Rep. Pollet emphasizes that State Supreme Court decision will help eliminate tax breaks

By Evan Smith

Democratic State Rep. Gerry Pollet says that the State Supreme Court’s decision on the voter-approved two-thirds requirement for the Legislature to raise taxes will allow legislators to eliminate tax breaks.

“In striking the two-thirds vote requirement to enact a bill eliminating a tax loophole or adopt a new tax, the Supreme Court relies upon the action of last year's freshmen Democratic legislators in proposing and rounding up a majority of the House for our bill to eliminate the out-of-state sales tax exemption and devote the revenue to pay for full-day kindergarten,” he said after the Court decision Thursday. ” I felt that this effort, which I spoke to on the House floor, was one of the most important things I did as a freshman.”

He said that full-day kindergarten was recognized in the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision as a part of basic education, which it ordered the Legislature to pay for.

“How ironic, I pointed out, that Republicans and (initiative sponsor Tim) Eyman defend a tax break for out-of state people, and oppose funding full-day kindergarten,” Pollet said.

“Without our work last year, the Supreme Court, apparently, would not have found that it could have ruled at all on the challenge to Eyman's initiative requiring a two-thirds vote to raise taxes or eliminate a tax break,” he added.

Pollet said “The three justices in the minority would refuse to rule on the question of whether the two-thirds rule was constitutional, instead saying there was no harm to anyone. The six justices in the majority, fortunately, hold that those of us in the majority voting to eliminate this tax break had our votes ‘completely nullified’ by a minority of legislators under the two-thirds-vote initiative. Ironically, Eyman and the Republican Party believe that it is OK to give away your tax dollars to special interests with a 50 percent-plus-one majority vote to adopt new tax giveaways, but, repealing a tax break can be blocked by a minority.”