A state policy wish list for 2020

Dear Santa: For Christmas this year I’d like the legislature to adopt several reforms during the 2020 Legislative Session. In no particular order, here is my policy wish list: Ban title only bills, adopt tax transparency website, no state or local income tax, adopt emergency clause reform, subject legislature to public records, adopt constitutional amendment requiring supermajority for taxes, require government collective bargaining transparency, allow district elections for the State Supreme Court and provide a real election day.

To help your elves work their magic, here are additional details:    

Ban title-only bills

Washington’s lawmakers have adopted rules on paper that let the public participate in the legislative debate, but the casual way they routinely waive the rules undercuts these important public protections. Some lawmakers also introduce title-only bills late in the session as a placeholder, so they can put in the real text later without having to secure the required two-thirds vote. Meaningful legislative transparency protections should be adopted that would provide mandatory public notice and waiting periods before legislative action; ban title-only bills, and; subject the Legislature to the same transparency requirements that are placed on local governments.

Adopt tax transparency website

There are approximately 1,800 taxing districts in the state whose officials impose various taxes on Washingtonians. There is no single resource, however, to help individuals and businesses learn which taxing districts and rates they are subject to, and how much officials in each taxing district add to their total tax burden. A typical home, for example, can be located in as many as ten different taxing districts. To help improve the transparency of state and local taxation, state leaders should create an online searchable database of all tax districts and tax rates in the state. The database could be modeled after the state’s high-quality budget transparency website: fiscal.wa.gov.

No state or local income tax

As recently occurred in Tennessee and Texas, lawmakers in Washington should let the people vote on a constitutional amendment making our state’s ban on an income tax crystal clear, while protecting it from being overturned by a surprise court ruling in which judges ignore past legal precedents. Lawmakers should also re-affirm the state ban on local income taxes and reject imposing an illegal capital gains income tax.

Adopt emergency clause reform

Lawmakers should adopt a constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority vote to use a referendum denying emergency clause. If a true public emergency occurs that warrants blocking the people’s right to a referendum, a 60 percent vote requirement in the legislature should not be difficult to achieve. In the case of a real crisis, the public would most likely welcome the use of the emergency clause by the legislature, recognizing it is intended to be used at just such a critical time. Political convenience, however, should no longer serve as a reason to deny the people their right of referendum.

Subject legislature to public records

All state and local government agencies in Washington are subject to the Public Records Act and the Open Public Meetings Act. The legislature, however, claims it is exempt from full disclosure. The exemption has been challenged in court, but regardless of the outcome the legislature should follow the same disclosure and transparency requirements that the law places on county and local government officials. As the most powerful representative body in the state, the legislature should lead by example and subject itself to all the requirements of the Public Record Act and Open Public Meetings Act, on the same basis as other public entities in Washington.

Adopt constitutional amendment requiring supermajority for taxes

Requiring a supermajority vote in the legislature to increase taxes would not be unique to Washington. Seventeen states have some form of supermajority vote requirement for tax increases. Supermajority requirements are common in provisions of Washington’s own constitution. There are currently more than 20 supermajority vote requirements in the state’s constitution. Several of these provisions have been part of the Washington constitution since statehood. The most recent one was added by lawmakers, and confirmed by voters, in 2007. Since supermajority vote restrictions are a common way for the people to place limits on government power, lawmakers should send voters a proposed constitutional amendment to require a supermajority vote in the legislature to raise taxes. In 2016, 60% of voters said they want it to take a supermajority vote in the legislature to raise taxes. An even larger 65% said they want the legislature to send voters a constitutional amendment.

Require government collective bargaining transparency

State and local government employment contracts should not be negotiated in secret. The public provides the money for these agreements. Taxpayers should be allowed to follow the process and hold government officials accountable for the spending decisions that officials make on their behalf.

District elections for the State Supreme Court

To improve geographic representation on the supreme court, elections should be changed to district elections. This would provide more regional diversity and help reduce the cost of running for office, while providing candidates more time to focus on voter outreach, debates and forums in their area of the state. Changing to district elections for supreme court justices would make the highest court fully reflective of “One Washington.”

Provide a real election day

Washington requires ballots only to be postmarked, not delivered, by election day. This increases public cynicism and distrust in the state’s election results, as vote-leading candidates shift position days and weeks after the election. Other states use a better system. Oregon has all-mail voting too but, unlike Washington, state ballots must be received by 8:00 p.m. on election day to be counted. To avoid concerns about possible voter disenfranchisement, military ballots could be exempted from the election day deadline, along with any ballots postmarked the Friday before the election. Those wishing to send in their ballots after that date could use a secure ballot drop box before the election period ended. This is exactly what occurs for Oregon, Colorado and those counties in California that use all vote-by-mail.

I know it is a short session but our faith in you to deliver sound policy presents is boundless.

Thank you, Santa.

P.S. Under Washington’s new clean energy requirements you should avoid bringing any Washingtonian, no matter how naughty, a lump of coal this year.

Jason Mercier is the director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center. Learn more or contact him at www.washingtonpolicy.org or on Twitter at @OlympiaWatch.