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Washington Supreme Court Invalidates Natural Gas Initiative
Confirmed
In Short: The Washington Supreme Court has struck down Initiative 2066, a voter-approved measure that aimed to protect access to natural gas, in a 6-3 decision Thursday.
The initiative, approved by 51% of voters in November 2024, was invalidated because it violated Washington’s constitutional requirement that a bill or initiative contain only one subject.
The court identified four separate subjects within the initiative: protecting access to natural gas, restricting local air-quality authorities, changing statewide building-code requirements, and repealing the severability provision of the state’s Decarbonization Act.
Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, writing for the majority, stated that the initiative was effectively a collection of separate policies involving utilities, natural gas, local government authority, building and energy codes, and decarbonization requirements.
Justice Mary McFarland, in her opinion, emphasized that Article II, section 19 forbids combining separate subjects in a single bill or initiative, requiring instead that distinct subjects be enacted separately.
Justice Charles Wiggins dissented, arguing that the central purpose of I-2066 was protecting Washingtonians’ access to natural gas, and that the initiative’s various provisions were rationally connected to that goal.
Wiggins maintained that the unconstitutional portions could be severed, and that the court should not strike down an initiative based simply on incidental effects or policy changes.
Greg Lane, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, which drafted the initiative, said, “I think that the court has really stepped into the legislative process and changed it.”
Lane argued that the initiative addressed consumers’ protections broadly, along with their choice to use natural gas, and that the measure aligned with past rulings on the single-subject rule by the Supreme Court.
The initiative would have blocked regulators from approving utility rate plans that ended or restricted natural gas service, or made it prohibitively expensive, and removed several zero-emission goals from state law.
The Building Industry Association of Washington and Let’s Go Washington, a conservative political committee, partnered to collect the signatures needed to put the initiative on the ballot.
However, the initiative never took effect after lawyers for Climate Solutions, Front and Centered, Washington Conservation Action, the City of Seattle, and King County filed a lawsuit.
The court did not rule on every constitutional challenge raised against the initiative, focusing instead on the single-subject rule.
What this adds
The decision adds to the ongoing debate over the constitutionality of voter initiatives in Washington state, particularly those that address multiple policy areas.
The sources have not established the exact timeline for any potential legal challenges or appeals following the Supreme Court's decision.
Background
The Washington Supreme Court has struck down Initiative 2066, which sought to protect access to natural gas, ruling it violated the state Constitution by combining multiple subjects.
What's confirmed
- The initiative, approved by 51% of voters in November 2024, was invalidated because it violated Washington’s constitutional requirement that a bill or initiative contain only one subject.
- The court identified four separate subjects within the initiative: protecting access to natural gas, restricting local air-quality authorities, changing statewide building-code requirements, and repealing the severability provision of the state’s Decarbonization Act.
- Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, writing for the majority, stated that the initiative was effectively a collection of separate policies involving utilities, natural gas, local government authority, building and energy codes, and decarbonization requirements.
- Justice Mary McFarland, in her opinion, emphasized that Article II, section 19 forbids combining separate subjects in a single bill or initiative, requiring instead that distinct subjects be enacted separately.
- Justice Charles Wiggins dissented, arguing that the central purpose of I-2066 was protecting Washingtonians’ access to natural gas, and that the initiative’s various provisions were rationally connected to that goal.
- Wiggins maintained that the unconstitutional portions could be severed, and that the court should not strike down an initiative based simply on incidental effects or policy changes.
- Lane argued that the initiative addressed consumers’ protections broadly, along with their choice to use natural gas, and that the measure aligned with past rulings on the single-subject rule by the Supreme Court.
- The initiative would have blocked regulators from approving utility rate plans that ended or restricted natural gas service, or made it prohibitively expensive, and removed several zero-emission goals from state law.
- The Building Industry Association of Washington and Let’s Go Washington, a conservative political committee, partnered to collect the signatures needed to put the initiative on the ballot.
- However, the initiative never took effect after lawyers for Climate Solutions, Front and Centered, Washington Conservation Action, the City of Seattle, and King County filed a lawsuit.
- The court did not rule on every constitutional challenge raised against the initiative, focusing instead on the single-subject rule.
What's still developing
- The 6-3 decision Thursday invalidates Initiative 2066 in its entirety.
- Mungia wrote that Washington courts are required to presume initiatives are constitutional and interpret them in a way that preserves their validity when possible.
- Mungia specifically argued that the majority failed to give the initiative the constitutionally required presumption of validity.
- “Although, as members of the judiciary, we at times may not agree with the policies behind an initiative, it is our job to maintain and uphold the law,” Mungia wrote in his dissent.
- I-2066 was divided into more than a dozen sections, targeting several state policies aimed at moving buildings and utilities away from natural gas.
- One provision would have rolled back changes to the state energy code that give builders permitting incentives for installing electric heat pumps, which provide both heating and cooling, instead of natural gas furnaces.
- Other provisions would have repealed portions of a 2024 state law designed to accelerate Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas.
- Source: BIAW In a 6-3 decision, the justices affirmed a lower court ruling, finding Initiative 2066 “unconstitutional in its entirety” because it runs afoul of a provision limiting citizen initiatives to no more than one subject.
- He argued he would find the initiative constitutional after removing three sections that “silently amend the law” in a way that voters could not understand their impact.
- “Courts are required to construe initiatives in favor of constitutionality when possible,” he wrote.