During the 2024 legislative session, six Republican-backed ballot measures were sent to the Legislature for consideration.
What is the Legislature’s authority with respect to initiatives?
We’ve talked about these initiatives in other blog posts. Here’s a quick refresher on how the Legislature can respond to initiatives:
- The Legislature can do nothing, and allow the initiatives to go to the ballot as written.
- The Legislature can pass the initiatives into law without amending the language.
- The Legislature can amend the language in the initiatives. In this case, both the original option and the legislatively-amended initiative would go to the ballot, giving the public a choice between the two options.
How did the Legislature respond during session?
The Legislature opted for options 1 and 2 during the 2024 session, passing of the six three ballot measures into law: prohibiting a state income tax, establishing parental rights for students in school, and adopting a policy regarding police pursuits. The remaining three will go to the ballot in November, where voters will have an opportunity to vote to approve or reject each ballot measure.
In addition to the three Initiatives to the Legislature, Initiative 2066 has qualified to appear on the ballot as an Initiative to the People. Initiative 2066 is a direct counter to the Legislature approving House Bill 1589 during the 2024 Legislative Session, which requires Puget Sound Energy to engage in a multi-year planning process to reduce its use of natural gas to serve customers and comply with the State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act. The Act mandates that Puget Sound Energy get to zero carbon emissions by 2045. In July, the Standard reported: “I-2066 repeals provisions of House Bill 1589… baring cities and counties from prohibiting, penalizing, or discouraging “the use of gas for any form of heating, or for uses related to any appliance or equipment, in any building”.
What initiatives will voters see in November?
The four ballot measures voters will decide on include the following:
Initiative 2109 will repeal the state’s capital gains tax.
Initiative 2124 will make the state’s long-term care program optional.
Initiative 2117 will repeal the state’s Climate Commitment Act
Initiative 2066 will prevent the gradual phase out of natural gas.
The ballot measures are already getting a lot of public attention
Chances are, you’ve seen something about at least one of these ballot measures in the news lately. Here are a few articles to consider reading to prepare for the November election:
- “Voters will see budget effects of initiatives on ballots“, WA State Standard, 2024
- “WA Supreme Court will consider dispute over printing budget effects of initiatives on ballots“, WA State Standard, 2024
- “Complaint against Let’s Go Washington won’t be sent to AG’s office“, The Seattle Times, 2024
- “Initiative opponents target the millionaire behind the measures,” WA State Standard, 2024
- “Natural gas initiative qualifies for WA ballot“, The Seattle Times, 2024