The Washington State Supreme Court is holding the state
legislature in contempt of court for failing to make enough progress toward
meeting the education funding goals set by the court in an earlier case. The
Seattle Times reports the September 11
decision gives the legislature until the end of the 2015 legislative session to
do better, and the court promises to consider sanctions against the legislature
if the progress is inadequate.
In the decision, the court promises
to revisit the issue next year. “If by the adjournment of the 2015 legislative
session the state has not purged the contempt by complying with the court’s
order, the court will reconvene to impose sanctions and other remedial measures
as necessary,” the decision states. At issue is whether the state has made
enough progress toward fully funding education as required by the court in its
landmark 2012 decision in McCleary v. State of Washington.
At the contempt hearing earlier in September, the justices
were publicly mulling over steps they could take to generate billions more in
education dollars. The Seattle Post Intelligencer reported that the judges
expressed impatience with the state legislature’s efforts to meet the court’s
demands in McCleary.
To create more state revenue for education, Justice Charles
Johnson
offered the suggestion that the justices could declare every state tax exemption
unconstitutional, according to the Intelligencer. He estimated that this could increase
state revenue by $30 billion, which he said was more than enough to pay for
basic education for the state’s public school children. The state’s solicitor
general responded that such a move would be efficient, but probably not
constitutional, according to the article.
Washington is not the only state wrestling with a school
finance lawsuit. As of last December, the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL) identified nine
states (including Connecticut) in the midst of litigation
challenging state school financing systems.
