Recent Stories with tag initiative

Bill Gates, Sr.

Word "leaked" out last night that an income tax initiative could join the marijuana legalization initiative already in progress. Joel Connelly posted the news to Strange Bedfellows, describing I-1077 as a "sweeping plan to cut the state property tax, eliminate the Business and Occupation Tax for small businesses and create an income tax on high income couples."

How times have changed--Connelly also points out that Republican governor Dan Evans tried twice to bring an income tax to Washington in the early '70s. Now, a Democratic governor and legislature won't touch the idea. Bill Gates, Sr., is the figurehead for the initiative; Gates has been unusually willing to argue for higher taxes on the wealthy, so he has probably already lost all the country club friends he's going to.

I-1077 is (like State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown's earlier, unsupported proposal) a high-earner's tax, applying first a five percent tax to income earned over $200,000 for individuals, or $400,000 for couples. A second bracket of $500,000/$1 million would apply a $15,000/$30,000-plus-nine-percent tax (again, on income earned above that amount). For some reason, Canadian Business Online has the most details on the initiative's actual brackets.

Total revenue could be $1 billion. In return, the Seattle Times says, the initiative "would cut the state property tax by 20 percent" and "end the business-and-occupation tax for small businesses."

The success of the initiative is dependent on first gaining 240,000 signatures between now and July, so that it makes the ballot; then winning in November, and then not being ruled unconstitutional, thanks to a 1933 Washington Supreme Court ruling that interpreted income as a form of property. Under the state constitution, "property taxes must be uniform on every class of property and can't exceed 1 percent of the value of property" (the Seattle Times, again).

Mayor Mike McGinn is seeking input for the city's Youth and Families Initiative. The results are supposed to help the mayor prioritize what gets done to eliminate "racial disparities in key indicators such as education, child care, children’s health and the criminal justice system." (My feedback is that it could use a better name, for starters. I've been ignoring that subject line in my inbox for weeks.)

Five group meetings will be held, beginning with tonight at the Rainier Community Center from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The next four are:

• March 1 – Northgate Elementary School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• March 8 – Van Asselt Elementary School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• March 15 – Denny Middle School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• March 22 – Garfield Community Center 7:00-8:30 p.m.

But if you can't make it to a meeting in person, you can still give the mayor a piece of your mind, using the form below. It's not our form--all results go directly to the Youth and Families Initiative.

The Secretary of State has just given the moniker I-1068 to the Sensible Washington initiative to legalize adult cultivation, transport, possession, and use of marijuana. Here's the pdf of the initiative's language. Now the group is waiting on approval from the Attorney General's office.

"They have five business days to give us a neutral and impartial ballot title, ballot question and ballot summary," says the Sensible Washington Facebook page. "If things go smoothly, we could be circulating [petitions] next weekend or sometime the week after."

The group is still negotiating with banks over credit card processing for donations. Wells Fargo has refused to work with them, and PayPal, the obvious choice, has a history of freezing the accounts of drug reform groups who use their service. For now, supporters have no choice but to wrap their green in a paper envelope, lick it to seal, and fire it off via snail mail.

The House Public Safety Committee voted down the bill to legalize marijuana in Washington state, 6-2, and also voted down a bill to decriminalize marijuana, 5-3, says the Seattlepi.com.

HB1177 would have reclassified possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction. According to the Capitol Record, committee chair Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw) argued that if you were out on a boat and crossed the state line, "you could be convicted of a federal drug crime." People who are arrested for using marijuana would face "a lifetime of despair," he said, in arguing to maintain that exact predicament in-state.

Rep. Roger Goodman noted that federal agents do not typically arrest people who smoke marijuana.

Legalization, HB 2401, as expected, failed to win much support at all. Though once again, Christ Hurst offered some trenchant analysis. Per the Capitol Record: "One of my observations is that should fundamentally should the federal government be in the business of regulating marijuana?" Many people would, of course, classify that as a question rather than an observation.

His nemesis, Roger Goodman, countered that the state should regulate marijuana, not "fantasize" that keeping it illegal has kept usage down.... (more)

Initiatives are not just for Tim Eyman any more. A group called Sensible Washington has filed a ballot initiative that would "legalize all adult marijuana possession, manufacturing and sales under Washington state law," reports the AP.

Why the initiative, you might ask? Down in Olympia, there is already legislative talk of decriminalizing marijuana, and one state representative, Mary Lou Dickerson, is willing to bring up legalization. Here in Seattle, you can read pro-pot columns in the Seattle Times: "So why not let people have what they want, but then regulate it--heavily, if need be--and tax it to boot?"

For Sensible Washington ("hey we're on Facebook"), taking legalization of marijuana to the people of Washington is a question of timing and priorities. The committee includes two Seattle attorneys, Douglas Hiatt and Jeffrey Steinborn; Vivian McPeak, a co-founder of Seattle Hempfest and peace activist; Ric Smith, a longtime medical marijuana patient; and Philip Dawdy, initiative co-author and an influential independent reporter on mental health issues.

I spoke to Dawdy about the strategy. While he was happy to see the Legislature having the discussion, he said, the reality is "the legalization bill isn't going to get out of committee. It's dead. The decriminalization bill might get out of committee in the House, but it won't get a floor vote. This is a short session, and their attention will be focused on the budget."

For Dawdy, the initiative represents a chance for the people of the state to give the Legislature permission to do the right thing. Broad legalization for adult possession and use is inspired in part by his sense that "the medical marijuana law is clearly not working," and again and again people are ending up in court to justify possession.

The AP story quotes Mason County prosecutor Gary Burleson, who says, "I don't have a problem with marijuana being legal, and I don't have a problem with it being illegal. But right now, I have a big problem understanding what's legal and what's not."... (more)