BILL REQ. #:  H-4440.1 

Read first time 01/22/10.   Referred to Committee on Finance.

     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 the secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article VII of the Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new section to read as follows:

     Article VII, section .... (1) The legislature may enact taxes imposed on or measured by net income as defined by the legislature. The legislature may not increase the rates of tax established in the act initially adopting an income tax unless the increase is submitted to the qualified electors of the state and is approved by at least sixty percent of the electors voting thereon.
     (2) Income is not property within the meaning of this article, and a tax on income is not a tax on property.
     (3) The legislature may by law coordinate the administration and collection of state income taxes with the income tax laws, regulations, and procedures of the United States. The legislature may adopt by reference any federal statutes relating to federal income taxes, including future amendments thereto.
     (4) Any bill that includes an exemption from tax, an exclusion or deduction from the base of a tax, a credit against a tax, a deferral of tax, or a preferential rate of tax shall not become law unless approved by at least a sixty percent majority vote of the members of each house voting thereon, or by an initiative or referendum approved by the people pursuant to the powers reserved by the people under Article II, section 1 of this Constitution. This subsection does not apply to exemptions, exclusions, deductions, deferrals, or preferential rates adopted as part of the act initially imposing a tax.

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