Washington state House Dems, led by freshman Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma), introduced HB 2078 yesterday, a bill that would narrow a tax exemption for mortgage lenders and eliminate the sales tax exemption for out-of-state shoppers, using the revenue generated to fund early education. According to the Olympian the measure would restore about $170 million of the $191 million the House recently cut from a program that reduces class sizes in grades K-3.

Which is great and all that. I love the fact that 11 freshmen took the lead on this bill, and that at last count nearly the entire Democratic caucus has signed on. But it really amounts to little more than a feel-good symbolic gesture unless the Dems grow some balls and do what it takes to make this proposal a reality.

So how do the Dems enact this bill in the face of the two-thirds supermajority requirement currently in place under Tim Eyman's constitutionally questionable I-1053? Well, they could refer this or some other revenue package to voters, which I'm guessing is not entirely out of the question, though still unlikely considering the utter lack of boldness we've seen from the caucus this session. Or they could use this worthy (and I'd wager popular) proposal as an opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of I-1053 once and for all.

Here's how it works: Gov. Gregoire leaves the state for a day on some sort of personal or public business, thus handing the keys to the governor's mansion over to Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. This in turn removes Owen from his role as President of the Senate, replacing him with President pro Tempore Margarita Prentice. The Senate now passes a version of this bill on a simple majority vote, which Prentice affirms based on her interpretation that I-1053 is unconstitutional. Gregoire then returns to the state and retakes the reins, the bill goes to the House, where it too is passed on a simple majority vote, affirmed by Speaker Frank Chopp, who hands it on to the governor for signing. She does.

Next come the lawsuits, which is okay, since we want to bring this bullshit two-thirds requirement before the state Supreme Court, where most constitutional scholars believe it will likely be tossed out. The tax loopholes are closed, our children are educated, and we're finally done with Eyman's biennial for-profit two-thirds initiatives. Case closed.

But of course, that scenario would require the Dems in Olympia to finally grow a pair of balls. So good luck with that.