Judge rejects attempt to keep budget effects of November initiatives off ballots

Unopened ballots await processing during the 2020 election. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Information about how a trio of ballot measures would affect Washington’s budget can be printed on ballots this November, a judge ruled Friday.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Allyson Zipp denied a request from Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh and Mainstream Republicans of Washington Chair Deanna Martinez to keep the “public investment impact disclosures” for the three citizen initiatives from appearing.

Following the ruling, Walsh said he and Martinez are likely to appeal but are waiting to see the final written order from Friday.

The ballot measures propose scrapping the state’s cap-and-trade system, ending its capital gains tax and making a long-term care program optional. Each is expected to have a significant effect on state revenue if approved.

Walsh and Martinez sued the state last month over the 15-word-or-less statements designed to explain what those effects could look like.

A 2022 law requires the disclosures if a ballot measure repeals, levies or modifies a tax or fee, and if it would cause a net change in state revenue. The two Republican leaders argued the three initiatives – which would end or significantly change programs generating billions of dollars for the state – don’t fit that criteria.

Cap-and-trade lets businesses purchase allowances to offset pollution if needed, but it does not impose a tax, they argued. The long-term care program administers an insurance premium, not a tax, according to their lawsuit. And, they said the capital gains tax should be considered repealed given a separate initiative that the Legislature approved earlier this year banning any tax on personal income. The state is still collecting the tax.

In their response, attorneys representing Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Office of Financial Management Director David Schumacher called the lawsuit “meritless” and urged the court to reject the “cynical attempt to keep voters in the dark.”

In her ruling from the bench, Zipp determined it was the intent of the Legislature, when they approved the law, to provide greater transparency to voters with the disclosure statements.

Therefore, what is considered a “tax or fee” should not be interpreted in a “cramped or limited manner,” but rather more broadly to provide additional information when voters are asked to legislate at the ballot box, Zipp said.

Under the 2022 law, the Attorney General’s Office – currently run by Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ferguson – will write the statements by July 23, based on financial analyses from the Office of Financial Management. Hobbs’ office will then sign off on the language and send it to county auditors to include on ballots.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield contributed to this report.

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