Over the past year, a grassroots movement has taken place in Washington State seeking more common sense in our state government. Voters are frustrated with elected officials – as demonstrated by the nearly 2 million signatures supporting the current initiatives.
A lack of money is not the problem in Olympia. State revenues have more than doubled in the past decade. At the same time, the legislature has removed consumer options on significant items such as long-term care (LTC) insurance and how we heat our homes and businesses. Like the higher taxes, removing these options is already costing residents more money, and the price will rapidly increase in the future if the special interest groups are successful in defeating these citizens’ initiatives.
Here’s my take on the four initiatives.
Vote yes on Initiative 2109 – Repeal the Capital Gains Tax, stop future state income tax
Since the Capital Gains Tax was passed during the 2021 legislative session, The Seattle Times reports that an incredible 13,300 households with annual income of more than $200,000 have fled the state.
Those fleeing Washington are entrepreneurs, small business owners, and corporate leaders. These are the people who create jobs and local tax revenues. Their departures reduce economic opportunities for others and will cause governments to increase taxes on those remaining to compensate for the lost revenue.
The capital gains tax is a backdoor income tax, and it will almost certainly be extended to more taxpayers (despite voters previously rejecting an income tax 10 times). In fact, a bill has already been introduced to expand the tax to any resident who earns more than $1.
Vote yes on I-2109 to keep opportunities and jobs in Washington and to oppose a state income tax.
Vote yes on I-2066 – Stop the gas ban, increase affordable options
While Washington is last in the country for housing availability (more than one million homes are needed) and housing costs are denying residents the opportunity to build financial equity in their homes, the ban on clean natural gas will increase the cost of new homes and force many (mostly seniors on fixed incomes) to pay up to $70,000 to retrofit their older homes to electric.
This ban also hurts those who don’t use natural gas. By removing natural gas as an energy source, we are placing more pressure on our region’s overburdened energy grid. Demand for other energy sources will increase, causing higher energy rates for all consumers.
Housing costs are often cited as a significant factor in our region’s homelessness crisis, as thousands are suffering on our streets. This ban increases housing construction costs and thus exacerbates the affordability issue.
This ban will also impact many small businesses. Restaurants could face hefty kitchen remodeling expenses. After all the troubles these establishments faced during the 975 days of COVID restrictions and with rising labor costs, this expense could mean the closure of many more of our favorite gathering places.
Vote yes to remove the ban. Reduce the cost of housing and keep many long-time restaurants open.
Vote yes on Initiative 2124 – Provide workers with Long-Term Care insurance choices
If I-2124 passes, Washington workers will be able to choose between WA Cares (the state government’s already financially troubled Long-Term Care insurance plan), multiple private LTC plans, or no long-term insurance plan at all – whatever people believe will fit their long-term health and financial needs. Yet if it fails, all Washington workers will be forced to buy the state’s LTC plan, which nearly all experts agree needs to raise its premium rates to stay solvent significantly.
We should note that Washington is the only state that has sought to remove LTC choices from its residents. Not even California has forced this expensive plan and growing tax on its workers.
The supporters of WA Cares need voters to forget important facts about the plan to succeed with their NO campaign. Besides rates needing to rise dramatically to keep WA Cares solvent, rarely is it mentioned that benefits run out after a few weeks. Thus the insurance plan Washington workers were forced to buy will be useless as the medical bills keep coming in. Also, there are still thousands of Washington workers who will be forced to pay the tax yet will be ineligible to draw benefits.
A yes vote will give all workers the right to choose their LTC needs, whether it is run by the government, private companies, or no plan at all.
Vote yes on Initiative 2117 – Repeal the hidden regressive gas tax
When Governor Jay Inslee’s controversial Climate Commitment Act was enacted at the start of 2023, Washington residents were forced to pay one of the most regressive taxes created in our state’s history. While people in every income bracket are now paying 40 cents more for a gallon of gas due to the carbon tax, high-income earners receive tax breaks to purchase $100,000 electric cars.
Not only does the carbon tax place more of a financial burden on lower income individuals, it incorporates a very inefficient method for tackling climate change. For those of us concerned about our future environment, we want our resources to go towards projects that will efficiently make a positive impact.
Yet with the Climate Act, a very political process determines how this tax revenue is spent. The 23 unelected members of the Environmental Justice Council (including 16 representing special interest groups) determine how the billions are spent. Political bartering (“You support my project, and I will support yours.”)deciding whose pet projects are funded. That’s the wrong way to allocate resources.
A yes vote will send this back to the legislature to find more effective solutions for solving environmental challenges.
