What’s on the ballot?

Voters can anticipate seeing four statewide measures on the November 2024 ballot. The initiatives, submitted by a group called Let’s Go Washington, concern the use of natural gas, capital gains tax, the Climate Commitment Act and the state's long-term health care program, WA Cares.

Let’s Go Washington is funded and founded by Brian Heywood, a conservative hedge fund CEO. The group submitted seven different initiatives to the Legislature, all of which met the signature requirement, which is 324,516 in Washington this year. Three were passed by the legislature without going to the ballot for a vote.

The campaign for I-2066 started later than the rest because it was in response to a bill passed in March 2024, according to Hallie Balch, director of communications for Let’s Go Washington. The deadline for initiatives is in July, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s website.

I-2066: Support the use of natural gas

I-2066 was introduced in response to House Bill 1589, which directs utility companies that provide gas and electric heating and serve more than 500,000 customers to make plans for eventual decarbonization and full electrification.

Proponents of the measure call it the “stop the natural gas ban” bill. The state of Washington does not currently ban the use of natural gas.

HB 1589 was designed to help keep costs down for customers and utility companies during the energy transition, said 40th District Democrat State Rep. Alex Ramel.

Electric heat pumps are more energy efficient and better for indoor air quality than natural gas heating. As consumers make the switch, utility companies will continue to pay to maintain the infrastructure, but with a smaller customer base, said Ramel.

“Twenty years from now, what we anticipate is that the people left stuck on [the] gas system paying for this aging and expensive infrastructure are going to be the people who can least afford that expense,” Ramel said. 

Electric heat pumps can be less effective in colder climates. Currently, electric heating is generally more expensive than natural gas heating. But as more people switch to electric, gas might become more expensive to maintain, according to Ramel.

Proponents of 2066, such as the Building Industry Association, say that current building codes and regulations make it nearly impossible to turn a profit building homes, according to Balch. 

The initiative would allow builders to keep building costs as low as possible, though Ramel said this would not be in the best interest of homebuyers and tenants.

“[Protecting homebuyers and tenants] is the purpose behind 1589, and the folks who wrote initiative 2066 clearly don't care about these folks' energy costs,” said Ramel. “They just want to eat profits for the oil and gas companies right now.”

I-2109: Repeal capital gains tax

I-2109 is aimed at repealing SB 5096, which imposes a 7% capital gains tax on the sale or exchange of certain assets worth more than $250,000. Residential dwellings, retirement savings, livestock, timber and agricultural land are exempt from the tax.

Stephan Blanford, executive director of the advocacy group Children’s Alliance, opposes I-2109 because it would take away one form of funding for schools and early learning centers.

The Fair Start for Kids Act, which Children’s Alliance helped to pass in 2021, promises $1.1 billion a year to make child care and early learning more affordable and accessible, according to the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families website. Blanford said the act was created partially in response to the strain the pandemic put on child care. 

“Our child care centers were in crisis,” Blanford said. “Many of them were closed, many of them weren't scheduled to ever open again, and we couldn't restart the economy without child care, so parents could go to work and have a place for their kids to be.”

Washington state is ranked 49th in the country in tax equity, according to the Institute on Tax Equity and Economic Policy’s “Who Pays?” report. 

“Low-income and middle-income people, a disproportionate number of them are Black and brown folks,” Blanford said. “So part of our advocacy around this had to do with tax fairness, making sure that those who have the most, who have benefited the most from society, pay their fair share.”

Let’s Go Washington argues that the State Legislature is already required to fund education. The voters’ pamphlet argument for I-2109 says the current tax is “clearly a stepping stone to a statewide income tax.” Washington voters have rejected an income tax seven times since the state Supreme Court voted against it in the 1930s. 

According to Balch, capital gains could lead to wealthy people leaving the state to avoid paying the tax.

