‘I wouldn’t be surprised if it was intentionally confusing’: Ursula questions ballot language on WA millionaires’ tax repeal

Washington voters will see a blunt warning on their ballots this fall when they decide whether to repeal the state’s new 9.9% income tax on earnings above $1 million a year.

The sentence, drafted by Attorney General Nick Brown’s office, reads: “This measure would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education, and human services.”

A state Supreme Court commissioner upheld the language Thursday, denying a request to block it from appearing on the ballot for Initiative 645.

Several citizen activists have challenged the verbiage, arguing it is not neutral and would push voters toward voting no. Brown’s office defended the language, saying voters deserve to know the budget consequences of a repeal.

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, co-hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, discussed the fight, with both questioning whether the wording gives voters the full picture.

“That may be factual, but that’s not the whole story,” Ursula said. “That is absolutely written in favor of trying to keep the tax.”

Gee calls for a citizens’ committee to rewrite ballot language

Gee noted the broader problem is that ballot measures are routinely written in language that confuses voters, and he pitched an idea.

“I need about five citizens, maybe Chef as a part of this committee, and four others, and what their job is, is to take some of the wording that happens sometimes on these ballots that I myself have had to sit there on one issue and read it 17, 18 times to figure out that I’m making sure I’m making the right decision,” he said. “Their job is to put it in layman’s terms. That’s it. Simplicity.”

Ursula suspects the confusion is by design

Ursula added that she would not be surprised if the wording was written to steer the outcome.

“I don’t want to say intentionally, but I would not be surprised if it was intentionally confusing,” she said.

KIRO producer Andrew Lanier added an important detail: Initiative 645 does not simply repeal the tax. It repeals the income tax language but keeps the financial obligations the tax was created to fund intact, meaning the state would still be legally required to provide the funding without a revenue source to pay for it.

“If you repeal the entire initiative, then there’s no budgeted money going from that tax,” Andrew said. “But this only repeals the language of the income tax itself, but not where the money’s going.”

The tax, signed into law by Washington Governor Bob Ferguson in late March, is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2028. The state Department of Revenue estimates it would bring in roughly $2.7 billion in its first year. Voters will decide on the repeal in the Nov. 3 election.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.