Last week Democrats were being taken to task by Republicans for passing a law that simply puts into code the common-sense understanding that in a democracy, a minority should not prevail over a majority.

The fuss was about legislation that recognizes and refutes the anti-democratic tilt of Initiative 601. This initiative, which squeezed through with 51 percent support in 1993, limited the provision of public services such as K-12 education, public higher education and health coverage by means of a bar on state spending above an arbitrary equation.

This limitation hamstrung the Legislature and prevented it from adequately funding its paramount constitutional obligation to provide basic education for the children on our state. It also resulted in cutbacks of public services, such as the Basic Health Plan, necessary for our commonly held economic security. Simply put, these arbitrary limitations punctured public services that we have taken for granted as part of the elemental bedrock of our democracy.

I-601 also put into place the authoritarian rule that any public expenditures above this arbitrary cap had to be approved by a two-thirds vote of both the state Senate and the state House of Representatives.

In the past decade, the Legislature, with both Republican and Democratic majorities, has poked enough holes into Initiative 601 to make it more like Swiss cheese than public policy. But the underlying law still remains on the books. So the Democratic majorities are simply being honest about doing away with this anti-democratic measure once and for all, rather than detouring around it when needed.

But the hollers from the Republicans are significant. According to state Sen. Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield), “It’s a sad, sad day for Washington state taxpayers. We shouldn’t be making it easier to raise taxes, we should be making it more difficult.”

Apparently, Zarelli believes that in a democracy, it is perfectly appropriate for a small minority of legislators (17 senators out of 147 legislators – less than 12 percent) to veto constitutionally mandated public services. But that is not democratic decision-making.

In bringing this rule by minority to an end, legislators have corrected a major blemish on our democracy. They have brought common sense to Olympia. Their opponents want to hide behind a rant about I-601 to block the vital delivery of public goods and services that citizens rightfully expect. So let’s move on and talk about the funding of those services – education in particular.

The minority-rule restrictions of I-601 mirror the requirements for school levies that allow a small minority to override the will of the people. In these elections, 59 percent of the vote isn’t enough. Indeed, an even larger majority can be nullified if the vote totals don’t exceed 40 percent of the turnout from the preceding November. This enables a small minority to veto support for the public schools by voting “no” or not even showing up to vote.

The Legislature is trying to fix this as well, by sending a constitutional amendment to the people to vote on that would allow a simple majority for passage of school levies.

This maneuver takes a two-thirds vote of each House. The House has passed the amendment. The Senate can’t muster the votes, thanks to the opposition of Zarelli, who represents parts of Clark, Cowlitz, and Lewis counties, and a handful of other Republicans, including Mike Carrell from Lakewood.

What would these senators say to the students in Morton in Lewis County, where the February maintenance and operations school levy received a 59.78 percent yes vote and lost? Carrell might wonder what he could say to the children in Orting. In the May 2004 election, their school district proposition garnered 57 percent of the vote and failed. Or he might want to talk with the kids in Yelm. In April 2004, the Yelm school levy picked up 59 percent of the vote and failed.

These senators still have time to remedy their actions and inactions. The Legislature will be in business through the end of this week. So the senators blocking the people from voting on a constitutional amendment to allow majority rule for school levies can still rethink their position.

They should. It’s about our children’s education. It’s also about our democracy.

John Burbank, executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute (www.eoionline.org), writes every other Wednesday. Write to him in care of the institute at 1900 Northlake Way, Suite 237, Seattle, WA 98103. His e-mail address is john@eoionline.org.