OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The validity of Washington’s natural gas initiative that passed last November will be in the hands of the state Supreme Court.
The Seattle Times reports that Chief Justice Debra Stephens says the high court will hear the case instead of transferring it to the Court of Appeals.
My Bellingham Now previously reported that King County and the City of Seattle were among a coalition that filed a lawsuit to challenge the initiative.
It prohibits the government from passing laws to discourage the use of natural gas and requires utilities to provide the service to anyone who wants it.
The lawsuit alleges that backers of the initiative combined several unrelated proposals to get them approved by voters who support keeping access to natural gas.
But Brian Heywood, founder of conservative PAC Let’s Go Washington which backed the initiative, says the language on the initiative was necessary for accuracy.
“They’ve embedded in the law so many different places, little captions that take away the ability to protect access to natural gas, that we had to go and sort of cite all of those places,” Heywood told MBN over the phone. “And if you don’t cite them, it still gives the state the opportunity to ban natural gas.”
The Supreme Court has not scheduled a hearing on the initiative yet.
