Ballot Initiatives

This initiative calls for prohibiting state agencies from implementing the carbon tax credit trading – often known as “cap and trade” or “cap and tax” – included in the state’s Climate Commitment Act enacted in 2021. This initiative would also repeal the state’s cap-and-invest program, which aims to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from the state’s largest-emitting sources and industries. Companies buy “allowances” through carbon auctions for their excess emissions. This law was part of a group of climate policies that aim to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 95% by 2050. 

The initiative was sponsored by conservative group Let’s Go Washington, led by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. This initiative is one of several that the group has raised more than $6 million to campaign against, according to the PDC. I -2117 was filed to the Legislature, which did not act upon it during the 2024 regular session, qualifying it for the November 2024 general election ballot. The group collected more than 400,000 signatures to get I-2117 to the legislature. 

If I-2117 is enacted into law, the Department of Ecology will no longer implement the Climate Commitment Act. Local governments will also be prohibited from charging or taxing based on the quantity of greenhouse gas emitted by entities. The Climate Active Transportation Account, designed to fund transportation grant programs like creating safe routes to schools and bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly grant programs; and the Climate Transit Programs Account, which creates transit programs in the state, will not be repealed or amended. I-2117 is opposed by the No on 2117 campaign, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Amazon, Microsoft and several climate organizations, including the Washington Conservation Action, The Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Action Fund and others.  

Campaign contributions and expenditures for and against (PDC) 
Initiative information (Washington Secretary of State’s Office) 

Related reading:
WA ballot initiative would cut $848.6M of environmental programs (Cascade PBS)
Washington ballot initiatives lose ground with voters in new poll (Cascade PBS)
Initiative 2117: Cap-and-Trade ballot measure could kill WA’s first try at getting carbon (RANGE Media)
Clark County could lose millions of dollars for projects if voters OK I-2117 to repeal cap-and-invest (The Columbian)

Initiative 2109 calls for the repeal of the state capital gains tax. Starting in 2023, the state has imposed a 7% tax on the sale of stocks and bonds exceeding $250,000. The capital gains tax doesn’t apply to retirement accounts, houses and real estate sales, or to livestock and timber for ranching and farming. The law, approved in 2021, has survived a lawsuit trying to repeal it, which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear. Annually, $500 million from the tax is sent to fund schools, early learning and child care programs, and revenue above that account will aid school construction and renovation. In its first year, the tax generated more than $896 million for the state education legacy and the common school construction accounts.  

Conservative group Let’s Go Washington collected more than 400,000 signatures and sent Initiative 2109 to the Legislature. The legislature did not act upon it during the 2024 regular session, which qualified the measure for the November 2024 general election ballot. The group is sponsored by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, and the committee has spent over $6 million on its campaign to push for this initiative and several others, according to the PDC. Opponents of the initiative include Civic Ventures, Invest in Washington Now, the League of Women Voters of Washington, Moms Rising Together, Permanent Defense and the Washington Progress Fund.  

Campaign contributions and expenditures for and against (PDC) 
Initiative information (Washington Secretary of State’s Office) 

Related reading:
Washington ballot initiatives lose ground with voters in new poll (Cascade PBS)
Can a tax not be a tax? WA ballot measure backers ask in court (Cascade PBS)

This initiative would allow workers to opt out of the state’s long-term care insurance program, WA Cares. Starting in 2026, WA Cares will cover services such as in-home caregiving, adult day care, residential care, home accessibility needs and meal delivery for people who have paid into the WA Cares system, with a lifetime limit of $36,500, adjusted for inflation. Deductions for the tax began on July 1, 2023, and employees pay 0.58% of gross wages, or $0.58 per $100.  If voters approve Initiative 2124, workers and self-employed individuals would be able to opt out of the WA Cares program and skip the payroll tax, which means they would forego this coverage. Critics of the initiative say its passage would destroy the financial viability of the program. 

WA Cares went into effect July 2023 and is managed by the state Department of Social and Health Services, the state Health Care Authority and the Employment Security Department. Self-employed individuals who opted into the program cannot currently opt out unless they are no longer self-employed or retire. I-2124 is sponsored by conservative group Let’s Go Washington, led by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. The group collected more than 400,000 signatures to get the initiative to the legislature. I-2124 was not enacted during the 2024 regular session, which sent  the initiative to voters for the November 2024 general election.  

Campaign contributions and expenditures for and against (PDC) 
Initiative information (Washington Secretary of State’s Office) 

Related reading:
Initiative 2124 would make WA Cares insurance program tax optional (Cascade PBS)
Washington ballot initiatives lose ground with voters in new poll (Cascade PBS)
Initiative 2124: Long-term care ballot measure could kill program before it can start to pay out (RANGE Media)

Initiative 2066 calls for prohibiting the state from prohibiting, discouraging or penalizing access to natural gas. It would also require gas and utility companies, cities or towns to provide natural gas to individuals or entities even if there are other energy sources or services available. It’s often referred to as a “ban on natural gas bans.” If passed, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission would not be allowed to make natural gas service cost-prohibitive. It would also remove a provision under state law that requires the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to find alternatives to gas infrastructure projects in favor of electrification. The initiative to the people is sponsored by conservative group Let’s Go Washington, which submitted 533,005 signatures in support, exceeding the 324,516 required to qualify for the ballot. It is opposed by the Washington Conservation Action, the Northwest Progressive Institute and the League of Women Voters of Washington.  

Campaign contributions and expenditures for and against (PDC) 
Initiative information (Washington Secretary of State’s Office) 

Related reading:
Washington ballot initiatives lose ground with voters in new poll (Cascade PBS)
Does Washington need a ban to prevent natural gas bans? (Cascade PBS)
Initiative 2066: Ballot measure wants to slow WA’s march away from fossil gas (RANGE Media)

The city of Seattle is asking voters to approve a $1.55 billion, eight-year transportation levy. It would replace an expiring $930 million transportation levy, which covers about 30% of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s budget. 

In the levy’s first year, 2025, property taxpayers would pay approximately $0.65 per $1,000 in assessed value. If passed, the owner of a median-valued Seattle home — currently a little over $800,000 — would pay about $499 a year in property taxes for city transportation projects. The levy would expire in 2032. 

The levy would provide $403 million for street maintenance and modernization; $221 million for bridge repair and safety; $193 million for pedestrian safety; $160.5 million for Vision Zero, school and neighborhood safety programs; $151 million for bus lanes and transit corridor improvements; $113.5 million for bike projects and $100 million for new traffic signals and signal maintenance.   

In addition, it would generate $69 million for transportation-related climate initiatives and tree planting; $66.5 million to “activate” neighborhood public spaces and business districts; $45 million for freight mobility and $7.5 million for oversight.

Campaign finance reports (PDC) 
Seattle, Prop. 1 (King County Elections) 

Related reading:
Seattle City Council sends $1.55B transportation tax to the ballot (Cascade PBS)