The voters have spoken, and by a narrow margin they’ve given state lawmakers two choices: rock or hard place. Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1366 says they have to either slash the sales tax by a penny or put a constitutional amendment on the ballot requiring a two-thirds vote to raise taxes.
Add I-1366 to last year’s class-size initiative and voters have sent a clear message: lower our taxes AND spend all the money. Math may not be our strong suit, which just proves why we need those smaller classes.
In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we asked how you think lawmakers should respond to I-1366, and our voters have no regrets. Sixty-two percent said to do what the initiative says.
As for the alternatives, 13 percent said lawmakers should vote to repeal the initiative, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. That would take the kind of bipartisan political cooperation that gets people voted out of office.
Another 13 percent said legislators should do nothing and wait for the courts to declare the initiative unconstitutional. Courts hinted before the election that the initiative was unlikely to pass muster, and Eyman is already plotting a backup initiative for next year.
Only 12 percent said to slash the sales tax and adopt an income tax, an idea floated by John Burbank last week in a Herald op-ed column. We’ve all heard how an income tax would be fairer, just like we’ve all heard we’d be healthier if we ate more kale. Most people show no appetite for either.
The smart money is on the path of least resistance. If legislators wait, a court might bail them out, and who knows? Maybe voters will like taxes better in 2016. Maybe they’d also like another helping of kale.
— Doug Parry, @parryracer
For our next poll, we want to know who you think should play the “Barefoot Bandit” now that Hollywood is planning a movie.
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