OPINION: Here’s a final look at Tuesday’s ballot measures

As is its custom, the Lewiston Tribune does not endorse individuals for elective office.

The Tribune, however, does offer its assessment of ballot measures.

Here is a recap ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Washington:

As the Spokesman-Review’s Ellen Dennis noted, the four questions on Washington’s ballot are less the work of a grassroots campaign and more the outcome of “Brian Heywood, a business owner from Redmond, Wash., (who) has bankrolled the initiatives, spending more than $5 million trying to get them on the November 2024 ballot.”

Heywood’s narrow agenda is reason enough to be skeptical of the following:

Initiative 2066 — It’s not entirely clear how repealing House Bill 1589 would affect this corner of Washington state. HB 1589, which seeks to begin transitioning the decarbonization of homes and buildings, requires some utilities to submit plans to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission by 2027.

HB 1589 addresses utilities serving more than 500,000 natural gas customers — in other words, Puget Sound Energy, which has more than 1.2 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers. By contrast, Avista serves about 375,000 natural gas customers in its service area.

Vote no.

Initiative 2109 — Repealing the state’s new 7% tax on capital gains of more than $250,000 from the sale of stocks and bonds benefits Heywood and about 4,000 ultra-wealthy people.

Retirement accounts as well as capital gains on real estate, small family firms and farms are exempt.

Pass this and Washington state would revert to its regressive sales tax system while losing $900 million that helps small, rural communities meet their school construction needs.

Vote no.

Initiative 2117 — Repealing the Washington Climate Commitment Act of 2021 might sound tempting, but it can’t deliver on the promise to cut 40- to 50-cents from the cost of a gallon of gasoline.

What is certain, however, is that I-2117 will ease restraints on industrial pollution and undermine billions of dollars being invested in weaning the state from fossil fuels. If any state can lead the way toward reversing climate change, it is Washington.

Vote no.

Initiative 2124 — Washington’s fledging long-term care program is far from perfect. But allowing people to opt out means erasing this modest social safety net for aging people who will require long-term care.

After paying a 0.58% payroll tax for 10 years, workers would be eligible for a $36,500 benefit, which will be adjusted for inflation.

This benefit could compensate care providers or family caregivers at home. For those who require residential care, it at least offers a financial cushion before it becomes necessary to drain assets.

Eliminate WA Care and there’s no guarantee the Legislature would even attempt to start again.

Vote no.

Idaho:

Proposition 1 — Ask yourself why the fringe politicians benefiting from Idaho’s closed GOP primary are so determined to defeat this initiative, which comes to the ballot through a genuine grassroots campaign waged by citizen activists.

Politicians from Attorney General Raul Labrador to Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon know converting their rigged system to a top-four primary in the spring, open to voters of any affiliation, followed by ranked choice voting in the fall, will empower the broader swath of Idahoans, especially the hundreds of thousands of independents whose voices have been ignored. More likely than not, it will mean the GOP’s continued political dominance of the Gem State. But it will be a GOP that is more interested in solving problems than settling scores.

If you’re tired of a sliver of hyper-partisan GOP voters driving Idaho’s politics further off the ideological cliff, giving you extreme abortion policies, undermining public and higher education, waging culture wars, refusing to address meaningful property tax reform and ceding undue influence to the Idaho Freedom Foundation and local GOP central committees, then your choice is clear.

Take control of your political destiny and vote yes.

House Joint Resolution 5 — This Republican-proposed amendment to the Idaho state Constitution goes under the heading of political sloganeering masquerading as policy. It purports to stop noncitizens from voting in Idaho elections.

But that’s already illegal under the state constitution.

In fact, the penalties are so severe — fines, possible imprisonment, deportation and the loss of any hope of becoming a U.S. citizen — that the practice is rare.

When Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane looked at it, he located 36 noncitizens who had registered to vote — out of 1 million registered voters. It’s not clear how many if any actually voted.

Worse, HJR 5 is so poorly written that it may apply to “any election,” disfranchising foreign students from voting in college student body contests or noncitizens from participating in their homeowner association elections. Republican lawmakers who refuse to help hungry children or beleaguered residential property taxpayers have time for this nonsense?

Don’t encourage them. Vote no. — M.T.