2006 Washington Initiative 920

Last updated
Initiative 920
Estate Tax Repeal
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes778,04738.21%
Light brown x.svg No1,258,11061.79%

2006 Washington Initiative 920 results.svg
Results by county:
Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections [1]

Initiative 920 (I-920) was a highly controversial campaign to repeal the estate tax in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington state law directs that revenues collected from the estate tax be placed into the Education Legacy Trust account, which funds financial aid for higher education. The initiative failed, with 33.54 percent voting for and 66.46 percent against. [2]

Contents

Supporters

The campaign to get I-920 on the ballot was primarily bankrolled by Martin Selig, a Seattle skyscraper developer, and Dennis Falk, a wealthy former Seattle police officer. Falk's involvement has been particularly controversial. Falk leads the John Birch Society. In 1978, Falk co-chaired Save Our Moral Ethics, an unsuccessful campaign to repeal a law barring housing and employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. [3]

Supporters of I-920 claim the estate tax is an unfair burden on small business. They claim that if small businesses leave Washington, support for local schools will be eroded. They also contend that the 2005 legislature's decision to renew the estate tax contradicted I-402, which was passed in 1981. [4]

Groups supporting I-920 include:

Opponents

Criticism of I-920 has focused on two main points. First, critics argue that the estate tax is the most efficient way to raise revenue for education and that repealing the tax will compromise educational infrastructure, especially for the poor. Second, critics point out that the tax is graduated and therefore only impacts those most able to pay. They argue that the proponents of I-920 have used the rhetoric of small business interests to create tax breaks for the extremely wealthy. Family farms, for example, are completely exempt from the estate tax. Last year, the Washington Estate Tax affected only 250 of the wealthiest estates. [5]

Groups opposing I-920 include:

Results

YesNo
207506411149
33.54%66.46%

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Eyman</span> Anti-tax activist, businessman (born 1965)

Timothy Donald Eyman is an American anti-tax activist and businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob McKenna</span> 17th Attorney General of Washington

Robert Marion McKenna is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th attorney general of Washington from 2005 to 2013 after serving on the Metropolitan King County Council from 1996 to 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he ran for Governor of Washington in 2012, losing to Democrat Jay Inslee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Washington Initiative 933</span>

Ballot Initiative 933 was a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Washington in 2006. It concerned land use planning, and was voted down by 59% in the 2006 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 California Proposition 87</span> 2006 California ballot proposition

California Proposition 87 was a proposition on the ballot for California voters for the November 7, 2006 general election, officially titled Alternative Energy. Research, Production, Incentives. Tax on California Oil Producers. It was rejected by the voters, 54.7% opposed to 45.3% in favor. This was highest-funded campaign on any state ballot and surpassing every campaign in the country in spending except the presidential contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Washington Initiative 937</span>

Ballot Initiative 937 is a clean energy initiative passed in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections. It passed with 52 percent of the vote.

The Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) is a left wing think tank based in Redmond, Washington, founded in 2003 and incorporated in 2005. It uses technology, public policy research, and political advocacy to advance progressive causes in the Pacific Northwest region as well as across the United States. It describes itself as "a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy."

The Greater Seattle Business Association(GSBA) is an LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce based in Seattle, Washington. The majority of the organization's membership are small businesses located throughout the Puget Sound area. The association's stated mission is "to combine business development, leadership and social action to expand economic opportunities for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community and those who support equality for all."

The State Income Tax Repeal, also known as Massachusetts Question 1, was one of the 2008 ballot measures that appeared on the November 4, 2008 ballot in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Voters were asked whether or not they approved of the proposed measure which, if it had passed, would have ended the 5.3% income tax in Massachusetts on wages, interest, dividends and capital gains. Ultimately, Massachusetts voters defeated Question 1 by a wide margin, with approximately 70% opposed versus 30% in favor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael McGinn</span> American politician

Michael McGinn is an American lawyer and politician. He served as mayor of the city of Seattle, Washington, and is a neighborhood activist and a former State Chair of the Sierra Club.

