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WA: Supreme Court keeps R-53 on ballot
By REBECCA COOK The Associated Press 9/23/02 3:47 PM OLYMPIA, WA(AP) -- The state Supreme Court said Monday it will not prevent Referendum 53 from going on the November ballot. The referendum's sponsors seek to overturn a law passed this year by the Legislature overhauling the state's business tax system. A coalition of business groups, backed by Gov. Gary Locke, sued to stop the referendum from going on the ballot. The lawsuit was unusual because it challenged the referendum's constitutionality before the public even got a chance to vote on it. The high court said opponents of the referendum will have to wait until after the election. "The court has had insufficient time to engage in the deliberations that a case of this magnitude demands, and a decision on the merits of the controversy is unnecessary at this time, since no provision of the underlying legislation will take effect until January 1, 2003," Chief Justice Gerry Alexander wrote in the one-page order. The underlying legislation -- House Bill 2901 -- overhauls the system of unemployment taxes. Washington businesses pay this tax based on how many people they lay off, and the money pays for laid-off workers' benefits. Supporters of the bill say it corrects long-standing inequities in the unemployment tax system. Some businesses, mainly in the construction industry, would pay more in taxes than they do now and others, including Boeing, restaurants and retailers, would pay less over time. The businesses that would suffer tax increases, led by the Building Industry Association of Washington, gathered enough signatures to put Referendum 53 on the ballot. They hope to overturn the new law. The Supreme Court put the case on a fast track and heard arguments
on Sept. 10. Attorneys for the referendum's sponsors said the measure does meet constitutional standards. They said blocking the referendum from the ballot would have a chilling effect on future measures. Locke said he was disappointed by the court's decision. He noted that the issue is complicated and the referendum is tough to understand -- a "yes" vote keeps the new law, and "no" overturns it. "If the voters do not approve Referendum 53, we expect to renew our legal challenge because we believe it's unconstitutional," Locke said. But Kris Tefft, attorney for R-53's sponsors, said he hopes Locke and the business coalition will give up their legal challenge and instead cooperate with the building industry association to write a new law next year. "That was one of our primary goals, for them to bring us to the table," Tefft said. The court's ruling clears the way for the secretary of state to certify the November ballots by the Oct. 9 deadline. ------ On the Net: http://www.courts.wa.gov |