“I mean, it doesn’t take a super genius to see that, like, the first year’s cap[ital] gains returns [were] this amount, then in the second year it was cut in half,” Balch said. “So either they're not selling or they're leaving, or both.” 

The excise tax on capital gains partially funds the act. The tax raised $786 million for education in 2023 and $433 million in 2024. State lawmakers knew the capital gains tax would be an unpredictable revenue source, prone to up and down swings, according to an article by the Washington State Standard.

I-2117: Stop cap-and-trade or cap-and-tax

The goal of I-2117 is to repeal the state’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA created a cap-and-invest program designed to help lower the net emissions of the state’s largest polluters. They can either change the way they operate or purchase allowances. 

As the cap on pollution comes down, so should the availability of pollution allowances, according to the Climate Commitment Act. Revenue from the allowances funds programs across Washington state, including transportation services, salmon recovery, utility bill assistance, weatherization, forest conservation and more.

The Washington Office of Financial Management estimates that nearly $1.4 billion, or 42% of CCA revenues are directed to overburdened communities. Nearly $255 million, or 7.8% of CCA funds, are directed specifically to benefit Tribes, which are eligible to apply for CCA funding, according to a 2023-2025 biennium report.

Like 2109, supporters of the initiative believe that the taxes will scare wealthy individuals and high-earning businesses out of the state. They are also resistant to the CCA because there is no published data on how much it reduces carbon emissions.

“But the reality is that they have no metric to track success, and they have no plan to create that metric,” Balch said. “That's what really matters. Is carbon being reduced from the environment? We don't know.”

Bellingham City Council Member Michael Lilliquist said there are two budgets prepared by the Whatcom Transportation Authority board, which he sits on, for either outcome of the vote.

Lilliquist said many of the plans for improving the WTA’s services moving forward depend on funding from the CCA, including introducing new low or zero-emission vehicles, extending service into rural areas and the expansion of Bellingham Station.

The idea for the cap-and-invest program initially came from Republican politicians in the 1980s as a market-based solution to acid rain caused by sulfur dioxide emissions.

“Conservatives have completely lost the thread. They forgot that it was their idea and they forgot why it was their idea,” Lilliquist said.

I-2124: Opt-out of WA Cares tax and benefits

Supporters of I-2124 want to allow taxpayers to opt out of WA Cares, the state’s long-term care fund which began in 2023. They hope that making the program optional will encourage other privately offered alternatives to come back into the state, according to Balch.

“The fact that there's hardly any way in the private market to get long-term care assistance and long-term care insurance means that this is the only game in town, and so that's going to affect households all across the city,” Lilliquist said.

Under the Long Term Care Act, eligible workers contribute 0.58% of their paychecks to fund the program, according to the WA Cares website. Workers must pay in for a minimum of 10 years without a break of five years or more.

Everyone who pays into the program can access $36,500 to pay for care involving assistance with three or more activities of daily living, such as bathing or managing medications.

Let’s Go Washington argues that’s not enough money for long-term care. Using AARP’s Long Term Care calculator, one can find that hiring a home health aide and homemaker/personal care services for 10 hours per week costs $2,924 in Bellingham. That figure increases to $6,536 for daily adult day care.

Those who oppose the initiative say that making the program optional will gut the risk pool. Risk pools, or the number of people pooling their risk together, are a key component of insurance. This would make WA Cares more volatile and less effective for those who need it. 

The fund excludes disabled workers, who often can’t work 40 hours per week, as well as parents and caregivers who have to take time off to raise children or care for loved ones, Balch said.

The Bellingham City Council passed resolutions urging voters to vote no on all four initiatives. 

“All of these initiatives are similar, in that they're being pitched as a way to cut taxes and save people money, but the end result will be to disinvest in our future and cost us more in the long run,” Lilliquist said. 

To view the rest of The Front’s election coverage, visit the Whatcom dropdown bar on the website and select Elections 2024.

Ballots must be in the drop box or postmarked by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

---

---