Campaign News

Throughout the campaign, opponents of Initiative 732 have recycled the same arguments — that the tax swap will reduce revenue to the state, lead to a loss of jobs, and create an “unjust transition” to a clean-energy economy. This video explores each of those issues, and shows how — in each case — I-732 will accomplish the opposite of what opponents claim. 

Here are brief excerpts from the video on each of our opponents’ allegations:

1. Claim: I-732 is not revenue-neutral — “Passing I-732 will not take a single dollar away from any of our state-funded essential services.  The opponents of I-732 seem to confuse forecasting with how the state actually sets its operating budget, which is via the legislative process. . . In its analysis, the Sightline Institute, an independent think tank, concludes, “I-732 is revenue neutral, to the best of anyone’s ability to forecast it.”
2. Claim: I-732 will lead to a loss of jobs — “I-732 will increase jobs in Washington State. There is reliable first-hand evidence from British Columbia where their 2008 revenue neutral carbon tax has not only reduced greenhouse gas emissions, but also created a noticeable boost in GDP growth relative to the rest of Canada. REMI, a national group that does Regional Economic Modeling, analyzed I-732 and found its passage would create a net increase of over 10,000 new jobs in Washington State by 2020.”
3.  Claim: I-732 is inequitable — “Opponents call I-732 a false promise, but all they offer in exchange is a false choice. The fact is, they don’t even have a plan. . . If we don’t make big polluters pay for the cost of pollution now, the heaviest burden will continue to fall on low-income families, communities of color, our children, wildlife, and future generations. I-732 is a big step in the right direction towards fighting both climate change and poverty.”

There’s much more in the video. Please watch it now.