Washington Initiative 2111, Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative (2024)

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Washington I-2111
Flag of Washington.png
Election date
November 5, 2024
Topic
Taxes
Status
Approved by the legislature
Type
State statute		Origin
Citizens

The Washington Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative is not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature, a type of indirect initiated state statute, on November 5, 2024. The initiative was approved by the legislature.

The ballot initiative prohibited the state and local governments from enacting a personal income tax.[1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the initiative is below:[1]

“ Initiative Measure No. 2111 concerns taxes.

This measure would prohibit the state, counties, cities, and other local jurisdictions from imposing or collecting income taxes, defined as having the same meaning as “gross income” in the Internal Revenue Code.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ] [2]

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for the initiative is below:[1]

“ This measure would prohibit the state, counties, cities, and other local jurisdictions from imposing or collecting income taxes, defined as having the same meaning as “gross income” in the Internal Revenue Code.

[2]

”

Full text

The full text of the measure can be read below.

Support

Let's Go Washington sponsored the initiative, including five others targeting the 2024 ballot.[3]

Supporters

Officials

Organizations

  • Concerned Taxpayers of Washington

Individuals


Arguments

  • State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-19, position 1): "The culture and traditions of this state have always opposed an income tax. I-2111 clarifies state law to reflect our culture and traditions. It states clearly that such taxes are prohibited."
  • State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R-20): "The citizens of this state have continually said no to an income tax, and I think this is another way that they're making sure that the Legislature knows that they're opposed to an income tax.”
  • Washington State House Republicans: "Our state has an affordability crisis. The last thing people need is a new income tax. House Republicans want to fix the affordability crisis. Our priorities/affordability solutions. We know that a state income tax is very unpopular. Washingtonian voters have told us several times over the years they do not want a state income tax. We are listening to them. Prohibiting state and local personal income taxes is good for individuals, families, the economy, and our future."
  • Steve Gordon, of Concerned Taxpayers of Washington: "Again and again, the response from Olympia has been, ‘If we just had more tax dollars this time, we can fix it,’ ... Taxpayers are waking up. This lack of trust is why this initiative is necessary."


Opposition

Stop Greed, sponsored by the Permanent Defense PAC, led the campaign in opposition to the initiative, as well as the five other initiatives sponsored by Let's Go Washington targeting the 2024 ballot.[4]

Opponents

Organizations

  • Permanent Defense
  • Statewide Poverty Action Network


Arguments

  • Marcy Bowers, executive director of the Statewide Poverty Action Network: "What we need is public investments to lift people up and to fund our basic safety net infrastructure. What we don’t need is to spend time debating proposals like this that are so vaguely worded that they don’t actually do anything."


Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Washington ballot measures
The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recently scheduled reports processed by Ballotpedia, which covered through January 31, 2024.


Multiple committees registered to support and oppose the six initiatives proposed by Let's Go Washington targeting the 2024 ballot in Washington. Because the committees were registered to support and/or oppose multiple initiatives, it is not possible to distinguish funds spent on each individual initiative.

Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Support $6,856,287.84 $1,260,834.54 $8,117,122.38 $6,896,121.98 $8,156,956.52
Oppose $8,403.00 $43.39 $8,446.39 $7,424.21 $7,467.60

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in support of Initiative 2111.[5]

Committees in support of Initiative 2111
Committee Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Let's Go Washington $6,854,396.00 $1,260,834.54 $8,115,230.54 $6,852,805.34 $8,113,639.88
Taxpayers Accountability Alliance $1,891.84 $0.00 $1,891.84 $43,316.64 $43,316.64
Total $6,856,287.84 $1,260,834.54 $8,117,122.38 $6,896,121.98 $8,156,956.52

Donors

Donors to the support campaign were as follows:[5]

Donor Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions
Brian Heywood $5,176,000.00 $1,229,965.16 $6,405,965.16
Phil Scott $250,000.00 $0.00 $250,000.00
Steve Gordon $150,000.00 $9,221.00 $159,221.00
Kemper Holdings, LLC $100,000.00 $0.00 $100,000.00
Peter Plath $100,000.00 $0.00 $100,000.00

Opposition

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in opposition to Initiative 2111.[5]

Committees in opposition to Initiative 2111
Committee Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Stop Greed $8,403.00 $43.39 $8,446.39 $7,424.21 $7,467.60
Total $8,403.00 $43.39 $8,446.39 $7,424.21 $7,467.60

Donors

Donors to the opposition campaign were as follows:[5]

Donor Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions
Northwest Progressive Institute $6,000.00 $32.83 $6,032.83
Permanent Defense PAC $1,000.00 $0.00 $1,000.00
Mathew Roling $250.00 $0.00 $250.00
Terry Oliver $250.00 $0.00 $250.00
Collin Walker $200.00 $0.00 $200.00

Methodology

To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.

