06/01/05 Trying to save I-601

06/01/05 Trying to save I-601

Washington Ag When the Washington Farm Bureau tried to file a referendum to preserve Initiative 601, which the Washington Legislature suspended during the past session, the Secretary of State rejected it. The reason was that the legislature had attached an emergency clause to legislation allowing taxes to be increased by a simple majority vote rather than a two-thirds majority required by 601 and Secretary of State Sam Reed said that clause trumped the right to a referendum. The Washington Farm Bureau and a coalition of organizations have taken the issue directly to the state Supreme Court. Farm Bureau spokesman Dean Boyer explains. Boyer: "So we have at this point filed a writ of mandamus with the Washington Supreme Court asking the court to find that the emergency clause was applied illegally in this case and that indeed the people of Washington should have the right to decide whether to retain 601 or get rid of 601 in a referendum rather than the Legislature doing it and then precluding a referendum by attaching an emergency clause." A hearing before a Supreme Court Commissioner is scheduled for June 2nd. I'm Bob Hoff.
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