Ballot measures update: I-960 and R-4204

After a day on post-election clean-up, I can provide a couple of updates on two of Washington's statewide ballot measures. Initiative 960: Don't be surprised if there's a court challenge of Tim Eyman's latest offering. Keith Scully, legal director at the environmental group Futurewise, says going to court is a definite possibility - although no decision has been made. Futurewise and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) teamed up before the election to try to keep the measure off the ballot. Obviously, that effort failed. Scully says I-960 contains several constitutionally questionable elements - chief among them a two-thirds requirement to pass tax measures in the Legislature. "The core issue, the most important one, is that the constitution sets a simple majority as what the Legislature needs to pass bills," explains Scully. But Scully admits a challenge won't be easy. To get the courts to take up the case, he says, opponents will have to show I-960 has caused them injury - perhaps a cut in funding for a vital social service. Of course, Eyman maintains the measure is constitutional. I-960 also says lawmakers must approve all fee increases. It will be interesting to see how the Legislature handles that mandate. I have a hard time believing the Legislature is going to schedule hearings and floor votes to raise the price of a fishing license. Resolution 4204: The majority of Washington lawmakers might think school levies should pass with a simple majority, but apparently Washington voters disagree. That constitutional amendment is failing. "We knew it would be a close vote," says Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane. "And we knew it would be a tougher public vote in an off-year election when turnout is low." Supporters are stunned and bummed. They've been trying for more than a decade to muster the two-thirds vote in the Legislature to put the question before voters. It finally happened this year. But opponents like state Sen. Janea Holmquist, a Republican from Moses Lake, say majority Democrats misread the mood of voters: "It's fairly obvious that the majority is out of touch with voters. The voters get it: Property taxes are too high." Holmquist says the deeper issue here is that voters are fed up with having to use local levy money to cover gaps in state funding for basic education. Brown says the simple majority proposal may be resurrected, but not right away.