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Washington Reduce Sales Tax Rate Initiative (2023)

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Washington Reduce Sales Tax Rate Initiative
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Election date
November 7, 2023
Topic
Taxes
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
State statute
Origin
Citizens

The Washington Reduce Sales Tax Rate Initiative was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature, a type of indirect initiated state statute, on November 7, 2023.

This initiative was designed to reduce the retail sales tax from 6.5% to 4.5%.[1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the initiative was as follows:[1]

Initiative Measure No. 1498 concerns reducing the state retail sales and use tax rates.

This measure would reduce the state retail sales and use tax rates from 6.5 percent to 4.5 percent.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ] [2]

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for the initiative was as follows:[1]

This measure would reduce the state retail sales and use tax rates from 6.5 percent to 4.5 percent. It would state that the 10-year expiration and performance statement requirements for new tax preferences do not apply to this rate reduction.

[2]

Full text

The full text is available 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 an indirectly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the Legislature 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 indirect initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the regular session at which their proposal would be presented to lawmakers. Signatures must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the beginning of the legislative session in the year of the targeted election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the Legislature certified for the 2023 ballot:

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 to appear before the legislature. If the legislature does not approve the measure, it is certified to appear on 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

  • Joel Ard filed the initiative. Ard confirmed to Ballotpedia on July 20, 2022, that he would not be collecting signatures for the initiatives he filed.[3]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Washington Secretary of State, "Proposed Initiatives to the 2023 Legislature," accessed July 11, 2022
  2. 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. Ballotpedia Staff, email communication with Joel Ard, July 20, 2022