Washington Tax Increase Expiration Initiative (2017)

Washington Tax Increase Expiration Initiative
Election date November 7, 2017
Topic Taxes
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens

The Washington Tax Increase Expiration Initiative was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 7, 2017.

Tim Eyman developed four initiatives called the Let The Voters Decide on Tax Increases Act. All of them would have terminated tax increases after one year unless a majority popular vote approved them. Three versions would have also allowed tax increases to remain intact if the Washington State Legislature approved them in a two-thirds vote.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The following were the ballot titles for the initiatives:

Initiative Measure No. 1546
Initiative Measure No. 1546 concerns state taxes. This measure would require tax increases to expire after one year unless approved by a simple majority of voters at an election, and would terminate any increase imposed in 2017 without such approval. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Initiative Measure No. 1554
Initiative Measure No. 1554 concerns state taxes. This measure would require tax increases to expire after one year unless approved by a simple majority of voters at an election, and would terminate any increase imposed in 2017 without such approval. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Initiative Measure No. 1556
Initiative Measure No. 1556 concerns state taxes. This measure would require state tax increases imposed by the legislature after January 1, 2017, to expire one year after taking effect unless the increase is approved by the voters at an election. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Initiative Measure No. 1557
Initiative Measure No. 1557 concerns state taxes. This measure would require state tax increases imposed by the legislature to expire one year after taking effect unless the tax increase is approved by the voters at an election. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot summary

The following were the ballot summaries for the initiatives:

Initiative Measure No. 1546
This measure would require tax increases to expire after one year unless approved by a simple majority of voters at an election. It would terminate, on the effective date of the act, any tax increase imposed in 2017 without such approval. Once a tax increase without voter approval expires as required by the measure, the department of revenue may not collect revenue from that increase.

Initiative Measure No. 1554

This measure would require any tax increase imposed by the legislature after January 1, 2018, to expire after one year unless approved by a simple majority of voters at an election. It would terminate, on the effective date of the act, any state tax increase imposed in 2017 without such approval. Once a tax increase without voter approval expires as required by the measure, the department of revenue may not collect revenue from that increase.

Initiative Measure No. 1556
This measure would require state tax increases imposed by the legislature after January 1, 2017, to expire one year after taking effect unless the increase is approved by the voters at an election. The legislature can refer a tax increase of any duration to the voters for approval or rejection at an election. The department of revenue cannot collect revenue from an increase after it expires.

Initiative Measure No. 1557
This measure would require state tax increases imposed by the legislature after January 1, 2017, to expire one year after taking effect unless the increase is approved by the voters at an election. The legislature can refer a tax increase of any duration to the voters for approval or rejection at an election. The department of revenue cannot collect revenue from an increase after it expires.

Support

Tim Eyman, Leo J. Fagan, and M.J. Fagan sponsored the initiative's filing.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

In Washington, the signature requirement for Initiatives to the People is equivalent to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

To make the 2017 ballot, proponents of Initiatives to the People were required to submit at least 259,622 valid signatures by July 7, 2017. No signatures were turned in for the initiative by the deadline.

Sponsors of the measure originally proposed it as an Initiative to the Legislature, but failed to submit a sufficient number of valid signatures by the deadline on December 30, 2016.

See also

Suggest a link

• 2017 ballot measures
• Washington 2017 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Washington