This morning, King County Superior Court Judge Marshall Ferguson granted a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of Initiative 976 while the court determines whether it violates the state Constitution.
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Category: legal
Showdown Tuesday morning in I-976 challenge
Tuesday morning Initiative 976 will face its first test, when a court case challenging its constitutionality has a hearing before a King County Superior Court judge.
Continue readingCity, County file for preliminary injunction to block I-976
This afternoon, the City of Seattle, King County, and the other parties in the recently-filed lawsuit asked a King County Superior Court judge to grant a preliminary injunction blocking Initiative 976 from taking effect. This was an expected move, pre-announced last week when the lawsuit was filed. The motion notes that most sections of I-976 will take effect on December 5th, shortly after the election results are certified. In order to file the lawsuit, the plaintiffs must establish that they have standing to sue. That’s a bit tricky at the moment, since the election results aren’t certified. But the city …
Continue readingCity appeals income tax ruling to state Supreme Court
As expected, yesterday the City of Seattle filed an appeal with the Washington State Supreme Court of the recent appeals court ruling on its income tax ordinance.
Continue readingToday’s State Supreme Court rulings on tenant-protection laws: a deep dive
As I wrote earlier today, this morning the Washington State Supreme Court handed down two rulings related to two of Seattle’s tenant-protection ordinances: the “First in Time” ordinance, and the “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance. Here’s a deeper dive on the cases and the rulings.
Continue readingState Supreme Court finds “First in Time” tenant ordinance constitutional, clears path for “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance
In two landmark rulings this morning, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City of Seattle in two lawsuits related to the city’s “First in Time” and “Fair Chance Housing” tenant protect ordinances.
Continue readingCity, County, several other parties file challenge to Initiative 976
As expected, this afternoon the City of Seattle, King County, and several other parties jointly filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court to challenge Initiative 976. With this, we get a first peek at their legal arguments.
Continue readingCatching up with Rentberry
It’s been several months since we’ve heard anything about the ongoing spat between the City of Seattle and Rentberry, which offers an online platform to facilitate rent-bidding. But since April, the city has extended its moratorium on rent-bidding platforms and finished its study of the impacts of rent-bidding, and Rentberry has appealed its first-round loss of its legal challenge to the moratorium. Let’s catch up on where things stand.
Continue readingWaterfront LID starts to move forward again, maybe
After several months of work, the city is ready to complete the next milestone toward putting the Waterfront LID in place. But one obstacle remains in its path.
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Budget tweaks, service cutbacks, a lawsuit, and more: how the city plans to respond to I-976
This afternoon, Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes held a press conference to lay out their plans for how the City of Seattle is responding to the likely passage of Initiative 976.
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