The Washington Income Tax Initiative 1098 is a proposal that appeared on the voting ballot on November 2nd 2010 in Washington State. The initiative proposed to approve a tax on individuals with an adjusted gross income above $200,000 for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers.
The proposal also included a reduction to the property taxes in the state of Washington and an increase to business and occupation tax credits. According to the election results, Initiative 1098 was defeated in the November 2nd election with 64.45% of the voters in opposition of the initiative.
Washington State Initiatives Explained
The state of Washington has what is known as Initiatives to the People and Initiatives to the Legislature. The concept of this in the state government originally began in 1914. The way it works in Washington is; state residents can develop a proposal, known as an initiative. The Legislature will automatically approve the initiative or put it to a vote during an upcoming general state election, allowing the people to vote on it.
When an initiative or idea is proposed, a petition is generated and signatures in support of the initiative are collected. If the petition gets enough signatures it is considered certified by state law. Once an initiative is certified it will become either an Initiative to the People or an Initiative to the Legislature. If the Legislature votes on the proposal it is considered an Initiative of the Legislature, if the people vote in approval it is considered an Initiative of the People. Once an initiative is proposed and certified, one of three things will happen.
The State Legislature can automatically approve the initiative without a general election vote.
The State Legislature can reject or fail to act on the initiative which will automatically result in the proposal being placed on the ballot during the general election allowing the people to vote on it.
The State Legislature can offer an alternative proposal to the originally proposed initiative. If this occurs, both versions of the initiative are put on the ballot and the people of the state will vote on both. The one that gets the most votes will be approved.
Tax initiative 1098 proposed by Bill Gates Senior was put on the general election ballot to be voted on by the voters in Washington State. The initiative was defeated but prior to the election there was much controversy between those that supported it and those that opposed it. Bill Gates Senior and a collective of supporters were on the frontlines endorsing the tax initiative.