H-3767.1          _______________________________________________

                            HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 4233

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

By Representatives Rust, Prentice, Brekke, Valle, Fraser, G. Cole, Leonard, Nelson and Anderson

Read first time 01/20/92.  Referred to Committee on Revenue.Amending the Constitution to require that state and local taxes taken as a whole are not regressive.

     The Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington resolve as follows:

     The Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington recognize that many Washington residents and businesses believe that the current tax system is unfair and regressive.  The purpose of this constitutional amendment is to require that people of low, middle, and high income pay, relative to their income, the same percentage of tax.  Voters should be given the opportunity to choose between the current tax system and a tax system the burden of which is distributed fairly across all levels of income.

     THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

     THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article VII, section ... of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

      Article VII, section ... .  (1) The total effect of the state and local tax system shall not be regressive.  The tax system shall be designed and administered to ensure that, taken as a whole, an individual's tax burden relative to the individual's income is proportionally commensurate with the next individual's tax burden.

     (2) The legislature shall implement this section by providing tax rates, schedules, exemptions, deferrals, deductions, and credits so they the requirements of subsection (1) of this section are met.  The legislature may place requirements or conditions on state and local political divisions as are necessary to ensure compliance with this section.

     (3) The department of revenue or its successor agency shall enforce and administer the law to meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.