“Dad, your support of Initiative 2117 was the most conservative position you have ever taken.” This was my son’s reaction to a column I wrote in July favoring passage of Initiative 2117 about ending the 2022 the cap-and-trade law which increases the cost of natural gas at a rate of around 14% each year for 16 years.

Now, I’m taking aim at Initiative 2109 which would repeal taxes on capital gains by asking you to vote against it; not approving I-2109 would leave the capital gains tax in place.

Washington has been a tax regressive state for much of its history. That means that the poorer someone is, the more they pay in taxes in relation to their income. This tax was passed by the legislature in 2022.

Who supports this initiative? People who earn profits from “the sale or exchange of certain long-term capital assets by individuals who have annual capital gains of over $250,000” (ballotpedia.org). There is a 7% tax on amounts above $250,000.

Most people in Washington state don’t take in this much yearly income, let alone that much coming from the selling long-term assets. According to the opposition to Initiative 2109, only about 4,000 residents will be affected.

The following sales are not considered as capital gains according to the 2022 law: real estate;

assets in certain retirement accounts;

interests in privately held entities when the capital gain or loss is attributable to real estate owned by the entity;

assets sold under the imminent threat of condemnation;

assets used in a business that are depreciable or qualify for being expensed;

timber, timberlands, and dividends from real estate investment trusts from timber or timberlands;

commercial fishing privileges and

goodwill from the sale of a franchised auto dealership

Most people in Washington state will not be affected by continuation of the capital gains tax.

According to Republican proponents, “House Republicans oppose the capital gains income tax because it is: A major step toward a new state income tax” (Ballotpedia.org). Notice the slanted and biased wording: Republicans call it a “capital gains income tax” and that “it’s a major step toward a new state income tax.” The State Supreme Court declared state income taxes as unconstitutional in 1933 (historylink.org). That decision is not likely to change.

The State Supreme Court decision made on March 23, 2023 upholding the capital gains law was 7-2. That is not a controversial decision as House Republicans argued.

Opponents of Initiative 2109, according to Ballotpedia, argued that “It would [take] more than $5 billion from child care and education over the next 6 years. This initiative is bankrolled by a mega-millionaire trying to buy himself a tax break – by taking $900 million a year from students, child care providers, schools, and more.”

The state legislature got six initiatives and decided to put three of them on the ballot for voter approval. “From 1912, when the state’s initiative process was established, to 2023, just six Initiatives to the Legislature (ITLs) have received legislative approval. With three approved in 2024, the total increases to nine, a 50% increase.” This shows that the legislature heard the concerns of taxpayers and placed them before the voters to decide.

Washington’s repressive tax system has needed to end for a very long time. Opposing Initiative 2109 is a positive and powerful step in the right direction.

My son was surprised that I favor passage of Initiative 2117 because it is executive and legislative overreach. Initiative 2109 falls into another category. In this case it’s Republican overreach to avoid paying their fair share of their wealth for the common good of the community and the state.

For those of you who are used to either/or thinking, your heads are probably exploding right now. It is possible to favor a conservative position on one initiative and then turn around and favor taxing the rich on the other. It is possible for all of us to live in the middle. That’s where most good decisions are found. Not in the extremes.

Vote against Initiative 2109 in November. It’s in your best interest, even if you have annual profits on the sale of assets over $250,000.