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UPDATE on tax ruling: Sen. Brown, Lt. Gov. Owen both disappointed

• Published March 05, 2009

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ORIGINAL 11:56 a.m. post: The Washington state Supreme Court just rejected a challenge to the state’s supermajority requirement for passing taxes.

The ruling in a case brought by Senate Democratic Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane against the Senate’s presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, in effect keeps the ante high for Legislature-imposed tax increases at a time lawmakers are grappling with an $8 billion budget shortfall.

Read the ruling here.

In sum, the court said “Owen acted properly by declining to decide the constitutionality of RCW 43.135.035(1) and did not exceed his authority or abuse his discretion by ruling on a point of order consistent with (that law).”

“Intervention of this court into an intrahouse dispute over a parliamentary ruling to compel the president of the Senate to perform a discretionary duty would be a grave violation of separation of powers. We dismiss the action.’’

Brown wanted a judgment declaring the supermajority requirement of Initiative 601 (from the early 1990s) and again in Tim Eyman’s 2007 measure, I-960, unconstitutional.

The dispute in hand was over Senate Bill 6931, which would have imposed a liquor tax increase to fund certain drunk-driving enforcement actions. The measure had majority support when brought to a vote in 2008, but it failed to get the two-thirds supermajority needed under the initiatives.

Brown is holding her weekly media meeting in a few minutes. I’ll let you know what her reaction is.

UPDATE at 8:35 p.m.: Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown appeared to shrug off her court defeat earlier this afternoon, saying “any major” revenue or tax increases that the Legislature approves this year would require voter approval anyway.

Brown was addressing the state Supreme Court ruling on her challenge to the state’s two-thirds supermajority requirement for legislative passage of tax increases. The requirement grew out of Initiative 601 in 1993 and was restated by Tim Eyman’s I-960 in 2007.

Still, she sounded a bit frustrated that her real legal question wasn’t answered. The court refused to take jurisdiction and decide: Can a citizen initiative limit lawmakers’ ability to raise taxes by imposing a higher vote threshold?