New law could affect the way voters in WA decide on ballot initiatives - The Olympian
A new law could change the way some Washingtonians decide to vote for an initiative that will appear on November’s ballot.
House Bill 1876 requires any state initiative that would repeal levies or modify taxes to include an impact disclosure in the ballot title. Investments that would be affected by the measure must also be included.
The bill goes into effect in June.
Recent surveys completed in early April by Public Policy Polling used the approved ballot title for the “Repeal the Capital Gains Income Tax” initiative that will appear in November:
“Initiative Measure No. 1929 concerns taxes. This measure would repeal a 7% excise tax on annual capital-gains above $250,000 by individuals from the sale/exchange of stocks and certain other capital assets (the tax exempts real estate and retirement accounts).”
Polling among 553 Washington voters using the full ballot title showed that only 40 percent of voters surveyed would vote favorably on Initiative 1929, while 39 percent would vote no, and another 20 percent were unsure. Seniors and those who politically identify as “independent” were most likely to be opposed.
A second survey included the full ballot title as well as the financial impact statement that is now required by the new law:
“This measure would decrease funding for education, early learning, child care and school construction.”
The second survey was polled among 572 voters in Washington and found that adding the financial impact statement had a significant difference on the way people said they would vote, with yes votes decreasing to 37 percent, 49 percent who said they would vote no, and 14 percent said they were unsure. All age groups and political affiliations were more opposed to the measure when adding the impact statement.
Civic Ventures funded the poll, and Jack Sorensen, a political consultant who works with the organization, said the survey shows that voters don’t want to “gut education funding.”
“Because of this new ballot transparency mechanism that ensures voters know what programs they care about are funded and how they’re funded by certain initiatives, voters are even more skeptical of this cynical ploy to cut taxes for the super rich,” Sorensen told McClatchy Tuesday.
However, the approved ballot title is already being challenged in court by the political action committee behind I-1929, and by J. Vander Stoep, a lawyer from Chehalis only identified on court documents as a Washington voter.
“The Attorney General’s proposed ballot title and ballot measure summary also create prejudice against the initiative measure by cherry-picking two exemptions that benefit opponents of the measure,” the appeal said. “The reference to two exemptions in the ballot title is misleading because it gives the impression that these two exemptions are the entire universe of credits, deductions, and exemptions from this tax.”
The appeal also noted that labeling the capital gains tax “as an excise tax is especially concerning given the definition is at issue in ongoing litigation.”
The capital gains tax passed the legislature in 2021 amid criticism that the tax is unconstitutional because it is a tax on income, which is prohibited in Washington state. Writers of the legislation were aware at the time that the bill would face significant legal battles, but contended that a capital gains tax is an excise tax.
Funding from the capital gains tax would go into the state Education Legacy Trust Account. The remainder would go into the Common School Construction Account.
In March a Douglas County Superior Court Judge ruled that the capital gains tax is “properly characterized as an income tax” and rejected the state’s argument that the tax is an excise tax. The state has acknowledged that the case will likely have to be resolved in the Washington Supreme Court.
Political consultants behind I-1929 were also involved in the Grocery Manufacturers Association I-522 campaign in 2013, where they violated campaign finance laws by not disclosing donors for their initiative. Those violations resulted in the largest campaign finance fines in U.S. history, totaling $18 million. The Washington Supreme Court recently upheld those fines after GMA appealed them in court.
The PAC could not be reached for comment.
Wealthy donors already have donated more than $259,000 to the campaign focused on repealing the capital gains tax, with an additional $420,000 in pledges.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 12:43 PM.
source: https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article260388562.html
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