Washington Supreme Court declares Initiative 976 unconstitutional. 976 ( I-976) is a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Washington that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2019. Thanks! 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 Sound Transit 3 package on November 2016 ballots had ballooned to a $54 billion plan. The initiative is preceded by a long, 20-year history of voters asking for $30 car tabs. 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. A second legal maneuver to allow Initiative 976 to take effect this week and lower the cost of vehicle license tabs was filed Tuesday with the state Supreme Court. 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. 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). 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. I-976, which caps car tab fees at $30, was approved by voters in November. 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 court ruled on Thursday that Initiative I-976, which would cap car tabs at $30, is unconstitutional. 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. Today they kicked off the arguments, with an emergency motion to stay Ferguson's ruling until their appeal is resolved. The court’s ruling on this and past car tab initiatives appears to have one major implication. It also provided some guaranteed car tab relief but not all the relief voted for in I-976, and eliminated parts of I-976 as a hedge. Once a government body receives authority to create revenue and bonds it, the public is forever stuck with that revenue source. Tim Eyman attacked Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s defense of I-976 in a letter sent on Thanksgiving. Initiative 976 was ruled unconstitutional by the court because it violated the state’s single-subject rule. People were right to be outraged, and lawmakers were right to step up to try to fix this mistake. 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. Sound Transit’s conduct over the years has shown the agency feels it is above the law. 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. This set the stage for Tim Eyman to run Initiative 976 in 2019. The Washington State Supreme Court has overturned a 2019 voter-backed initiative that would have reduced car tab fees to $30 statewide. OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Initiative 976 unconstitutional, striking down a measure approved by voters … Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Washington's budget office estimated that I-976 would have slashed as much as $4 billion in state tax revenue by 2025. Sound Transit has always had the ability to be fair and honest, and to correct car tab overcharges on their own. All rights reserved. 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.”. With today’s ruling, I-976 is officially dead. 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. The people, who are supposed to be in charge, do not want to pay high car tabs and have said so repeatedly - yet no one in government will allow their will to be enacted. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year as legal challenges worked their way through the court system. The Court also highlighted two other issues with I-976 potentially covering multiple subjects that it said “raised concerns” for them but ultimately weren’t dispositive. 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. How to contact your Seattle City Council members. The Court emphasized that it reads ballot titles “as the average informed lay voter would,” not as skilled attorneys would parse them. 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. The initiative is preceded by a long, 20-year history of voters asking for $30 car tabs. In contrast, the Attorney General’s office, in defending the initiative, argued that the provision is germane to limiting vehicle taxes and fees because it ensures that the MVET, which is a type of vehicle tax, can no longer be collected. Where the AG could have done a better job is in adding defeasement of bonds to the ballot summary, which said “this measure would repeal, reduce, or remove authority to impose certain vehicle taxes and fees; limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30, except voter-approved charges; and base vehicle taxes on Kelley Blue Book value.”  Although the court did not ultimately base its decision on the ballot summary (separate from the ballot title), it was the subject of hot debate during oral argument and could have formed another basis for the court to strike down the initiative. 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). Instead, the justices somehow arrived at the conclusion that defeasing bonds that rely on a revenue source that the initiative is trying to repeal is unrelated to repealing revenue. The initiative was brought to the state legislature by a petition sponsored by Tim Eyman. The Supreme Court ruling is the end of the road for I-976, which was the brainchild of anti-tax activist Tim Eyman. Meanwhile, taxpayers continued paying high car tab tax overcharges. The Washington State Supreme Court has issued a ruling striking down Tim Eyman’s Initiative 976 for $30 car tabs across the state. Among the big questions … 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Supreme Court allowed an injunction against the initiative stand last December days before it was meant to take effect. Rather than admitting error and working to restore public trust, Sound Transit has dug in its heels, refusing to be accountable to the public. 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