Income Tax Initiative Update!! Everybody hates the Income tax
-As we mentioned earlier we gathered 92,780 signatures in the first week
-But the make up of those signers is interesting.
-We ran a voter ID model on all the signers so far
And the model tells us
49.64% are Dems/Indep
50.24% are Republican
-However, 27,655 of those 92K signers have never signed even one of our other initiatives in any prior year
- The party make of new signers is as follows:
Republican 36.49%
Independent 33.21%
Democrat 30.29%
64% of those who have never signed an initiative but did sign IP26-645 to stop the income tax , so far, are either Democrat or Independent.
This is not a partisan issue
-People understand the tax is coming for them.
-They don’t trust Olympia to spend the money wisely, and
-they seem to be really pissed about the unconstitutional approach taken by Jamie Pedersen and Bob Ferguson
Make your voice heard join us and help us beat the state record of 699K signatures
https://t.co/nKzm0n1G1w
"It looks like voters will have a say."
Yes, Bob. And WA voters DID have a say, multiple times. More than 100,000 people signed in CON to this bill, a record. Laurie Jinkins said they don't pay much attention to that kind of feedback.
And Washington State voters have considered state personal or corporate income tax measures on ELEVEN (11!) separate occasions, voting them down each time.
1934 (HJR 11) — 43% Yes / 57% No
1936 (SJR 7) — 22% Yes / 78% No
1938 (SJR 5) — 33% Yes / 67% No
1942 (Constitutional Amendment) — 34% Yes / 66% No
1944 (Initiative 158) — 30% Yes / 70% No
1970 (HJR 42) — 32% Yes / 68% No
1973 (HJR 37) — 23% Yes / 77% No
1975 (Initiative 314) — 33% Yes / 67% No
1982 (Initiative 435) — 34% Yes / 66% No
2010 (Initiative 1098) — 36% Yes / 64% No
Further, Initiative 2111, was PASSED by the state legislature (including text below.) It explicitly bans taxes on personal income (defined by reference to gross income in the Internal Revenue Code).
UPDATE —Referendum Denied by the WA State Supreme Court BUT
Warning TLDR
-today the WA state supreme court ruled that the legislature can prevent the voters from exercising a referendum when the legislature raises taxes
-We believe this is an incorrect and tortured reading of the constitution and inconsistent with the very strong protections placed in the constitution to limit the governments ability to tax
-Nevertheless that is the way the court has ruled So what does that mean? Several important points below:
Supreme Court
1) 5 of 9 supreme court seats will be up for election in November. You need to vote
2) Unlike in past years there are legitimate constitutionally focused challengers to the Bob Ferguson appointees so you will have a choice this year
3) You need to be informed, donate, talk to neighbors about the supreme court
Initiatives
1) We now shift our focus to an initiative… pre-register for us to send initiative sheets to your home at https://t.co/MlAo0AL513
2) Sign up to volunteer and to keep updated https://t.co/7Eu4KSdw4Y
3) Donate https://t.co/YFx9jBSpLd
Lawsuit Implications IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
1) Although we lost our case before the supreme court, they issued the following words
“Consistent with the words of the constitution and our unbroken line of precedent, ….“. See the screen shot below
2) These words matter enormously because the supreme court has ruled 7 times that income is property and property may not be taxed above 1% nor may it be applied unevenly to citizens.
3) There is a separate lawsuit challenging the legality of the income tax in the first place and as the supreme court indicates that it is bound by “unbroken” precedent, it would be highly inconsistent and blatantly idealogical for them to deny our petition based on precedent while ignoring much deeper and more widely argued precedent that income is property and therefore 6346 is an illegal tax under the constitution.
-The income tax is coming for you if you don’t join the fight. -Unchecked and reckless spending of your tax dollars will continue if you don’t join the fight
-People will leave and businesses will shut down if you don’t join the fight now
Fight back now https://t.co/MlAo0AL513
@GovBobFerguson Bob doesn’t have our back
His taxes feel like an attack
He takes from the middle
And leaves them with piddle
Then grins in our face like a hack.
@GovBobFerguson Pick up the litter along the interstate.
Cover up graffiti with paint.
Focus on crime.
Clean up the grime.
The income tax is a sham.
Climate Commitment Act is a scam.
Work for the people, Bob.
Stop being a slob.
US Postal Service Inspectors picked up the undelivered Renton ballots today. The Feds have possession of the box and all of its contents. They will do their investigation.
Whatever results, these ballots are proof that the broken chain of custody in WA elections is NOT secure.
Washington state has the 10th highest median Property Taxes in the country.
Higher than Texas;
Higher than Florida;
And significantly higher than Idaho or Tennessee.
@Niccoloc | @VisualCap
Article: https://t.co/ZrZmPNFDL8
EXCLUSIVE: Internal records reveal Washington’s “millionaire’s tax” may be about more than just taxing high earners.
Emails obtained by The Center Square show that some lawmakers and AG staff discussed using the law to force the state Supreme Court to reconsider a nearly 100-year-old ruling that blocks a broader income tax.
That ruling defines income as property, limiting how it can be taxed.
If overturned, it could pave the way for a progressive income tax on all Washingtonians, not just millionaires.
The 9.9% tax is already facing legal challenges ahead of its planned 2028 rollout.
So @GovBobFerguson yesterday announced $57 million in new grant payouts of taxpayer money to dozens of 'daycare' operations in WA. Recipients are listed as "family home facility" with only city where located as identifier. So $57 million of OUR money going to who? Commerce document for awards says:The names and locations of in-home care providers (Family Home Facility*) that are not operating under a commercial license have been simplified to protect sensitive personal information. So they're getting millions of our dollars, but we don't get to know who they are? @TCSWashington@future42org@WAGOP
ATTENTION: Citizen Action Defense Fund will be having a press conference tomorrow morning at 10am, to discuss the lawsuit against SB 6346 The Income Tax.
The press conference will be televised by TVW at:
https://t.co/w40GEAQsgn
@CADFWashington
ICYMI: I'm running for State Senate in the 47th Legislative District.
Thank you to @kentreporter for covering the announcement. The more people who know this race is happening, the better. We deserve a fighter in Olympia.
I'm ready.
https://t.co/4gPJTtHJtB
Olympia Democrats just cut the budget to maintain trails and state parks, as the Discover Pass 50% price increase goes into in full effect.
Now to make matters worse, DNR Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is refusing to harvest timber on state lands, which is designed to both provide additional funding and reduce wildfire risk.
The result? Trails such as Poo Poo Point (Issaquah) are on the chopping block to close.
@LaurenDonovanTV | @fox13seattle
Article: https://t.co/uFOwX71gYb