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#include virtual="/html/macros/1999/news.top.html" start-take #hide#show http_user_agent="Lynx"#show State Supreme Court rules I-695 unconstitutional #hide#show http_user_agent="Lynx"#show #hide#show http_user_agent="Lynx"#show Fitz Cahall #hide#show http_user_agent="Lynx"#show Daily staff #hide#show http_user_agent="Lynx"#show     

    The Washington State Supreme Court ruled 8-1 yesterday that Initiative 695, approved by a majority of state voters last year, was unconstitutional.

    The initiative was approved by 56 percent of Washington voters in last November's election. I-695 eliminated value-based motor-vehicle fees and replaced them with $30 fee. The measure, sponsored by Mukilteo businessman Tim Eyman, also required voter approval for every future tax and fee increase made in the state.

    In a majority opinion written by Justice Barbara Madsen, the court ruled that I-695:

    1) Failed to meet the requirement that an initiative have only one subject.

    2) Violated a requirement that the subject appear in the title of the initiative. I-695 used the term "tax" to mean fees and charges, which are not traditionally considered taxes. Essentially, voters were not alerted of the meaning of "tax" in the initiative.

    3) Created a procedure of referendum incongruent with Washington state law. Voters would be asked to vote on every tax or fee increase. This process would violate the mandatory petition process that requires the signatures of 4 percent of voters to create a ballot measure.

    4) Amended an existing law without publishing the law and the proposed change in the language of the initiative. I-695 would have changed the current initiative process.

    Gov. Gary Locke agreed with the court's decision with regard to tax increases, said Ed Penhale, spokesman for Gov. Locke's campaign.

    "The governor doesn't think that it makes sense for the public to approve every single fee increase," Penhale said. "They'd have to vote every nickel. Every penny increase on a cup of coffee at the UW cafeteria would be put up for voter approval."

    Locke also issued a prepared statement to the media.

    "No one believes more strongly than I in the constitutional right of the people to address tax and other public issues by initiatives," he said. "But we must remember the constitution is the will of the people."

    The repeal won't reinstate the prior value-based vehicle tax. Locke pushed through legislation last spring that instituted the $30 tag-fee permanent. That portion of the initiative eliminated $750 million in tax revenues for local and county governments.

    "The governor feels that the spirit of I-695 remains intact," Penhale said.

    Justice Richard Sanders filed the sole dissent. He criticized the majority opinion for suggesting that voters were unable to understand I-695.

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