Hold the political panic in the special session

Legislatures produce good laws when they deliberate. That requires time – time for study, hearings, debates and committee votes.

But the special session convening Thursday isn’t intended to deliberate. Its outcome is fixed: the reinstatement of Initiative 747 and its 1 percent cap on annual property tax collections. And, not incidentally, the protection of Democrats from the backlash against the high court ruling that struck down the initiative.

We hope somebody in Olympia shows some common sense.

There’s nothing wrong with a tight cap on property taxes. The problem with Tim Eyman’s I-747 is that its 1 percent cap ignores the effects of inflation.

That’s fine for local governments that may have other revenue sources, fat to cut or plenty of new real estate coming onto the tax rolls. It’s not fine for governments – like fire districts – that are heavily dependent on property taxes and struggling to provide essential public services in the face of the initiative’s one-size-fits-all cap.

That can be a big deal when someone has a heart attack and the closest aid crew is tied up elsewhere without backup.

The stampede to re-enact I-747 is largely driven by its 58 percent victory in 2001 and the perception that the voters want the across-the-board 1 percent and nothing else.

But the voters weren’t given much of a choice that year. They either had to stick with the old 6 percent-a-year maximum – which typically far outpaced inflation – or go for the 1 percent. Nothing more reasonable was on the ballot. It’s not surprising I-747 won big.

But Washington’s lawmakers do have a real choice.

They ought to adopt a temporary 1 percent cap. That would prevent spendthrift local officials from exploiting the old 6 percent lid, which was clearly repudiated by the electorate.

But they shouldn’t re-enshrine the economic idiocy of I-747 in a political panic. The details of a permanent tax cap can wait for the regular session, when there will be time to come up with a policy that is smart and not merely expedient.

For example: A 1 percent cap for wealthier jurisdictions and an inflation-linked cap for others, especially fire districts. There’s been some talk of this in the state Senate; we hope it isn’t squelched in the rush to appease a supposedly enraged public.

Lawmakers should also ignore a new demand from Tim Eyman and now Dino Rossi, Gregoire’s likely opponent for re-election. They want the Legislature to go beyond I-747 and forbid local governments from using their “banked” tax authority. This authority allows them to forego an increase in one year while retaining the option to collect it later. The idea is to encourage them not to tax to the max every year.

I-747 didn’t forbid banking under the 1 percent cap; neither should the House and Senate.

I-747 was a mistake when the voters approved it. It still is. Instead of perpetuating that mistake, Washington’s lawmakers should do what they were elected to do: Think it through. Do it right.

I-747 was a mistake when the voters approved it. It still is. Instead of perpetuating that mistake, Washngton’s lawmakers should do what they were elected to do: Think it through. Do it right.