In a ruling by a Seattle Judge on Friday, we lost the first round of the battle to protect I-2066. The Inslee-appointed Superior Court Judge, with Jay Inslee in the audience, ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s argument that the initiative violated the single-subject rule. This violation, according to the Judge, meant people were confused when voting for the initiative.
This is a setback, but the fight is not over. The Building Industry Association of Washington Executive Vice President Greg Lane had this to say following the ruling, “We will not back away from the fight to ensure the will of the people who voted to make I-2066 law stands. We will continue to use every avenue available, including appealing to the state Supreme Court, to protect energy choice for the people of Washington. Those who want to ban natural gas are trying to force their minority view on the majority of Washingtonians. I fully expect we will prevail at the Supreme Court.”
NWHPBA and HPBA remain committed to the battle to preserve energy choice and the ability to use natural gas in Washington State. It is important to remember that a) natural gas is not yet banned in the state and b) the people of the state DO want to preserve natural gas. The single-subject rule is the only argument they had.
This will not be done until the State Supreme Court rules — and even then, be ready to keep fighting.