The American Family Business Institute (AFBI) is a trade association of business owners, farmers, and entrepreneurs working for permanent repeal of the United States federal estate tax. The organization was founded in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Washington Initiative 502</span> 2012 ballot initiative in Washington, United States, concerning marijuana reform

Washington Initiative 502 (I-502) "on marijuana reform" was an initiative to the Washington State Legislature, which appeared on the November 2012 general ballot, passing by a margin of approximately 56 to 44 percent. Originally submitted to the Washington Secretary of State during the summer of 2011, enough signatures were collected and submitted by December to meet the required 241,153 signatures, sending it to the legislature. When the legislature adjourned without action in April, Initiative 502 automatically advanced to the November 2012 general ballot. It was approved by popular vote on November 6, and took effect over the course of a year, beginning with certification no later than December 6, 2012. Along with a similar Colorado measure, Initiative 502 was credited for encouraging voter turnout of 81%, the highest in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kshama Sawant</span> Indian-American politician, economist, and former Seattle city councilmember

Kshama Sawant is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Washington Initiative 1240</span> Ballot measure in Washington that created a public charter school system

Washington Initiative 1240 "concerns creation of a public charter school system" was an initiative that appeared on the Washington state general ballot in November 2012. Originally filed with the Washington Secretary of State on May 31, proponents and paid signature gatherers collected enough signatures to be certified for the ballot on July 25, making it one of the fastest initiatives ever to do so, at an estimated cost of more than $6 per signature. Proposed charter schools would receive public funding but not be governed by local school districts. An August 2012 financial impact study by the state Office of Financial Management estimated "an indeterminate, but non-zero, fiscal impact to local public school districts" and "known state agency implementation costs" of at least $3 million in the first five years. The initiative was approved by voters in November 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Maine Question 2</span>

Maine Question 2, formally An Act to Establish The Fund to Advance Public Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education, was a citizen-initiated referendum question that appeared on the Maine November 8, 2016 statewide ballot. It sought to increase state aid to public schools by instituting a surcharge of 3% on Maine income taxes for those with income above $200,000 a year. As the Maine Legislature declined to enact the proposal as written, it appeared on the ballot along with elections for President of the United States, Maine's two U.S. House seats, the Legislature, and various local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Washington elections</span>

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Washington on November 8, 2016. The primary was held on August 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Washington Initiative 732</span> Failed carbon tax initiative in the state of Washington

Washington Initiative 732 (I-732) was a ballot initiative in 2016 to levy a carbon tax in the State of Washington, and simultaneously reduce the state sales tax. It was rejected 59.3% to 40.7%. The measure appeared on the November 2016 ballot. The backers of I-732 submitted roughly 350,000 signatures in December 2015 to certify the initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle head tax</span> Repealed tax law in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Seattle head tax, officially the employee hours tax (EHT), was a proposed head tax to be levied on large employers in Seattle, Washington, United States. The head tax was proposed in 2017 to fund homeless services and outreach and was set at a rate of $275 annually per employee, with hopes of raising up to $50 million annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Washington Initiative 1631</span>

The Washington Carbon Emissions Fee and Revenue Allocation Initiative, also known as Initiative 1631 or the Protect Washington Act was a ballot initiative that appeared on ballots in the State of Washington in the November 2018 election. The initiative proposed to reduce pollution by levying a fee on greenhouse gas emissions generated within the state of Washington, and using that revenue to support air quality and energy projects, as well as water quality and forest health initiatives. The measure failed with 56.3% of voters rejecting it. As of 2018, more had been spent in campaigning for and against the initiative than on any other ballot measure in Washington history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 California Proposition 15</span> 2020 California ballot measure

California Proposition 15 was a failed citizen-initiated proposition on the November 3, 2020, ballot. It would have provided $6.5 billion to $11.5 billion in new funding for public schools, community colleges, and local government services by creating a "split roll" system that increased taxes on large commercial properties by assessing them at market value, without changing property taxes for small business owners or residential properties for homeowners or renters. The measure failed by a small margin of about four percentage points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 California Proposition 30</span> 2022 California ballot proposition

Proposition 30 is a California ballot proposition that appeared in the general election on November 8, 2022. The measure was defeated. The initiative would have raised taxes on the wealthy to fund wildfire management and electric vehicle incentives and infrastructure.

References

  1. "2006 Initiative General Election Results - Washington". David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  2. King County Election Results
  3. Repeal of estate tax has wealthy backers
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. I-920 hurts higher education