Washington Advisory Vote 38, Nonbinding Question on Captive Insurers Tax (2021)

Washington Advisory Vote 38
Election date November 2, 2021
Topic Taxes
Status d Defeated
Type Advisory question

2021 measures
November 2
Washington Advisory Vote 36
Washington Advisory Vote 37
Washington Advisory Vote 38
Polls
Voter guides
Campaign finance
Signature costs

Washington Advisory Vote 38, a non-binding question on a tax on captive insurers, was on the ballot in Washington as an advisory question on November 2, 2021. It was defeated.

A "maintain" vote would have advised the legislature to maintain a 2% tax on the premiums of captive insurers, which was passed in Senate Bill 5315 (2021). Captive insurers are owned by the entities they insure.

A "repeal" vote advised the legislature to repeal a 2% tax on the premiums of captive insurers, which was passed in Senate Bill 5315 (2021).

Election results

In the chart below, "yes" votes correspond to votes for maintaining the revenue-generating bill, and "no" votes correspond to votes for repealing it.

Washington Advisory Vote 38
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		761,093	42.85%
No		1,015,197	57.15%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What was Advisory Vote 38?

See also: Text of measure

Advisory Vote 38 was a non-binding question asking voters to advise the legislature on whether to uphold or repeal Senate Bill 5315, passed by the Washington State Legislature in the 2021 session. SB 5315 was designed to impose a tax on captive insurers in the amount of 2% of the insurance premiums provided to a captive insurer's parent company or affiliate. A captive insurance company was defined in the bill as one "created and wholly owned by one or more non-insurance companies to insure the risks of its owner or owners. They may be formed to supplement commercial insurance, or to provide insurance for risk they are unable to cover with commercial insurance." The bill set up a framework for registering captive insurers and levying a premium tax on them.

Since the question was non-binding, the outcome of the ballot question was not legally binding and did not directly result in a new, changed, or rejected law.

Why was this measure on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

The measure was automatically referred to the ballot as required under Initiative 960, an initiative sponsored by Tim Eyman that was approved by voters in 2007. I-960 requires an advisory vote to be referred to voters concerning any law passed by the legislature that creates or increases taxes or fees.

How many advisory votes have been on the ballot since the first in 2012?

See also: History of Washington advisory votes

Thirty-five (35) advisory votes required by Initiative 960 have been on the statewide ballot in Washington from 2012 through 2020. A majority of voters were in favor of maintaining 10 of the tax increases. In the other 25 cases, a majority of voters were in favor of repealing the tax increases in question.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the measure was as follows:

“

The legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, a tax on captive insurers in the amount of 2% of premiums from owners/affiliates, costing $53,000,000 in its first ten years, for government spending. This tax increase should be: [] Repealed [] Maintained

”

Ten-year cost projection

The ten-year cost of Senate Bill 5315, which Advisory Vote 38 concerned, was estimated to be $53 million.

Full text

The full text of Senate Bill 5315 is available here.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2021

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Washington Attorney General wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 7, and the FRE is 60. The word count for the ballot title is 39, and the estimated reading time is 10 seconds.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Washington ballot measures

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

Ballotpedia did not identify any committees registered in support of or in opposition to the measure.

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Media editorials

See also: 2021 ballot measure media endorsements

Ballotpedia lists the positions of media editorial boards that support or oppose ballot measures. This does not include opinion pieces from individuals or groups that do not represent the official position of a newspaper or media outlet. Ballotpedia includes editorials from newspapers and outlets based on circulation and readership, political coverage within a state, and length of publication. You can share media editorial board endorsements with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Support (maintain)

• The Seattle Times Editorial Board: "Maintain. This concerns a 2% tax on captive insurers. The Times editorial board supported this proposal, which closes a tax loophole for large companies that essentially purchase insurance policies from themselves. The tax is estimated to generate $53 million in revenue over the next decade."

Opposition (repeal)

If you are aware of a media editorial supporting a repeal vote, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Advisory votes

See also: Advisory question

An advisory question is a type of ballot measure that ask votes a non-binding question. The largest difference between an advisory vote and any other type of ballot measure is that the outcome of the ballot question is not legally binding and will not directly result in a new, changed, or rejected law or constitutional amendment. Rather, the advisory question allows voters to express their general opinion on the issue. Washington has automatic advisory votes on any bill that increases tax revenue.

History of advisory votes in Washington

See also: Washington Rules for Approving Tax Increases, Initiative 960 (2007)

Initiative 960, which was sponsored by Tim Eyman and approved by voters in 2007, requires statewide advisory questions whenever the legislature passes a bill that increases tax revenue.

Thirty-eight (38) advisory votes required by Initiative 960 have been on the statewide ballot in Washington from 2012 through 2021. A majority of voters were in favor of maintaining 10 of the tax increases. In the other 28 cases, a majority of voters were in favor of repealing the tax increases in question.

