In a victory for small businesses, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that Referendum 53 is constitutional and that the election results had to be counted.

Referendum 53 was the Building Industry Association of Washington’s (BIAW) measure to overturn legislation increasing unemployment insurance taxes on small businesses while decreasing them on big businesses. More than 960,000 voters rejected R-53, repealing sections of House Bill 2901, backed by Boeing and passed by the Legislature.

The bill lowered unemployment insurance tax rates for Boeing, Safeway, Wal-Mart and other big businesses while increasing tax rates on 68 percent of the state’s small businesses by $300 million.

BIAW, working in coalition with the National Federation of Independent Business and Independent Business Association, worked hard to ensure the defeat of R-53. The Boeing Company and Gov. Gary Locke both heavily supported passage of R-53, and filed a lawsuit asking the court to throw out the election results.

“The court’s decision to uphold the will of voters on R-53 is a victory not just for small businesses, but for voters and the referendum process,” said BIAW President Randy Gold. “Had the court ruled otherwise, it would have been the end of the referendum process in this state. This entire fight has been a David-Goliath battle.”.