WA Supreme Court will hear dispute over printing initiative budget effects on ballots

Washington’s Supreme Court will decide whether information about how three initiatives could affect the state budget will appear alongside the measures on the November ballot.

The court on Thursday agreed to take up the case against “public investment impact disclosures” – 15-word-or-less statements that are required by law to be printed next to ballot measures that are expected to change state revenue.

Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh and Mainstream Republicans of Washington Chair Deanna Martinez – both supporters of the three initiatives – sued the state last month over the statements, which they refer to as “warning labels.”

They argue the initiatives, which would significantly change programs that generate billions of dollars for the state, don’t fit the criteria to require the disclosure statements. If approved, the initiatives would end the state’s cap-and-trade program, repeal its capital gains tax, and make participation in a state-run long-term care program optional.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/wa-supreme-court-will-hear-dispute-over-initiatives-budget-effects-appearing-on-ballots/