The Law As It Presently Exists

Washington law charges a sales tax on most retail sales made in the state. Generally, a retail sale is the sale of goods or services, but there are certain exceptions defined by law. There are also certain goods and services that are exempt from the retail sales tax, such as most groceries, over the counter and prescription drugs, and newspapers. The state retail sales tax is currently 6.5% of the selling price on each retail sale. This rate does not include local sales taxes that may also be charged by cities, counties, and other taxing jurisdictions.

Another state law provides that most fees charged by the government are allowed only if they are approved by more than half of the members of each house of the legislature.

The Washington State Constitution states that no bill may become law unless it receives a yes vote by more than half of the members of each house of the legislature. The Washington State Supreme Court has explained that this voting requirement cannot be changed by a regular law. This means that neither the legislature, nor the people through the initiative process, can pass a law that requires more votes in order for certain types of bills to pass. The only way to increase the number of votes needed for a bill to become a law is to amend the constitution.

The constitution can only be amended if two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature vote to propose the amendment. The amendment must then be approved by a majority of the voters at the next general election.

The Effect of the Proposed Measure If Approved

This measure would cut the state retail sales tax from 6.5% to 5.5% on April 15, 2016, unless the legislature first proposes a specific amendment to the state constitution. The proposed amendment must require that for any tax increase, either the voters approve the increase or two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature approve the increase. It must also require the legislature to set the amount of any fee increases.

If the legislature proposes the constitutional amendment before April 15, 2016, then the state retail sales tax would stay at 6.5%.

If the legislature does not propose the constitutional amendment and the state retail sales tax is reduced to 5.5%, that would cut the amount of taxes that individuals and businesses pay for goods and services. It would also lower the State’s revenue for government services.

The measure would also define “raises taxes” and “majority legislative approval for fee increases” as those phrases are used in state law.