Lawsuit Over Tax Initiative Just More of the Same From Olympia

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Shortly after the last election and another tax-limiting initiative, I-1366, passed, I mused that there would most likely be a lawsuit.  

It wasn’t much of a stretch after all. This wasn’t the first voter passed tax-limiting initiative to spark a lawsuit and get overturned after it passed.

Sure enough, according to the  Nov. 26 issue of The Chronicle, it looks like opponents have done just that. And the group suing includes two Democratic legislators.

Of course it does. 

I’m sure they have noble intentions and are only doing it for our own good.

It would just be so much easier if legislators could simply control their spending habits, and special interests (and in many cases the same voters) would stop asking for more free stuff.  

Shoot, on the national level, the Democrats can’t stop promising more free stuff, like free college tuition, to every campus they come across.  

You’d think adults, especially educated one, would understand what they are really saying; free to you but someone else has to work to pay for it.

The courts have already signaled they would hear this, so I’m sure it will be overturned.  

In my opinion, they have no intention of letting voters have a say using initiatives. The court has overturned several of them in recent years. 

The latest was the charter school initiative 1266, passed in 2012.

What’s so troubling is their logic, and the logic of too many elected legislators here and in the other Washington; no state money can be used on these charter schools.

State money?  

The state doesn’t have state money; it has taxpayers money, which only becomes state money because it’s taken under penalty of law.  

Maybe they could just stop taking it, and let us write a check to the school we choose to send our children too?

I’m sure that would be unconstitutional too.

The irony here is this same Supreme Court has demanded the Legislature pay more to fund the same public school system, run the same way, with often disappointing results.  



Despite evidence in some places that charter and private schools can do a better job, the stranglehold by teacher unions seem to keep any meaningful changes from happening. 

And meaningful change is what’s needed.

Our “no new taxes, we have enough to fund our government” candidate for governor, but changed his mind as governor, Jay Inslee said after the courts refused to reconsider their decision “I opposed the initiative that created charter schools because I did not believe that public money belongs in schools that lack public oversight and accountability. That remains my position.”

Public oversight and accountability would be great, except there is way too little of that in Olympia, too.

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As I enjoyed Thanksgiving with part of my family this year, I couldn’t help but think about the world my grandchildren have to grow up in.  

It’s so much different and more evil than mine or even my children lived with. 

There is much to be concerned about.

But there is also much to be hopeful and thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

Like the local churches, Salvation Army and other organizations whose volunteers provided a Thanksgiving meal, fellowship and support for those who need it.  

People volunteering at food banks, and Society of St. Vincent De Paul centers, handing out food and personal items to needy, and the generous folks who donate to organizations like that. 

Many provide those services all year.

There are many other notable organizations and local people here giving us even more reasons to be hopeful; too many to name in this limited space. 

We are fortunate, but given all the bad news these days, it is easy to forget it.

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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis, and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@yahoo.com.