As reported last week, opponents of the Washington state capital gains tax, after ultimately losing in the courts to have the legislation stricken as unconstitutional, decided to take the matter to the voters. They have proposed a ballot measure which if successful, among other things, will repeal the tax.
As part of the presentation of the ballot measure in the voters’ pamphlet, the State of Washington election officials recently announced that the explanation of the ballot measure must include a disclosure of the revenue impact its passage would have on the state’s revenue – a drop of roughly $1 billion per year. Proponents of the ballot measure promptly filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Washington for Thurston County (“Court”) to block the inclusion of the revenue impact in the voter packets. A hearing in the case occurred on June 7, 2024.
Judge Allyson Zipp, appointed to the Court by Governor Jay Inslee in 2021, presided over the case. The oral arguments were interesting.