For Immediate Release: 
March 13, 2019                                 

Media Contact:
David Boze 206-946-1018

Yesterday members of the state Senate voted down SJR 8201, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have watered down the standard for imposing local property taxes and increasing the burden of long-term public debt.  The vote was 28-21, well short of the two-thirds needed to pass.

SJR 8201 was introduced by Senator Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer Island).  If passed SJR 8201 would have reduced the voter-approval standard to impose school bond debt from 60 percent to 50 percent.  The measure would have disproportionately helped property-rich districts, like Seattle and Mercer Island, and harmed property-poor districts in other areas of the state.

The 60 percent voter-approval standard is a safeguard that protects working families, business owners, the elderly and other property owners from being burdened by long-term public debt.  The provision particularly protects children, young workers and young families, because financial burdens proposed by school officials today have to be paid by future taxpayers.

The standard does not prevent most bond levies from passing. In 2017, 64 percent of school districts seeking bond levies received voter approval, resulting in $1.9 billion in new education funds.

Removing the 60 percent rule would have created an incentive for school officials to benefit from spending today, while pushing the cost onto others.  Such debt can last 30 years, so school officials often burden their own students with future heavy debt payments.

Families in Washington are already paying for $17.9 billion in existing long-term school bond debt, a burden that will last decades into the future.

Supermajority vote requirements are commonly used in a democracy to prevent financial abuse by public officials, by requiring a high level of public agreement.  The 60 percent standard protects families from heavy and regressive taxation.

The Senate’s decision is good news for the hard-working people of Washington.  For over 70 years, the 60 percent standard has protected people in all communities from debt proposals advanced by officials in property-rich districts.

The standard is reasonable debt policy and taxpayer protection that serves the public interest. 

For more information, see “HJR 4203 and SJR 8201, to lower the constitutional standard for increasing property taxes and imposing long-term public debt,” Liv Finne, Washington Policy Center, Legislative Memo, March 6, 2019, and Testimony before Senate Ways and Means Committee, February 28, 2019.