisions of Initiative 960 are: