04/20/05 FB files referendum to save I-601

04/20/05 FB files referendum to save I-601

Washington Ag April 20, 2005 The Washington Farm Bureau yesterday filed a referendum with the Secretary of State's office in an effort to preserve voter-approved restrictions on new taxes and increases in government spending. The filing comes on the heels of Governor Christine Gregoire's signing of legislation passed by the Democratically controlled Legislature. That new law allows lawmakers to raise taxes with a simple majority instead of the two-thirds majority required by the 1993 voter approved Initiative 601. It also allows the Legislature to increase spending by several hundred million dollars more than allowed under Initiative 601. Farm Bureau spokesman Dean Boyer explains what their referendum would do. Boyer: "Were this referendum to go all the way to the ballot in the fall it would give voters an opportunity to undo what the Legislature did last week to suspend 601 and according to a legal analysis that we've had done, would also then undo any taxes that the Legislature adopts this session that didn't get the required two-thirds vote." Washington Farm Bureau president Steve Appel says state revenues are expected to increase 1.7 billion dollars over the next two years because of the state's recovering economy, which would allow for a seven percent increase in state spending without any tax increases. I'm Bob Hoff
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