(The Center Square) – The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a bid brought by Washington State Republican Party Chair Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, to stop the state from issuing financial impact statements on three initiatives on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The three measures are Initiative 2109, to repeal the state’s capital gains tax; Initiative 2117, to repeal the 2021 Climate Commitment Act and its cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and Initiative 2124, to make participation in the WA Cares long-term care insurance program optional rather than mandatory.
Walsh made the case that the Office of Financial Management wrongly calculated the potential impacts of repealing the measures and that I-2109 would have no impact because lawmakers, in effect, repealed the capital gains tax by passing Initiative 2111 in March. I-2111 prohibits the state and its localities from imposing a personal income tax
Walsh told The Center Square he was disappointed in the state Supreme Court’s “small-minded conclusion that really focused on technicalities while ignoring the merits of the case.”