Let’s Go Washington Statement on Supreme Court Decision
Let’s Go Washington released the following statement following the State Supreme Courts Decision to now allow a referendum on the state income tax:
REDMOND, WA – Today, the Washington State Supreme Court relied on precedent to reject Let’s Go Washington’s (LGW) case for a referendum on the income tax. While it would have been a boon for voters to have the opportunity for a clean repeal via referendum, LGW remains hopeful that this decision to uphold precedent will bode well for the case questioning the constitutionality of the income tax set to be heard later this year.
In response to the ruling, LGW founder, Brian Heywood, issued the following statement:
“We strongly disagree with this interpretation from the State Supreme Court. However, as they have relied so heavily on precedent in this ruling, for this court to be consistent, they should be expected to rely on precedent to reject the unconstitutional income tax as well. The income tax has 93 years of precedent and has been affirmed seven times. Not only have voters rejected it every time it’s been on the ballot, but our own court system has ruled it to be out of line with state law.
Governor Bob Ferguson and Senator Jamie Pedersen have said this challenge was all but guaranteed to fail because of prior precedent. They argue prior rulings are written in stone and should not be changed. At the same time, both career politicians are conspiring to rewrite the constitution and eliminate decades of precedent to get their income tax.
This ruling states that the people cannot challenge via referendum any tax imposed by the legislature, removing any guardrails from the people on runaway spending. Governor Ferguson and Senator Pedersen now have a blank check to spend beyond their means and raise taxes later, and the people don’t get to weigh in.”
Let’s Go Washington is continuing to explore every option available to the people to ensure that their voices are heard on the unconstitutional income tax.