By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — The state Senate has failed to reach the required vote threshold to send voters a constitutional amendment asking if they want the prohibition of a state income tax enshrined in the state Constitution.
Senate Joint Resolution 8204 failed in the Republican-led chamber Tuesday because 27 senators voted in support, short of the 33 votes needed.
Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote in the Senate and House before they can be sent to the ballot for a public vote.
Washington is one of seven states without a state personal income tax. The others are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New Hampshire and Tennessee have a limited income tax on interest and dividends, but they do not tax wages and salaries.
Many Democrats criticized the vote as a distraction as lawmakers approached a Wednesday deadline to get most bills voted off the floor of the chamber they originated in to keep them alive.
Lawmakers also still are struggling to reach an agreement on how to best comply with a state Supreme Court ruling that requires them to fully fund basic education as they craft a new two-year operating budget.
The current 105-day legislative session is scheduled to end near the end of April.
“The biggest task we have in front of us today is funding our schools and balancing our budget, and this resolution is divisive and it’s not moving us forward on either of those goals,” said Democratic Sen. Christine Rolfes of Bainbridge Island.
Voters last considered a statewide income tax in 2010, overwhelmingly defeating a measure that would have taxed the top 1 percent of the state’s earners.
Republicans argued that the measure was needed to ensure that lawmakers respect the will of the voters.
“This sends a clear message to the taxpayer that we have heard what they said: They want to keep their money,” said Republican Sen. Phil Fortunato of Auburn. “They don’t want an income tax.”
Two Democrats — Sens. Steve Hobbs and Mark Mullet — crossed party lines to vote with the Senate majority of 24 Republicans and one Democrat who exclusively caucuses with them, Sen. Tim Sheldon.
Kevin Van De Wege — a Sequim Democrat who represents the 24th District, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County — voted against the resolution.
The last time Washington voters approved an income tax was in 1932, but the measure was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court the following year.
