(Continued from page 4)

complished by constitutional amendment approved in 1898. These two forms of direct legislation, first actually used in 1908, rest on the theory that since the legislature may not always adequately represent them, the people should be able to pass laws they desire and nullify laws they oppose. In 1972 the state constitution was amended to allow constitutional changes by initiative as well. In 1988 the state's voters changed the state constitution once again. This time voters eliminated a requirement that an initiative be submitted to the legislature for approval before placement on the ballot. Almost from the beginning of statehood, the citizens of our state have worked to protect their right to take an issue directly to the people through the process of Referrals or Initiated Laws.
• Laws passed by the State Legislature which requires any appropriations require a 2/3 vote.  The proponents of this change believe the same standard should apply to voters and a 2/3 vote should be required. However, protecting the rights of the majority of voters is the very basis of democracy. This is the basic difference between democratic government of-the-people and representative government of-the-legislature. We should never make laws which make it harder for the voice of the people to speak through the ballot box.  I spoke against this in our State Taxation Committee and was the lone vote against it because I believe it diminishes the power of the voters to ultimately decide the fate of laws passed by our legislature. 
• Private School Tax Breaks Could Cost Schools $43 million
• This Session is typical in that around 500 laws have been submitted for our consideration. Some of these proposals originate from committees or state agencies.  Some are merely "cleaning up" antiquated language or practices. Some are such good ideas that legislators honestly have to say, "I wish I'd thought of that!" Some of these laws are just bad ideas.  One such bad idea is HB 1173-a proposed property tax rebate to offset the cost of private schools or home schooling.
• For each child in a family who is 5-18 years of age, the property tax payer would get a significant discount on their bill. The benefit would be calculated at 80 percent of the per-student allocation-around $3,700 per child-so most qualifying families would end up paying no property taxes to public education. If an affluent family owns multiple homes or rental properties, and they have several children, they may be able to avoid school property taxes on several properties.
• An estimate of the preliminary cost of this program would be $43 million.  It's unclear whether or not each school district would have funds subtracted in the same proportion as the private school rebate or if ALL other taxpayers would be assessed more to make up the difference. With the state legislators failing to adequately fund public education, and public schools taking a collective $127 million dollar cut in

(Continued on page 6)