an analytical view of recent lending of credit decisions in.pdfVIP

An Analytical View of Recent Lending of Credit Decisions in Washington State Hugh Spitzer* I. INTRODUCTION Sections 51 and 72 of article VIII of the Washington State Constitution, concerning gifts or loans by the state and its sub- divisions, have been a source of confusion to the courts and frus- tration to the sponsors of governmental programs. One recent Washington Supreme Court opinion referred to [t]he presence of inconsistent analyses or exceptions regarding article VIII, sections 5 and 7,3 and another noted the erratic decisions and the unjustified interpretation of the intent of the drafters with respect to those constitutional provisions.4 The Washington Supreme Court and commentators recently have attempted to simplify or integrate the law concerning arti- cle VIII, sections 5 and 7, seeking to develop a single rule or formula for applying the two provisions-a flexible rule or formula that would enable the court to permit a wider range of * B.A., Yale University, 1970; J.D., University of Washington, 1974; LL.M., Univer- sity of California, 1982. Mr. Spitzer is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Puget Sound School of Law and practices municipal and public finance law with Roberts Shefelman, Seat- tle, Washington. The author expresses his thanks to Joni Ostergaard of Roberts Shefelman and to David Hansen, third-year student at the University of Puget Sound, for their helpful com