Washington tax advisory votes
Year	Measure	Topic	Maintain vote %	Repeal vote %
2021	Advisory Vote 38	Tax on the premiums of captive insurers	42.85%	57.15%
2021	Advisory Vote 37	Tax on capital gains above $250,000 to fund education and child services	38.95%	61.05%
2021	Advisory Vote 36	Telephone tax to fund behavioral health and suicide prevention services	46.11%	53.89%
2020	Advisory Vote 35	Business and occupation tax on commercial airplane manufacturers	45.53%	54.47%
2020	Advisory Vote 34	Business and occupation tax and surcharge	37.99%	62.01%
2020	Advisory Vote 33	Heavy equipment rental tax	40.40%	59.60%
2020	Advisory Vote 32	Carryout bag tax	38.77%	61.23%
2019	Advisory Vote 31	International investment management services tax	56.75%	43.25%
2019	Advisory Vote 30	Tour operator/travel agent tax	44.19%	55.81%
2019	Advisory Vote 29	Excise tax on real property	35.20%	64.80%
2019	Advisory Vote 28	Nonresident sales tax exemption limits	55.29%	44.71%
2019	Advisory Vote 27	Petroleum products tax	39.22%	60.78%
2019	Advisory Vote 26	Online retail sales tax	44.77%	55.23%
2019	Advisory Vote 25	Financial institution tax	44.62%	55.38%
2019	Advisory Vote 24	Business activities tax	37.35%	62.65%
2019	Advisory Vote 23	E-cig/vaping tax	66.91%%	33.09%
2019	Advisory Vote 22	Paint tax	37.97%	62.03%
2019	Advisory Vote 21	Surcharge on timber products	41.10%	58.90%
2019	Advisory Vote 20	Tax on wages	37.08%	62.92%
2018	Advisory Vote 19	Crude oil tax	46.47%	53.53%
2017	Advisory Vote 18	State property tax	40.95%	59.05%
2017	Advisory Vote 17	Business and occupation tax	37.66%	62.34%
2017	Advisory Vote 16	Commercial fishing fees	45.59%	54.41%
2016	Advisory Vote 15	Alternative fuel tax excemption	40.10%	59.90%
2016	Advisory Vote 14	Dental plan tax	30.86%	69.14%
2015	Advisory Vote 13	Manufacturer tax preferences	36.59%	63.41%
2015	Advisory Vote 12	Gas tax increase	35.63%	64.37%
2015	Advisory Vote 11	Medical marijuana fee	58.73%	41.27%
2015	Advisory Vote 10	Oil spill prevention tax	51.32%	48.68%
2014	Advisory Vote 9	Leasehold excise tax	55.27%	44.73%
2014	Advisory Vote 8	Agricultural tax on marijuana	54.41%	45.59%
2013	Advisory Vote 7	Estate tax	51.23%	48.77%
2013	Advisory Vote 6	Retaill sales tax exemption	47.74%	52.26%
2013	Advisory Vote 5	Insurance premium tax	39.52%	60.48%
2013	Advisory Vote 4	Aircraft excise tax	53.54%	46.46%
2013	Advisory Vote 3	Leasehold excise tax	52.47%	47.53%
2012	Advisory Vote 2	Pollution liability insurance	45.00%	55.00%
2012	Advisory Vote 1	Omnibus tax preference	43.10%	56.90%

Path to the ballot

The measure was automatically referred to the ballot as required under Initiative 960, an initiative that was passed in 2007. I-960 requires an advisory vote to be referred to voters concerning any law passed by the legislature that creates or increases taxes or fees.

Advisory Vote 38 was a nonbinding question advising the legislature to either maintain or repeal a tax on captive insurers, which was passed in Senate Bill 5315 during the 2021 legislative session.

Senate Bill 5315

The vote in the legislature on Senate Bill 5315 was as follows:

Vote in the Washington State Senate March 9, 2021
Requirement: Approval in both chambers of the legislature
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	49	0	0
Total percent	100.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Democrat	29	0	0
Republican	20	0	0

Vote in the Washington House of Representatives April 9, 2021
Requirement: Approval in both chambers of the legislature
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	96	1	1
Total percent	97.96%	1.02%	1.02%
Democrat	55	1	1
Republican	41	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Washington

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Washington.

How to cast a vote in Washington

Poll times Washington is an all-mail voting state. Individuals who prefer to vote in person rather than by mail may do so at local voting centers, which are open for 18 days prior to the election. The voting period ends at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Contact your county elections department for more information on voting center locations and times. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To vote in Washington, one must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the state, and at least 18 years of age. One may register to vote online, by mail, or in-person at a county elections department. Registration must be completed eight days in advance if done by mail or online. In-person registration is available through Election Day. In 2018, Washington lawmakers enacted legislation providing for same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration. Automatic registration Washington automatically registers eligible individuals to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles, health benefit exchange, and other state agencies approved by the governor. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Washington has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Washington allows same-day voter registration. Residency requirements Washington law requires 30 days of residency in the state before a person may vote. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Washington does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who knowingly provides false information or knowingly make a false declaration about their qualifications "will have committed a class C felony that is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to ten thousand dollars, or both." All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The site Vote WA, run by the Washington Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Washington is an all-mail voting state and does not require voters to present photo identification (ID). Voters may choose to vote in person at a local voting center. According to state law RCW 29A.40.160, “The county auditor shall require any person desiring to vote at a voting center to either sign a ballot declaration or provide identification.” Accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state ID cards, and student ID cards. For a list of all accepted forms of ID, see below. The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Washington State Legislature's voter ID regulations to ensure you have the most current information. Driver's license State identification card Student identification card Tribal identification card Employer identification card

See also

2021 measures

• 2021 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Senate Bill 5315 Full Text
• Washington 2021 general election voter guide