Supreme Court unanimously rejects challenge to four initiatives | One of the main differences between the recent primary election and the November general election will be the presence of four initiatives – all supported by AGC’s BUILD PAC – on the ballot. These initiatives also survived a behind-the-scenes court challenge (more on that below).
Regular readers of AGC WORKS are likely very familiar with the initiatives:
I-2109, to repeal the capital-gains income tax;
I-2117, to repeal the Climate Commitment Act (state’s “hidden gas tax” legislation);
I-2124, to allow opting-out of the state’s long-term care act, and
I-2066, to stop the ban on natural gas.
More information about them can be found at the Let’s Go Washington website. AGC’s BUILD PAC has made financial contributions in support of the initiatives; AGC members are invited to do so as well.
The recent news about the initiatives involves the fact that on August 9th, the State Supreme Court unanimously rejected two cases brought by progressive groups seeking to invalidate all of the initiatives. The cases were brought against the Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and defended by Attorney General (and initiative opponent) Bob Ferguson. Basically, plaintiffs argued that the signature-counting process was invalid/insufficient.
Although the Supreme Court rejected the cases, Ferguson came under fire for how he handled the matter – common practice suggests that interested parties, — in this case, the Let’s Go Washington campaign — would be notified of court actions. But no such outreach was undertaken, and the campaign only found out about it at the last minute when a reporter called.
Click here for a news account that provides more detail.
