Washington Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative (2019)

Washington Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative
Election date November 5, 2019
Topic Taxes
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Washington measuresWashington Initiative 976Washington Washington Referendum 88Washington Senate Joint Resolution 8200Washington Advisory Vote 20Washington Advisory Vote 21Washington Advisory Vote 22Washington Advisory Vote 23Washington Advisory Vote 24Washington Advisory Vote 25Washington Advisory Vote 26Washington Advisory Vote 27Washington Advisory Vote 28Washington Advisory Vote 29Washington Advisory Vote 30Washington Advisory Vote 31Submit

The Washington Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative (#1650) was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 5, 2019.

Sponsor Tim Eyman announced on March 26, 2019, that he would launch a signature drive for I-1650 beginning on April 1, 2019, leaving 96 days to collect 259,622 valid signatures. Eyman refers to the measure as the We Don’t Want An Income Tax Initiative. On April 1, 2019, Eyman announced that he was abandoning the 2019 effort and planned to circulate the measure as an Initiative to the Legislature targeting the 2020 ballot.

Measure design

Initiative 1650 was designed to prohibit local and state governments from enacting or imposing taxes on income, including but not limited to wages. As of 2019, Washington state did not have a personal or corporate income tax.

Text of measure

Ballot title

Initiative 1650 ballot title
“ Initiative Measure No. 1650 concerns state and local taxes. This measure would prohibit state and local governments from imposing any tax on personal income, whether net, gross, or adjusted gross income, capital gains income, or any other portion, or type of income. Should this measure be enacted into law? ”

Ballot summary

Initiative 1650 ballot summary

“ This measure would prohibit state and local governments from imposing any tax on an individual’s or household’s personal income, whether net, gross, or adjusted gross income, capital gains income, or any other portion, or type of income. The measure instructs that the term “income” be construed broadly to mean that there is no government authority to levy any form of income tax on individuals and households. ”

Full text

The full text of this measure can be found here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify a directly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the People in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for direct initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the general election at which their proposal would be presented to voters. Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the general election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the People certified for the 2019 ballot:

• Signatures: 259,622 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 5, 2019.

The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified for the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.

Details about this initiative

• Tim Eyman submitted four versions of this initiative on January 7, 2019. Each were designed to prohibit local and state governments from enacting or increasing taxes on income, including but not limited to wages. The different versions varied with regard to certain exceptions, such as for businesses and occupation taxes, and other details.
• Ballot titles and summaries were issued for each version on January 16, 2019.
• On March 26, 2019, Tim Eyman announced that he would launch a signature drive for Initiative 1650 beginning on April 1, 2019, leaving 96 days to collect 259,622 valid signatures.

8On April 1, 2019, Eyman announced that he was abandoning the 2019 effort and planned to circulate the measure as an Initiative to the Legislature targeting the 2020 ballot.

See also

2019 measures

• 2019 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• 2019 petition deadlines

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Initiative #1650 Text