Background

Washington prohibition on income tax

See also: Article VII, Washington State Constitution

Washington does not have a personal or corporate income tax.[6]

Under Article VII of the Washington Constitution, which was adopted by voters in 1930, all taxes must be uniform within the same class of property and property includes "everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership."

In 1932, voters approved an initiative, known as Initiative 69, which was designed to create a graduated income tax for education funding. The Washington State Supreme Court, in landmark decision Culliton v. Chase, overturned the initiative as unconstitutional, finding that it violated the constitution's prohibition on graduated income taxes.[7]

Under the Washington constitution and case law, income is considered property and all taxes on any property must be uniform within each class of property. The Tax Foundation wrote, "Technically, that doesn’t outright preclude the adoption of an income tax, but any tax adopted would have to be uniform (no graduated rates, and few or no deductions, exemptions, and exclusions) and, more importantly, at an extremely low rate."[8]

Capital gains tax (2021)

A capital gains tax was passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2021. Senate Bill 5096 was approved along partisan lines with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. It took effect on January 1, 2022, with the first payments coming due on April 18, 2023.[9][10]

A capital gains tax is a tax on profits from the sale of investments. Examples of sales that would be subject to the tax include sales of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, boats, and real estate.[11]

Quinn v. Washington

Chris Quinn and other Washington residents filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the capital gains tax, arguing that it was an unconstitutional income tax rather than an excise tax. In March 2022, the Douglas County Superior Court ruled that the capital gains excise tax was unconstitutional. The Washington Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to reverse the lower court's ruling and instead upheld the tax as a constitutional excise tax on March 24, 2023.[12] The state supreme court found that "The capital gains tax is appropriately characterized as an excise [tax] because it is levied on the sale or exchange of capital assets, not on capital assets or gains themselves.”[13]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirectly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the Legislature in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for indirect initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the regular session at which their proposal would be presented to lawmakers. Signatures must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the beginning of the legislative session in the year of the targeted election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the Legislature certified for the 2024 ballot:

The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified to appear before the legislature. If the legislature does not approve the measure, it is certified to appear on the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.

Details about this initiative

  • Jim Walsh filed the initiative on May 19, 2023. Ballot language was issued for it on June 2, 2023.[1]
  • Let's Go Washington submitted 448,158 signatures for the measure on December 21, 2023.[14]
  • On January 24, 2024, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs certified that enough valid signatures were submitted and that the initiative was certified to the legislature. In a random sample of 3% of submitted signatures, it was determined that 80.83% of the 448,158 submitted signatures were valid, indicating that 362,246 signatures were valid.[15]
  • The initiative was passed by the state legislature on March 4, 2024, by a vote of 38-11 in the Senate and 76-21 in the House.[16]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Washington Secretary of State, "Proposed Initiatives to the 2024 Legislature," accessed September 22, 2023
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ Let's Go Washington, "Home," accessed December 14, 2023
  4. ↑ Stop Greed, "Home," accessed November 22, 2023
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named finance
  6. ↑ Washington Department of Revenue, "Income tax," accessed February 23, 2024
  7. ↑ MRSC.org, "Culliton v. Chase, 174 Wash. 363, 25 P.2d 81 (1933)," accessed February 23, 2024
  8. ↑ Tax Foundation, "Washington Supreme Court Affirms Capital Gains Tax and Invites Challenge to Broader Income Tax Restrictions," accessed February 23, 2024
  9. ↑ Washington Department of Revenue, "Capital gains tax," accessed February 9, 2024
  10. ↑ LegiScan, "Senate Bill 5096 (2021)," accessed February 9, 2024
  11. ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Senate Bill 5096 final bill report," accessed February 9, 2024
  12. ↑ SCOTUS Blog, "Washington residents challenge state’s effort to tax long-term capital gains," accessed February 9, 2024
  13. ↑ RSM US, "Washington Supreme Court upholds capital gains tax," accessed February 23, 2024
  14. ↑ Chronline, "Group submits 857,000 signatures to repeal capital gains tax and ban new income tax in Washington," accessed December 22, 2023
  15. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Secretary Hobbs notifies Legislature of initiative no. 2111 certification," accessed January 24, 2024
  16. ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Initiative 2111," accessed March 4, 2024
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