Washington voters rejecting Initiative 732 in early election results

Washington voters are rejecting Initiative 732, a carbon tax, in early election results Tuesday night.

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The initiative is being defeated by 58.5 percent after early results were released.

Initiative 732, an echo of similar Canadian legislation from neighboring British Columbia, aims to make Washington the first state in America to impose a carbon tax.

I-732 proposes a tax of $15 per metric ton of carbon emissions by July 2017. That tax goes up to $25 a year later. The tax raises by 3.5 percent — plus inflation — in the following years until it reaches $100 per metric ton.

Brandon Houskeeper, director of government affairs with the Association of Washington Business, said he’s pleased that voters rejected the carbon cap initiative “as a flawed proposal to drive up energy prices that would impact Washington families, workers and employers in the state.” He said prices for gas and utility bills would have gone up.

“I certainly think people looked at it as a tax increase and what it would mean to their bottom line in their own home as an energy input,” he said. “But we also believed that this was proven to have large implications for the state’s budget, creating a larger budget deficit at a time when we’re struggling with how to fund some of our basic needs likeeducation and social programs. So I think there were several reasons why voters rejected this.

“I think that folks still believe that we need to do something on emission in Washington state, I think folks just expect us to come up with a solution that is more comprehensive, that doesn’t necessarily carry the same pricetage and is a better fit for Washington, commensurate with what our contribution to a global problem is.”

The initiative was designed to be tax-neutral — while increasing taxes on carbon, other taxes in Washington will decrease. Farmers and nonprofits would be phased in at a slower rate. Initiative 732 proposes to lower the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent. It would also modify tax credits for working and low-income families and the business and occupation tax.

Carbon Washington, the campaign behind Initiative 732, raised $1.42 million. Opposition to the initiative raised $386,922. The highest donor in favor of the initiative was Peter Kelly of New York, while Kaiser Aluminum was the top contributor to the opposition, according to Ballotpedia.

Houskeeper says the plan is for the AWB to be proactive, working through the legislative process at the state and federal level for other solutions.

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