Letter From the Editor: Decoding Election Inititives
By Editor Nhatt Nichols
The Beacon isn’t in the business of telling people how to think, and in that vein, we’re also not interested in telling you how to vote. There are a million great voter guides out there that do that. One thing I have noticed is a lot of confusion around initiatives this year, so in the interest of clarifying what’s on your ballot, I spent an afternoon reading about them so that you don’t have to.
Please note that I’m not always perfect, and these initiatives are fairly convoluted. If you have more to add, feel free to email editor@jeffcobeacon.com or leave a note in the comments below.
All four initiatives have been brought forward by Let's Go Washington, a PAC started by conservative hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. The goal of Let’s Go Washington is to repeal laws that they believe are government overreach and cost the taxpayer, especially those who are wealthy enough to pay a lot of taxes.
Initiatives make their way onto the ballot through signature-gathering campaigns, and the language they are written in can be deliberately difficult to understand if voter confusion can further the PAC’s cause.
Initiative Measure 2066
This essentially seeks to lift regulations that help Puget Sound Energy, Washington’s largest utility provider, find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those regulations also help them find ways to transition away from natural gas and provide incentives to low-income folk who may struggle to afford to switch to electric appliances. It also helps stabilize natural gas prices while the transition is being made.
It’s much more complicated than that, but since I’m a simple newspaper editor who is obsessed with clarity, the TLDR is that this initiative is for folks who don’t want the government to determine how we tackle climate change.
Initiative Measure 2109
This proposal aims to repeal the state’s recently implemented capital gains tax and reduce funding by $2.2 billion for education, early learning services, and childcare programs. Whether or not you have children, this is going to affect how the next generation of Washington State residents are educated in a pretty major way.
Initiative Measure 2117
This proposal aims to revoke the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) and prevent the state from adopting any similar legislation in the future, eliminating billions in funding for transportation programs, ferries, renewable energy initiatives, and air quality enhancements.
Once again, the TLDR on this has to do with whether you think the government needs to have regulations to tackle climate change.
Initiative Measure 2124
This initiative is especially important to us in Jefferson County, the county with the oldest population in Washington State.
The WA Cares Fund is a public long-term care insurance program. All working Washingtonians contribute a small percentage of their income to the fund. Then, when you need care, you can access your earned benefit of $36,500 (adjusted up to inflation) to pay for services.
This initiative would require workers to opt into the fund instead of how it currently operates, where a small amount of money is deducted from your paycheck. This initiative could lead to people not getting the help they need later in life and to the whole system collapsing, according to the Office of Actuary.
