Todd Myers points out the governor has already vetoed one such unnecessary emergency clause on SB 5577. He says that was a good precedent and there are other opportunities

Todd Myers
Washington Policy Center

According to some in the state legislature, the state faces an emergency that requires legislation that immediately increases taxes on Tesla (because they have been too effective meeting the state’s electric vehicle sales requirements).

The state also faces an emergency that requires adopting a law to rescind parts of the Parents’ Bill of Rights initiative that was overwhelmingly adopted by the legislature (and some of the legislators who are now trying to overturn it) just last year.

Both of these bills, and many others, include sections called emergency clauses that read, “This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect…” Despite the name, the real reason for these supposed emergencies is not that the state faces some immediate threat. Legislation that includes an emergency clause can only be repealed using an initiative, which requires twice as many signatures as a referendum to put on the ballot for the voters to keep or reject. Referenda also face fewer legal challenges because they consist of a simple up or down vote on a piece of legislation.

In the case of the Tesla tax and rescinding the Parents’ Bill of Rights, the emergency clauses are almost certainly to make it more difficult for the voters to have their say by making it more difficult to put these pieces of legislation on the ballot.

As bills with emergency clauses reach the governor’s desk, he should use his line-time veto power to remove them when their purpose is clearly to make it more difficult for voters to have their say.

This session there are dozens of bills that include this language.

In some cases there is a more straightforward justification for the clauses. In some cases the purpose is to have the bill take effect earlier than the typical 90 days after session ends (which would be July 27 this year) at the beginning of the fiscal year, on July 1. For example, the emergency clause in SB 5752 which would modify childcare and early childhood development programs specifically calls for the bill to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Other bills have emergency clauses to take immediate action on a problem. Senate Bill 5169 concerning the testimony of children passed unanimously out of the Senate and takes effect immediately to reduce trauma for children who are forced to testify in court.

Some bills are exempt from referenda, including tax bills that are necessary for the support of the state government and its existing institutions. For example, SB 5794, which raises a wide range of taxes, contains the clause that it is “necessary for the support of the state government and its existing institutions.” Even if the governor vetoed this section, the courts may determine that the existing constitution protection may still apply.

For controversial bills, however, emergency clauses are used to stop the voters from weighing in on bills legislators know are likely to be unpopular.

With so many significant tax and policy decisions being made during this session and with so much economic uncertainty looming, Governor Ferguson should err on the side of giving the voters and opportunity to have their say and, when in doubt, use his line-item veto power to remove emergency clauses.

The governor has already vetoed one such unnecessary emergency clause on SB 5577. That was a good precedent and there are other opportunities.

Here is a partial list of bills with emergency clauses we hope the governor will scrutinize. For many of these, there is simply no good reason not to give voters their say.

Todd Myers is the vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center.

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