Don't erase I-601

THE Democratic majority in the state Senate is clearing the decks for a tax increase with a bill that effectively repeals Initiative 601.

Increases in some taxes — on beer, wine and pop, perhaps — may be needed in a final compromise, but this measure makes it possible for the Legislature to pass any tax increase with no Republican votes. That may lead to increases in general taxes our economy is not strong enough to sustain. I-601, passed by the people in 1993, limited the increase in state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. That was a tight limit.

Senate Bill 6078, sponsored by Majority Whip Debbie Regala of Tacoma, would substitute a looser limit.

I-601 also required that tax increases be approved by a two-thirds vote of legislators. This would be changed to a simple majority, which erases the effect of I-601.

The bill also contains an emergency clause, which means the public could not organize an immediate referendum to repeal it.

We can understand the feeling that state finances are an emergency. But really, they are not. The Legislature faced this problem in the past biennium under a Democratic governor and solved the problem without a general tax increase.

Many Democrats, including Gov. Christine Gregoire, said they would favor tax increases only as a last resort.

The Legislature has not considered enough alternatives to declare it a last resort. It needs to look more seriously at cuts.