It Will Never Be Enough - Part III

On November 1st I posted a follow up piece predicting that when the State Supreme Court finally got around to analyzing the legislature's last session budgetary increase for public schools as an answer to the McCleary decision, it would never be enough, and explained why in my reply to a legislator's boastings. Now that the court has announced it's decision, I've been vindicated!

If you go back to that post titled, "It Will Never Be Enough - Part II" and read it, you'll learn the reasons I told this legislator in the State House. I thought it was interesting that he never replied with any kind of retort or defense. With this news coming out this week, I was very tempted a few times over the last two days to send him either an email, or text message, saying, "I told you so!", but resisted that temptation to wag my finger in his face about it. I suspect that most likely he knew that what I said was correct and realized this would only piss him off all the more. Now that it's been validated, AND with the outcome of our recent election which has turned control of the State Senate over to the Democrats - thereby giving the whole government, Senate, House & Governor's office, control by liberals in the state - he's all too aware of how much of a fix he's now in as a Republican, come the next legislative session in 2018.

Having listened to the talk show host Todd Herman on one of the local radio channels explain why he believes the stage is now being set for a state income tax - something the voters have soundly rejected multiple times on state referendums - I tend to believe he's making sense that odds are now in favor of it happening within the next few years. The key to whether this will happen will be the test case in the State Supreme Court which will come from the City of Seattle. It is now considering a proposal of a city only income tax. However, the state's constitution clearly does not allow this unless such a tax is applied state wide. 

Herman believes that, based on the Supreme Courts' more recent decisions such as the "Hirst" issue having to do with rejecting an old 1945 water rights law protecting property owners in rural areas of the state as outdated, and the McCleary decision which tells the legislature how to conduct their funding for education - something which is clearly NOT within the powers of the State's Supreme Court - and fining the legislature on top of it to the tune of $100,000/day until they're satisfied they've "adequately funded" education, they will more than likely choose to regard any case which will eventually come before them to be acceptable and decide in favor of the heavily liberal dominated urban center of the state; Seattle.

I would be delighted if this turns out to be wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. Can you imagine how oppressive it will be to live in this state if we not only have a massive tax increase from the recently passed initiative called Prop. 1 - a.k.a. ST3 (Sound Transit 3) to pay for a boondoggle of a rapid transit expansion, on top of a state income tax? In my retirement on a fixed income I will, at that point be forced to take Billy Joel's advice from the lyrics of his hit song, "I'm movin' out!"