OLYMPIA – The Legislature should honor the “will of the people” and cement the requirement for a supermajority to raise taxes into the state constitution, Republican senators said Thursday. They like the idea so much the Senate has three proposed constitutional amendments with many of the same co-sponsors, and two with the same wording. On Thursday, all three got a hearing before the Senate Government Operations Committee.

OLYMPIA – For most people, an emergency is something that usually requires flashing lights and sirens. For legislators, an emergency is something that requires a law take effect right away, rather than waiting the standard 90 days during which citizens might overturn it. State Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, thinks her fellow legislators have been too quick to call something an emergency, tacking the designation onto nearly 1,000 bills that became law since 1997.

BOISE – Freshman North Idaho Sen. Steve Vick’s proposed constitutional amendment to require two-thirds votes not only for any tax increase but also for any fee hike or the reduction of any tax break was killed in the Idaho House on Thursday. The measure, HJR 1, actually got a bare majority – 37-33 – but not the required two-thirds, or 47 votes, in favor.

The Washington Legislature has given final approval to a constitutional amendment that would give judges more power in denying bail.