Arguments made in front the WA Supreme Court on Wednesday
said "lawmakers went too far" last year when they "declared the
need for a new Mariners stadium a public emergency," according to
Heath Foster of the Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE. But "whether the
arguments will convince the high court to void the state law
creating" the $320M stadium was less clear. The court could
instead grant the opponents' request to give 90 days to gather
signatures to force a statewide referendum on the ballpark
legislation. After King County voters defeated a measure to
finance a new ballpark last September, the legislature agreed to
build a stadium through a public/private partnership. To meet a
deadline, lawmakers inserted an emergency clause into the law
stating "this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of
the public peace, health, safety or support of the state
government." That clause "eliminated the standard 90-day window
for citizen challenges that follows enactment of a law," and the
opposition argued the "illusory threat" from the team should not
have prevented the public's right to vote (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE,
5/16).
